COMMUNICATING WITH COLLEAGUES
When it comes to professional collaboration, what is your go-to strategy? For some educators, their coworkers are the extent of their professional network. For others, their professional network extends to educators around the world. Any guesses which type of professional network results in more innovative, valuable learning experiences for you and your students? Even if you work in the best, most innovative school around, you will be missing out on a wealth of information if you fail to leverage social media to your professional advantage. So, how should you do it?
Where to Engage
The social media platforms with some of the strongest networks of teachers are Twitter and Pinterest.
Twitter: If you are not already using Twitter, you should start now. And by using Twitter, I do not mean keeping tabs on Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively (although, you should totally do that too, seeing as how they are absolute perfection). What I mean is that you should be finding educators who work in the same areas as you, geographic or content, and following them. You should find and follow educational leaders who inspire you. You should start creating your own educational content. You should read and share articles. When you feel comfortable, you should join education chats on Twitter. Most importantly, you should pay attention to all of the things that being a part of a global professional learning network can do for you, and all of the things that you can contribute to the education community.
Pinterest: Pinterest is so easy. In a nutshell, it is a virtual vision board that allows users to curate, save, and share resources. And it is not just for crafting or wedding planning. There is a vast amount of educational resources available on Pinterest, and you can use your Pinterest boards to organize the resources that you find elsewhere without worrying about losing them. In addition, however, you can find and follow content creators on Pinterest, or even become a content creator yourself.
What's the Point?
Developing your PLN through social media is the single most important thing that you can do to revitalize your teaching career right now. Why wouldn't you want to take advantage of a completely free way of becoming a better teacher right now? Don't your students deserve it?
COMMUNICATING WITH STAKEHOLDERS
Speaking of students, what if you were to use social media to communicate with them and their families as well? This is where things get a little more questionable. What I mean by this is that there is absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain from using social media for professional development, but there have been horror stories about what happens when teachers and students connect on social media. There are probably countless administrators who would gasp at the scandalous suggestion that teachers utilize social media to communicate with stakeholders. Before you get too caught up in what could go wrong, let's take a look at what could go right.
Why Social Media?
Part of my goal as a teacher is to meet students where they are in order to lead them to where they could be. And, where are students and their families? They're on social media. Yes, I could use email or some sort of educational software to communicate with students and families, but if I do, I am not doing all that I can do to make learning extend beyond the confines of the classroom, real or virtual, and become a natural part of daily life. By leveraging social media, I can help students engage more authentically with content and give parents something to engage with and share as well.
How to Avoid the Bad
The first step to making your social media a safe space for interaction is choosing the correct platforms. My main platforms for engagement with stakeholders are Facebook and Instagram. I chose these platforms for a number of reasons:
1. They allow you to distribute content as a professional.
Here's what I mean; when I started on Instagram, I created a page that was completely separate from any of my personal accounts. This allowed me to post as ThatPhysicsLady, separate from my actual identity. When I decided to become a part of the Facebook community, instead of creating an account or interacting with students via my personal account, I created a page. This page is able to interact with stakeholders in such a way that it appears to be an entity separate from me. That makes a world of difference in professionalism.
2. They do not rely on direct messaging.
I will NEVER interact with students on Snapchat. Snapchat is not easily leveraged as an information distribution platform, and it makes problematic false complaints way too easy to make. Anything that relies on direct messaging puts you in the line of fire. Instagram and Facebook have direct messaging capabilities, but their primary functions are much more transparent.
3. Facebook allows you to differentiate privacy levels.
This is actually the coolest. My Facebook page is a public page, allowing me to share with all of my stakeholders and with the general public. But I made private groups with my Facebook page for each of my courses. This created a space for students and parents to discuss more privately.
Here's what I mean; when I started on Instagram, I created a page that was completely separate from any of my personal accounts. This allowed me to post as ThatPhysicsLady, separate from my actual identity. When I decided to become a part of the Facebook community, instead of creating an account or interacting with students via my personal account, I created a page. This page is able to interact with stakeholders in such a way that it appears to be an entity separate from me. That makes a world of difference in professionalism.
2. They do not rely on direct messaging.
I will NEVER interact with students on Snapchat. Snapchat is not easily leveraged as an information distribution platform, and it makes problematic false complaints way too easy to make. Anything that relies on direct messaging puts you in the line of fire. Instagram and Facebook have direct messaging capabilities, but their primary functions are much more transparent.
3. Facebook allows you to differentiate privacy levels.
This is actually the coolest. My Facebook page is a public page, allowing me to share with all of my stakeholders and with the general public. But I made private groups with my Facebook page for each of my courses. This created a space for students and parents to discuss more privately.
4. They allow you to control the statements of others, to a point.
You can adjust filters on Facebook to not allow posts to the page that contain profanity, which is a wonderful thing to avoid. I would encourage you to put forward a message about what is and is not appropriate on your page in order to nip any negativity in the bud. If a negative post is made, there are also ways to handle the situation.
How to Inspire the Good
In order to engage stakeholders, your best bet is to produce quality content on a regular basis. This sounds easy, but it is actually a pretty difficult order to fill. Ideally, with Facebook, you should be posting at least once a day during the school week. The same goes for Instagram. I would be lying if I said that I always do this, but I do try my best.
The content that I post depends on what is going on in the class. Sometimes, I will add photos of student work. Other times, I will share photos of students at work. (Obviously, I check all of my students' photo releases and ask to make sure that students are alright with being posted to social media as well.) When I do this, amazing things happen. I see a high level of engagement from current students, past students, parents, and future students. This encourages students to do their best work or work really hard, because they really want a feature on the class Instagram. I also share articles and interesting science facts and videos on the Facebook page. During summer, I send out "teaser" posts about what is going to happen in the coming year as well as "homework" posts where I encourage students to either search for science in the world around them or do fun, easy science activities.
CULTIVATING A PERSONAL BRAND
The quality, quantity, and methodology of posting should, believe it or not, be something that you spend time and effort on. In order to make your social media presence feel genuine, you need to consider how your posts come together to make a cohesive whole. Make sure that you are varying the type and content of posts, but try to plan them to follow an overarching theme. In order to cultivate your personal brand effectively. There are a few helpful steps that you can take.
Know the Life of Your Posts
Posts on different platforms have differing lifespans. The lifespan of a post is the amount of time after the post is made that it will receive the most interaction. You can increase the lifespan of a post by re-posting or sharing it. Here are some basic lifespans:
Twitter: 15-20 minutes
Facebook: 2-3 hours
Instagram: 2 hours
Pinterest: indefinite
This does not mean, however, that you need to post to Twitter every 15 minutes. What it does mean is that you should plan on releasing posts at times when people are most likely to be looking at social media. Think before school, around lunchtime, and after school for high-level engagement. If you can time your posts well, you can post according to the following schedule:
Twitter: 3-4 times a day
Facebook: 5 times a week
Instagram: 5 times a week
Pinterest: as needed
This moves us on to the next step.
Use a Social Media Schedule
I recommend that you take an hour or so each month to plan out the posts that you will make to social media each day, especially as you start building the habit of posting regularly. Not only will a bit of preplanning make it easier for you as you post each day, it will also help you to make sure that you are getting a variety of posts that all conform to your personal brand. Some of your posts can actually be prepared in advance and scheduled to be uploaded according to your schedule.
Make Your Posts Engaging
My last tip is to make sure that all of your posts are of high quality. There are a few ways to do this.
1. Add photos or video.
We all know that a picture is worth a thousand words. But, did you know that people are considerably more likely to pay attention to a post if it is accompanied by a photo or video? It makes sense; when planning engaging lessons, we utilize multimedia. The same thing holds true for your social media posts.
2. Use hashtags
You can use hashtags in two ways. First, use them to participate in wider discussions on social media. Find common hashtags like #InquiryLearning or #EdTech to find new accounts to follow and to engage with like-minded educators. The second way to use hashtags is to create custom hashtags for events or your classroom, so that anyone who posts relevant posts can use the hashtags, allowing all of the posts to become searchable.
3. Link to outside websites
Your thoughts are likely beautiful and incredibly insightful, but sometimes, you are better off linking to content created by professionals. This is actually a great opportunity to bring up reliable and unreliable sources with your students (and their families). After all, digital citizenship is something that we should all be building with our students.
How are you using social media to engage with fellow educators and stakeholders? Is there something that I failed to mention here that you want to know about? Something that I touched on briefly about which you want to know more? Comment to let me know!
You can adjust filters on Facebook to not allow posts to the page that contain profanity, which is a wonderful thing to avoid. I would encourage you to put forward a message about what is and is not appropriate on your page in order to nip any negativity in the bud. If a negative post is made, there are also ways to handle the situation.
How to Inspire the Good
In order to engage stakeholders, your best bet is to produce quality content on a regular basis. This sounds easy, but it is actually a pretty difficult order to fill. Ideally, with Facebook, you should be posting at least once a day during the school week. The same goes for Instagram. I would be lying if I said that I always do this, but I do try my best.
The content that I post depends on what is going on in the class. Sometimes, I will add photos of student work. Other times, I will share photos of students at work. (Obviously, I check all of my students' photo releases and ask to make sure that students are alright with being posted to social media as well.) When I do this, amazing things happen. I see a high level of engagement from current students, past students, parents, and future students. This encourages students to do their best work or work really hard, because they really want a feature on the class Instagram. I also share articles and interesting science facts and videos on the Facebook page. During summer, I send out "teaser" posts about what is going to happen in the coming year as well as "homework" posts where I encourage students to either search for science in the world around them or do fun, easy science activities.
CULTIVATING A PERSONAL BRAND
The quality, quantity, and methodology of posting should, believe it or not, be something that you spend time and effort on. In order to make your social media presence feel genuine, you need to consider how your posts come together to make a cohesive whole. Make sure that you are varying the type and content of posts, but try to plan them to follow an overarching theme. In order to cultivate your personal brand effectively. There are a few helpful steps that you can take.
Know the Life of Your Posts
Posts on different platforms have differing lifespans. The lifespan of a post is the amount of time after the post is made that it will receive the most interaction. You can increase the lifespan of a post by re-posting or sharing it. Here are some basic lifespans:
Twitter: 15-20 minutes
Facebook: 2-3 hours
Instagram: 2 hours
Pinterest: indefinite
This does not mean, however, that you need to post to Twitter every 15 minutes. What it does mean is that you should plan on releasing posts at times when people are most likely to be looking at social media. Think before school, around lunchtime, and after school for high-level engagement. If you can time your posts well, you can post according to the following schedule:
Twitter: 3-4 times a day
Facebook: 5 times a week
Instagram: 5 times a week
Pinterest: as needed
This moves us on to the next step.
Use a Social Media Schedule
I recommend that you take an hour or so each month to plan out the posts that you will make to social media each day, especially as you start building the habit of posting regularly. Not only will a bit of preplanning make it easier for you as you post each day, it will also help you to make sure that you are getting a variety of posts that all conform to your personal brand. Some of your posts can actually be prepared in advance and scheduled to be uploaded according to your schedule.
Make Your Posts Engaging
My last tip is to make sure that all of your posts are of high quality. There are a few ways to do this.
1. Add photos or video.
We all know that a picture is worth a thousand words. But, did you know that people are considerably more likely to pay attention to a post if it is accompanied by a photo or video? It makes sense; when planning engaging lessons, we utilize multimedia. The same thing holds true for your social media posts.
2. Use hashtags
You can use hashtags in two ways. First, use them to participate in wider discussions on social media. Find common hashtags like #InquiryLearning or #EdTech to find new accounts to follow and to engage with like-minded educators. The second way to use hashtags is to create custom hashtags for events or your classroom, so that anyone who posts relevant posts can use the hashtags, allowing all of the posts to become searchable.
3. Link to outside websites
Your thoughts are likely beautiful and incredibly insightful, but sometimes, you are better off linking to content created by professionals. This is actually a great opportunity to bring up reliable and unreliable sources with your students (and their families). After all, digital citizenship is something that we should all be building with our students.
How are you using social media to engage with fellow educators and stakeholders? Is there something that I failed to mention here that you want to know about? Something that I touched on briefly about which you want to know more? Comment to let me know!
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