After school on a Wednesday, an eighth grader checks her friends’ posts on Snapchat. After swiping through group selfies, videos of pets, and photos from a Parker basketball game, she sees a picture of her math assignment written on the whiteboard of room 343, complete with the Parker “Geotag” on the bottom of her screen.

At the beginning of this school year, eighth grade Algebra 1+ teacher Tim O’Connor created a Snapchat account (mroconnor_fwp) specifically for posting homework assignments and announcements for his students. To do so, he utilizes Snapchat’s “Stories” feature, allowing his students to view his pictures and videos before they are automatically deleted 24 hours later.

According to O’Connor, he hatched the idea last spring after listening to a webinar about social media and classroom instruction. The webinar highlighted the importance of connecting with students “in the places where they live.”

“I know that a lot of my students use Snapchat,” O’Connor said. “I figured if I could use it in an educational way, then they could easily see my messages without having to leave their world.”

Many of O’Connor’s students find his use of Snapchat helpful. “It’s really convenient to get my homework from Snapchat,” 8th grade Algebra 1+ student Lucy McGrath said.  “I’m on Snapchat more of the time than Google Classroom.”

When first presenting his plan to Middle School Head John Novick, O’Connor emphasized that he wouldn’t be invading students’ privacy by connecting with them on Snapchat. O’Connor doesn’t add students back when they follow his account, so he can’t see their posts or send them pictures. Novick said, “The social media relationship between students and teachers should be an academic one, specifically for class.”

Like the other eighth grade teachers, O’Connor continues to update Google Classroom pages with homework and announcements for each of his sections.This allows his students who don’t have Snapchat accounts or who prefer Classroom to access their work.

“We’re in an era where communicating happens in person, electronically, in writing, via video –  all kinds of ways,” Novick said. “In order to help students, especially 8th graders, stay organized, I like the idea of using multiple platforms for communications.”

Utilizing Snapchat for education aligns with O’Connor’s teaching style. “Since I started teaching, I always wanted to be at the forefront of technology,” O’Connor said. “I’ve enjoyed using Snapchat this year, and I think teachers should do what they’re comfortable with. I wouldn’t want to advocate to a teacher who doesn’t know what Snapchat is to try it, but some teachers want to do anything they can to keep progressing in terms of technology.”

8th grade history teacher Stephanie Lorenzo thinks O’Connor’s use of Snapchat is innovative. Lorenzo said, “I think it’s fun for students and teachers to interact with a class in a different way.”

8th grade English teacher and Grade Head David Fuder doesn’t feel as though it is necessary for him to use another method of communicating with students. “To me, Snapchat doesn’t seem like a platform that would connect to an academic mindset,” Fuder said. “I’m not against using Snapchat, I just don’t have a motivation to use it since I share everything on Classroom.”

Google Classroom is also sufficient for 8th grade Algebra 1+ student Camille Grant. “Snapchat can be good for seeing your assignments, but usually I’ll just go to Classroom,” Grant said. “I don’t really think to check Snapchat for homework.”

Though students who only check Classroom won’t miss any class-related posts, O’Connor’s Snapchat Stories and Classroom pages aren’t exactly alike. “If I see something funny or there’s a silly filter on Snapchat,” O’Connor said, “I’ll post it with some kind of message.”

O’Connor’s Snapchat account is more popular than he originally expected. “Word must have traveled,” O’Connor said. “At the beginning of the year, I just told my students about my Snapchat, but now, students from Mr. Woodard’s class and some of my former students, who are now in Upper School, follow me.”

According to O’Connor, one of his most viewed posts featured him using one of Snapchat’s face lenses with the caption “Have a nice day off!” on a day when students didn’t have school. His other Snapchat posts have included him wishing students good luck studying for an upcoming test and a picture of a student’s shoes with the caption “sick kicks.”

“I want to be accessible to students,” O’Connor said, “but I also want to have fun.”