Hurricane Irma presented a unique challenge and opportunity last week for this Snapchat experiment. True to my 3x a week commitment, when Friday came, I decided to post this:

Immediately, I got responses back from most of my student followers, of their pets! Once I had heard from them, I decided to send this:

On Monday, I heard from the students that I was the only professor they had heard from during the hurricane. I was reminded how this tool can be used to connect in a caring way with students, and how that connection can make such a difference for them (and for me). I’m also challenged to think about how to balance the academic purpose of the tool (Book quotes are coming up!) and the personal connection. Curious as to how others manage that.