Instagram Resources

Saturday, Feb. 15: School Resource Officer Appreciation Day
Monday, Feb. 17: Random Acts of Kindness Day
March: Music in Our Schools Month / Youth Art Month
Sunday, March 2: Read Across America Day
March 3-7: National School Breakfast Week / National School Social Worker Week
Tuesday, March 18: National Social Worker Day
Thursday, March 20: International Day of Happiness

La La La: The city of St. Louis Park (they used this trending audio/dance as a hiring promotion!) and an aquarium to drive engagement. A student-athlete has a clean reel showing how this is trend done with a frontman lip syncing, then some very obvious dance moves in the background. Are you telling me students wouldn't love to dance in the background for 30 seconds?

Day in the Life: This professor shared his first day on campus. Very simple for any staff member to gather clips throughout the day of what they do.

Positive Energy: How cute would this be with students? Short clips of them celebrating something that they're looking forward to as a class.

Here I am, Once Again: A simple roll in and you've got an announcement shouting out a staff member or upcoming event.

A top priority should be building a photo library to use! Remember that Instagram is a photo/video platform. This could be generic shots of lockers, school supplies, signage around the school, smiling students, a stack of books, etc.

Avoid using any stock photos, AI images, or clip art. You should always be using photos taken at your school/events for any post you make.

Get in the habit of taking a photo/video clip to make announcements: Have a special event coming up for Read Across America Day? Take a photo of a student holding their favorite book! Spring dance ahead? Take a short video of students showing off dance moves they're preparing. Annual fundraiser coming up? Use a few photos from last year's event to show how popular it was.

Always be recording vertically to fill the whole screen (rather than horizontal, landscape mode). If you're sharing the video in Instagram Stories, use text to explain what's happening. If you're posting the video as a Reel on the feed, do not put text on it and use the caption area to explain.

Avoiding the use of graphics on your feed isn't just a stylistic choice - it truly determines how many Instagram users will see your post and predicts how many will interact with it.

Here are two reels we made thanking paraprofessionals with Afton-Lakeland staff. One received over 13,600 views with 167 likes, and another with over 12,000 views and 194 likes. Bloomington Public Schools shared a graphic that only received 21 likes.

Similarly, we shared a reel thanking counselors this week that has over 14,100 views with 214 likes, while South Washington Public Schools shared a graphic that only received 10 likes.

It doesn't always need to be a reel - this photo I took on my iPhone to thank custodians received over 2,000 views with 160 likes. A photo/video is always a better way to gain recognition!

Create an Instagram story for upcoming events, timely reminders, or things that require more text. Keep in mind that stories should be for short-term news, posts in your feed should be relevant long-term.

• A holiday short-term/long-term example: Rather than making a "Happy Valentines Day" post with a graphic that is only relevant that day - share a photo of a student activity as they make valentines cards or show how a room is festively decorated.
• Holiday Reminder: It is not necessary to post happy holiday graphics. We do not recommend sharing holiday posts as it is tough to remain consistent and include all holidays. The exception to this is if it directly relates to something our students are doing or a happening in the building. Last year Andersen wrote thank you notes to veterans - would be a great post for Veteran's Day to showcase community building!

Because stories expire after 24 hours, reminders can be posted in stories multiple times - This graphic about an Early College Credit information meeting is scheduled twice on our district account and twice on the high school account (it is not a post on the feed because it isn't relevant long-term after the meeting happens).

You could have a similar graphic for a reminder of a fundraising event coming up on Friday - share on Monday "Get your tickets for Friday's event" and again on Friday "Join us tonight!" AND BONUS - You can add a direct link to purchase tickets/sign up to volunteer right on the Instagram Story (something you can't do with a post).

This is a great post by Brookview Elementary to announce the launch of their Read-A-Thon! Their photos show the assembly at school, while the caption informs what it is and that parents can expect more info in Friday Folders.

A perfect way to make a snow day announcement - the staff was prepared with a cute photo of students in the snow. This is a great post announcing the cancellation, but also shows the importance of having a prepared photo library on-hand to use in a pinch!