How do you do it?

1. Get your students psyched! Tell them that they will be taking photos, practicing their writing and interacting with others in English through the amazing platform called Instagram! I recommend that even if they have an account, that they open a new one just for this project.

2. There will be a topic for each week of the school year. Students may post on any day of that week, up until and including Friday.

3. Explain that the topic will be the trigger for the photo, and the photo will be a trigger for their writing.

4. Show them the first topic (Taking a selfie). Show them this example and explanation.

5. Brainstorm the kinds of selfies and writing they can do.

6. Give them rules for safe Instagram posting (see below an example). Make sure that they are aware of what is and what isn't allowed to be posted.

7. Tell them they can now take a "selfie" and begin writing their 50 words. Have them show it to you if they want.

8. You do not have to give grammatical/spelling feedback on their writing,

9. However, if you do decide that you want to give them editing feedback on their writing before they post it, be sure you tell them to submit it to you in time for you to relate to it and before the end of the week, so they can submit it before the end of the week.

10. My suggestion is: tell them to follow you, and you follow them back, so you can find their postings easily (see tutorial, below). Also, if you like Googleforms, you can make a copy of this one which I made to keep track of their usernames.

11. At the beginning of each week, have everyone go into their Instagram and look through the postings for the hashtag. Have them find a few that they like, and respond! (This is a GREAT chance to remind them of internet etiquette). Then introduce the new week's topic.

12. Keep track of their postings and give them extra credit! You can also write in their report cards that they participated well and had good internet etiquette.

13. Once you've gotten the ball rolling, allot 15 minutes in the first lesson of each week for students to go into the hashtag and relate to the previous week's topic. This is when you can introduce the new week's topic.

Tips for staying safe on Instagram.

We work hard to keep Instagram a safe and enjoyable place for everyone. Please take a minute to read through these tips about the tools we've built and the best practices we've defined to help you stay safe on Instagram:

• If someone is sharing photos or videos that make you uncomfortable, you can unfollow , block them or report something that you feel is inappropriate.

• If someone is bullying you, reach out to a trusted family member or teacher for help. You can also remove a comment from a photo you've shared and report bullying and harassment through the Help Center.

• Make sure you're comfortable letting the photos you share represent who you are to a wide audience, such as your parents, teachers or students from other schools.

• Never agree to do something or share anything that makes you uncomfortable.