New Year’s Day is here, as is the annual setting of goals. It’s no different for the tech twins. As we are getting ready for classes to commence, how to integrate Snapchat into our teaching is fresh on our minds, as is the determination to make this go round better than the last. One lesson learned was that it’s probably best to dive into the tool first before just launching into it – but let’s be honest, if I (Deb) were to wait until I felt completely comfortable about using a tool, I’d probably never use it! That being said, the first resolution I have is to go on Snapchat every day and spend 5 minutes looking at the stories. I’ve been doing that for about a week now, and already learned a lot and come up with some new ideas to try:

• Who would you seek out advice on…? (this semester the course is consultation)
• Top tens. Ten proofs that ____ works. Or, ten of the best….
• If you do these 5 things, you’re probably not cut out to be a … (consultant, career counselor, etc.).
• Trends in ____ (career counseling, salaries for different groups, consultation)
• Top ten emerging jobs.
• This top consultant did WHAT!?! (think clip bait).

My second resolution was to start following people.

I did a search on who to follow, and started adding people. I added all the folks from this article today. My favorite so far has been NASA. I wasn’t sure what “following” them meant, but found out if I went to stories, if they posted, I would see it – and I’ve learned some neat ideas (not sure how they do it but am sure I can figure it out), such as:

• Link to a website. “Swipe up to learn…” and I can link to an article, or a blog, or a video.
• Take a poll and share the results immediately.
• Give 5 reasons why they should/shouldn’t do X.

So far, so good on the two goals. I’ve also started posting daily -might as well – I’m there already, right? It’s a week before class starts, so I decided to pull up the syllabus to see what topics I’m covering and to start thinking about how I might enhance the information with Snapchat. I’ve found the syllabus to be a bit too vague (e.g., consultation steps or consult variables), so I may have to dive into the lectures to see if any key points yield more creative options. Would love to hear from those of you who incorporate Snapchat into your teaching. What are you doing? What has worked well?