Insta-Classroom!

Last week, I posted about using a classroom Twitter account to communicate with parents. Although I haven't been using it this year, I definitely like the idea of using social networking to get parents involved. I think that for 3rd grade, the best way to use social media in the classroom is to have a classroom account that students can make guest posts for.
Another teacher at my school has been experimenting with using a classroom Instagram account. I would envision using a class Instagram in a very similar way to Twitter. I think it would be a great way to show parents what is going on in the classroom. While Twitter has a strict character count, Instagram does not. This would allow students to explain what they learned or what was going on in the photo without worrying about a character limit. My only concern about an Instagram account would be the fact that you have to upload a photo with each post. I think I would ultimately be less likely to use this type of account because of that. I can see myself wanting to post, but forgetting to take photos during the day!
I am excited to experiment more with social networking in the classroom as it really gains momentum socially. More of our parents are now just as connected as we are, so it would be great to provide them with a place to see what we are doing in the classroom and interact with students and teachers digitally.