Instagram has become a powerful tool for many, whether it’s showcasing, marketing, self-expression, or more. This past week, while trying to sort out lessons within a unit for my middle school ENL class, I took a brain break to scroll through Instagram and noticed that immediately afterwards, the ideas began to flow and I was able to get right back to writing. I’m currently mapping out the main topics I want to teach my students from now until December, and I’ve split things up into two units: Belonging to my community and Belonging to the world. In the former, we learn the parts of speech and how to describe ourselves and the people around us (family, friends, and others in our community). One of the lessons I have planned involves listening to a short interview of M. Tony Peralta, an Uptown and Dominican native that expresses latinidad and afrolatinidad visually through his art. Thus, scrolling through his Instagram page and discussing the images that catch students’ attention seem naturally like a great way to engage them and give them control in the learning process. I think Peralta is a great figure to share with students, because his page will feel culturally familiar for them and many of his posted videos include him speaking English and Spanish, and planning this lesson allowed me to begin to see the value in using Instagram as a tool in the classroom.

Initially, Instagram was developed for iPhone users, but after its purchase by Facebook, it became accessible on all smartphones. A desktop version has subsequently been developed, which could be used with full sound on a SmartBoard present material in class. One great benefit to using Instagram in class is that by showing public accounts, students can engage with the material that sparks their interest outside of class and gain more knowledge, which would be great for my Belonging to the community unit. For example, @SubwayDoodle takes the New York experience of “riding the train” to a whole other level by layering cartoons on top of actual photos of train commuters, so students can not only feel closer to the commuting community that they are most likely a part of, but also learn interesting idioms and visual representations of the absurd. A character created entirely of springs at Spring St. Station or a cartoon’s face melting on a hot summer train platform would be great visual aids for English language learners. For the unit Belonging to the world, a way to create consciousness in my students on their interconnectedness with the world would be by showing the page @Parley.TV which creates awareness of the oceans to help work towards ending ocean pollution. Parley for the oceans features stunning images of marine life, as well as examples of the ways humans have affected aquatic habitats with suggestions for how to alleviate human environmental stress. Students could discuss a particular image or video that caught their attention and then write a response to it.

All in all, there is a powerful learning opportunity hiding in one of the apps in our phones. While not everything on Instagram should be shown in a classroom full of adolescents, there are ways to proceed with caution and I believe the pros outweigh the cons and this could be a valuable tool in many classroom settings.

@tallerperalta / @peraltaprjct

@subwaydoodle

@parley.tv