Leveraging Social Media as Educators [Part 1]

EPISODE PREVIEW:

Many educators are hesitant to use social media in their classrooms, and for good reasons; most of the stories you hear in the news show do not showcase it as something that’s positive for the educator or their students. I sat with an educator who’s is looking to flip the script in regards to how he is leveraging social media in his classroom for good.

CJ Reynolds is a high-school teacher in West Philadelphia with an active YouTube and Instagram channel where he documents the meaningful learning experiences in his classroom with the goal to inspire, engage, and motivate new and veteran teachers to be the teacher they always wanted to be. Reynolds uses “real rap” to share teaching tips and strategies and to give an authentic look at what it means to be a teacher in inner city Philadelphia.

In this episode, we discuss:

⬛ how being on social media led to an opportunity for his students to meet with Gary Vaynerchuk; a massive name in social media marketing, and how it changed the lives of some of his students

⬛ how he grew his online community of nearly 30k YouTube subscribers and 7k Instagram followers

⬛ how his content differs from platform to platform

⬛ the impact creating content has had on his relationship with his students and their parents

⬛ how he manages to balance time as an educator, content creator, father, and husband

⬛ what other teachers should think through as they begin to create content for social media

This is part 1 of a 2-part series. In part 2, I will be chatting with a couple educators who are having their students create social media content as part of the class curriculum.

LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE:

CONNECT WITH CJ REYNOLDS:
– Website : realrapwithreynolds.com
– YouTube : /realrapwiththereynolds
– Instagram : @realrapwithreynolds

CONNECT WITH THOM:
– YouTube : /gibsonedu
– Twitter : @gibsonedu
– Instagram : @gibsoneducation/
– My classroom economy instructional video series : thomgibson.com/classroomeconomy/