Teachers can use social media to connect with students, parents, and other educators in a variety of ways. Social media can provide teachers, schools, and students with opportunities to connect to the world, creatively tell a school’s or classroom’s story, and to celebrate successes. Moreover, teachers can use social media to keep up with education trends, get inspiration for lessons, and expand their personal learning networks. Uses for social media by teachers include:

• Getting new ideas and share ideas with other teachers.
• Communicating with students and parents. Provide reminders about assignments, homework, field trips; and share what’s going on in your classroom.
• Showing off your classroom and share your successes.
• Connecting your classroom and students with outside experts.
• Curating and sharing resources with students, parents, and other teachers.
• Teaching and modeling digital citizenship skills.

It is important that teachers be cognizant of their presence and any interactions with students, parents, and others on social media. Students under the age of 13 may not create accounts on most social media platforms. However, there are some social media platforms, such as Edmodo, Seesaw , and even Google Classroom, that are built especially for student use and provide privacy protections in which students are limited only to their class’s account.

Granite teachers should register any social media account they are using in an official capacity with the District Communications Department using this form and adhere to the district’s social media policies.

The following resources provide information about how to leverage the use of social media in school in appropriate ways:

• The Educator’s Guide to Social Media
• Social Media for Teachers: Guides, Resources, and Ideas