I never really used Instagram in the classroom before. My students seemed to find it strange when I was taking pictures of things, even though they're often taking pictures of things in class all the time (they mostly take pictures of each other and instructions written on the board even though the same instructions are on the class website). I tried to feature the things I do in my class that focused on the role of media, propaganda and speeches throughout history. These students will probably never have to live through events similar to World War II or the Cold War, but they will be in a world where media, propaganda and speeches are still used to spread information and disinformation. My goal is to expand their ability to analyze these things, understand the role they have played in history, and how to separate information from disinformation themselves in a world where their answer to everything is "Google it."

I honestly did not do a great job taking pictures on a regular basis, as the pictures that I took were spread out over more than a month and sometimes not added to Instagram until a week or two after I had taken the pictures. Instagram is blocked at my school site so I was not able to upload the pictures immediately after taking them, and my focus has always been on teaching, so taking pictures was not a priority and I forgot to get pictures of some lessons that really would have helped this project come out better.

I still like the idea of Instagram because it appeals to the social media mindset of modern students and adds a visual element that is appealing to many.

Informative chat about games-based learning in social science classrooms, hosted by @MatthewFarber