Documenting Children's Learning Using Instagram Reels

It was my absolute pleasure speak as keynote at the Canadian Early Mathematics Education Conference in quaint Kingston, Ontario on August 22, 2022. In addition to being able to stroll the downtown area and marvel at the beautiful campus of Queen's University, I meet many amazing educators who connected with me regarding early math learning, humbled me with kind comments about my work, and fascinated me with interesting questions regarding the teaching and learning of mathematics in the early years.

 

My presentation focused on sharing stories from my classroom in hopes of inspiring educators to consider how they might create opportunities for joyful math in all areas including art, literacy, the classroom environment, routines, and outdoor learning. I also shared information regarding the documentation I collect regarding math learning and how children can help co-create this documentation as part of assessment process. 

Throughout my presentation I shared many Instagram reels that I had created this past school year. These were often meant to be quick, easy and entertaining ways to make the learning visible for children, families and the community. I embedded the clips throughout the presentation to help highlight specific ways math could easily be integrated into other subject areas. I also spoke to how Instagram reels could be used as a form of documentation.

I was not surprised that the majority of conversations I had with educators after my presentation were regarding Instagram reels. Many people were curious to learn more. As a result I thought it might be helpful to blog about this and share the ideas beyond the conference.

There are many reasons why I would encourage any educator to consider creating reels as a form of communication regarding learning and special events happening in the classroom. I can think of many more, but here are my top ten:

1. Instagram reels are an engaging way to share information in a format that appeals to a viewer's senses and emotions. Catchy sound effects, music, text, stickers, hashtags and filters can be used to enhance photos and videos that help amplify the message you are hoping to send. In this reel I'm hoping to show in a humorous way how messy kindergarten children can get when exploring the outdoors, and that it's normal and healthy.

2. Instagram reels can help educators share best practices with others using social media, helping them reach beyond their immediate learning community and idea share with many others. I like to post reels that explain teaching strategies or that challenge traditional ideas or routines that others might be curious about. For example here is a reel that encourages educators to think beyond traditional 'calendar' during morning message.

3. Instagram reels can help explain the steps behind a specific activity so others can try it themselves. This way of explaining the process appeals to visual learners who would rather watch a video than read steps. The size of reels also mean that the instructions should be succinct. This reel explains how to create textured watercolours using simple materials.

4. Instagram reels can help educators unpack activities for families and the community so the learning can be made visible. This might be especially helpful for experiences that families might be unsure about including messy sensory experiences. I tried to use this reel to explain the rich learning that happens in mud play.

5. Instagram reels can help change a viewer's perception of a non-preferred subject or task. For example I try to use reels to show the beauty and wonder of mathematics because so many people still default to their negative experiences and consider it a cold and solitary experience. I want to portray math as beautiful and interconnected to nature and our everyday experiences. This reel shows a few examples of math integrated in areas of the classroom.

6. Instagram reels can be co-created with children and used as a form of communication to provide a summary of the week's experiences. They can very effectively replace weekly newsletters or bulletins meant to share news from the classroom. Children can suggest clips to include and educators can chose salient videos that highlight the rich learning that has occurred. This reel highlights some of the events that happened in one week in the spring.

7. Instagram reels can be used to give families and the community tours of the classroom and other school spaces. I have shared tours of my classroom during kindergarten registration when potential families are viewing the school, during Covid closures so families could virtually step into their children's learning space, and also as a way to share with other educators who might be looking for new ways of organizing their space. This reel is a flashback to a previous classroom I had in hopes the ideas sparked conversations and starting points for educators.

8. Instagram reels are a fun way to share a bit about yourself to your school community. I like to create a few personal ones that show my interests, pets and family in order to humanize me to my school community and make myself relatable. This definitely depends on one's comfort level to allow others to take a small step into your life and might not be for everyone. This reel was created on a sunny, lazy Sunday in my backyard.

9.  Instagram reels help educators connect with a 'professional learning community' or PLC. Use a rich wording when describing your work. Adding hashtags to your reel will also help audiences find your work as well as having it appear in the reels section of the app. It can be liked, shared or commented upon by others. Many times creating reels will help an educator connect with other like-minded people, and it's very enriching to view reels created by others. An Instagram PLC will provide endless opportunities for networking and collaboration! This reel piggybacked on a sound trend and was meant to show math in very different ways.

10. Instagram reels are a fun, creative outlet! I am always engrossed in creating these and love the challenge they provide. Involving students in their creation helps a class become producers and not just consumers of information. When co-creating and reflecting upon reels, children engage in digital documentation and can appreciate the depths of their work and understanding, and plan next steps for action. I love how this reel coordinates a fun song with the child's math game.

Tips to get started:

*find educators to follow on Instagram that work in your field, or share interests - use hashtags to help locate experts and other interesting people

*watch the reels stream in your Instagram wall - even though many of these videos are not related to education, they are entertaining and can spark ideas for your reel creation

*use up to 30 hashtags to describe your work - the more you use, the better viewers can locate your work

*capture as many videos and photos as you can in your classroom - you never know what might turn out to be interesting and important to include in a reel

*ask children to share ideas for photos and videos, or invite them to include their own work to make reels authentic and meaningful

*take photos and film videos vertically to make them fit properly into the Instagram formatting. Horizontal images and videos can still be used, but they have a large black frame around them which makes them appear small and harder to view

*use filters, stickers, locations, text, etc. to enhance your work

*jump on trends and modify them for educational use in order to help your reels be discovered by others

*reels (unless they have sound copyright or restrictions) can be saved to your phone or computer, and mashed with other tech - you can share these saved videos on twitter, in digital documentation programs like Edsby or Seesaw, or added to a blog (like I have here) to get the most out of your work

To see more of my reels and connect on Instagram please follow @McLennan1977!

Math-ercise Videos

Interactive videos can be a great way to engage children in virtual learning spaces, or can be used in the physical classroom as warm ups to lessons, during transition times, or even during lunch times when children are finished eating (especially during Covid when only half the children can be eating at once and the other half of the class requires something to work on).

I have created some simple math-ercise videos that educators and families can use to help engage children in exploring math concepts. These ask children to look at a math equation and complete the exercise that corresponds to the answer they feel is correct. Children complete the exercise for 20 seconds and then get 5 seconds of rest as the correct answer is displayed. I feel that the physical nature of the videos will be engaging for children and add a kinesthetic feature to math learning. Videos can be paused and mini number talks can occur if educators wish.

The first video explores adding to 10.

 Math-ercise Workout - Adding up to 10

The second video explores adding to 20.

 Math-ercise Workout - Adding up to 20

 

The third video explores subtracting from 10.

 Math-ercise Workout - Subtracting from 10

 

The third video explores subtracting from 20.

Math-ercise Workout - Subtracting from 20

 

I will continue to create videos and add them to this blog post over time. I am hoping to explore subtraction, multiplication and division facts.

Educators may wish to create their own videos/presentations to explore other math concepts (e.g., number patterns, doubles). 

Get a copy of the files here to use at your own pace in your physical or virtual classroom. This gives you the option to pause the power point and explore each slide or personalize it to best meet the needs of your students. Music and transition times are embedded within the presentation so all educators need to do is change the equations and answers on each slide. Playing the presentation should run it without the need to manually forward each slide. 

This version is not animated: PDF Math-ercise File

Get a copy of the Power Point file here: PPTX Math-ercise File.

Get a copy of the Google Slides file here: Google Slides Math-ercise File 

Feel free to share with others! Feedback in the comments always appreciated!

Stamping Holiday Wrapping Paper

One of our favourite activities to do for the holiday season is to encourage the children to do some stamping with seasonal cookie cutters and paint. The piece of artwork can then be sent home and recycled as wrapping paper.  It's a great lesson on art, sharing, and recycling!

The cookie cutters and festive paint appealed to the children and many were eager to participate in the activity as soon as they saw it!

Children were invited to stamp their papers however they wanted. We love the jolly red snowman!

Every child made a sheet of printed paper. Why don't you invite your child to choose whose present gets wrapped in this special paper and encourage him or her to help you wrap? It would be great fine motor and hand-eye practice!

Drawing Outdoors

It was such a beautiful, crisp autumn morning today! We decided to bring the children outside for a drawing experience! Using a very large piece of butcher paper, we encouraged the children to work together and share materials while drawing pictures of their choice. Some children wrote words and others created patterns - a concept we have been exploring in our large and small group activities.

What great team work!

Incorporating More Authentic Writing into Activities

This past Monday I had the opportunity to visit some amazing teachers at a school in Windsor. After viewing their kindergarten classroom and seeing children in action during play time, I came away with some great ideas for how to provide more opportunities for authentic, child-produced writing in our program.  We started some of these this week and I am eager to share them with you so that perhaps you can engage your children in discussions about the writing they are doing at school.

We now have a "Sharing" space where each day children can write down ideas that they'd like to share with others. The children were eager to share information about what was important to them at both home and school. This open ended opportunity for writing helps encourage all children to share their ideas, regardless of what developmental stage of writing in which they are.

We also now have a make and display area where children can share their structures and creations. Children who want to display their work are encouraged to label it, so others can learn more about what they've made.

We've also added a writing space in our building area so that children can record their contruction ideas in print. Today a child was excited to share what she had made using the 3D connectors. She accurately drew her creation by tracing it, and then added the words after. What a neat idea!

We asked some children who had painted pictures to add captions so that others would know what had been created. Children sounded out their words with some teacher assistance and these are now on display in our classroom.

We are so thrilled with the enthusiasm our children have had towards these writing endeavours. You can help out at home by encouraging your child to engage in authentic writing. Providing a journal so that your child can freely draw pictures and write words is a great way to encourage and celebrate authentic writing. You can also have your child help write letters or emails to relatives, write or copy the grocery list, and make labels for their toys and other household items.

Puppet Show!

We were treated to a puppet show today! This show discussed sharing and how to be a good friend. Thank you to Mrs. Wood and Mr. Gagnier for organizing and presenting this great experience for our children!

We ended the show with a holiday sing-along!

Secret Messages

After reading a story about clubs and invisible messages, our children spent time writing secret messages to one another during play time.  It was a very popular activity! (Thank you to Mrs. Shepley and Mrs. Bombadier for a great idea!)

We used white oil pastels, white paper, and tempera block paint. Children were invited to draw a picture, create a design, or write letters and words using the white pastel and paper.

Once the secret message had been written, children brushed the paint over top and watched their message magically appear!

Some children wrote messages to themselves, while others passed their papers back and forth. It was very exciting being given a message from a friend!  Some children couldn't wait to get to the painting area to decode their secret message!

This activity inspired much writing and positive interaction among our young learners!  It's easy to do it at home too!  Why don't you encourage your child to write secret messages to family members?  It's a great way to get children interested in writing and discussing their writing with others!

Some Ontario Curriculum that this activity fulfilled includes:

1.4 follow and provide one- and two-step

directions in different contexts (e.g.,

in classroom routines; in music,

drama, and dance activities; in

outdoor play; in learning centres;

in large-group activities)

4.1 demonstrate an interest in writing

(e.g., choose a variety of writing

materials, such as adhesive notes,

labels, envelopes, coloured paper,

markers, crayons, pencils) and choose

to write in a variety of contexts

(e.g., draw or record ideas at

learning centres)

4.3 write simple messages (e.g., a grocery

list on unlined paper, a greeting

card made on a computer; labels for

a block or sand construction), using a

combination of pictures, symbols,

knowledge of the correspondence

between letters and sounds (phonics),

and familiar words

4.3 use a functional grip in written

communication to produce writing

that they and others can read