UPDATED!!! #BookSnaps have taken the world by storm!! Enjoy this post…and contact Tara Martin if you would like her to speak about #BookSnaps at your conference or with your staff!

Now THIS is cool!! The always innovative and inspiring educator from Lawrence, Kansas, Tara Martin, has agreed to contribute a guest post for my blog on how and why she creates #BookSnaps. Snapchat gets a bad rap sometimes…but here is a way to use it to promote the forces of good! Have students or staff make their learning and thinking VISIBLE by creating powerful reflections of their reading. Follow Tara on Twitter and be sure to visit her R.E.A.L. blog for more edu-awesomeness!

Here’s Tara! (New links added to end of post!)

Snapping For Learning – #BookSnaps 

According to the cell phone data report, it is safe to say that the Snapchat app occupies a high percentage the Martin-bill usage. My fifteen-year-old makes certain of it! He’s steadily snapping pictures of his daily interactions and sharing them out with his buddies locally and all over the globe. I must admit, Snapchat is an app I did NOT see a need for until a recently sparked idea. I participated in an educational Twitter chat several weeks ago, and one of the teachers shared out this notion of snapping book quotes to increase interaction with a book study. I’ve seen others take pictures of book quotes, and that’s awesome. However, the idea in my mind was to create a digital visual representations of the text using emojis and bitmojis. It got my mind reeling; now THAT might be a productive use of Snapchat that I’m willing to explore.

So, just as any curious pirate would do, I began the voyage to try out my idea of #BookSnaps. It was a treasure chest full of vivid images in my mind, but I needed to apply it.
The timing was perfect; my colleagues and I had just set up a book study with Launch by A.J. Juliani and John Spencer. We immediately began snapping images of our favorite quotes, creating visual representation of our thoughts with bitmojis and emojis,  and adding them to our “Snap Story” for daily viewing between face-to-face meetings.

While keeping student learning as the key motivator to try a concept such as this, a few questions came to mind as we created and posted BookSnaps.

Using #BookSnaps with Students!!

1.) How might we find ways for students to use this method for reflecting about the content they are learning?

2.) Will speaking their Snapchat-language encourage more interaction with the book, content, or topic?

3.) How might students share BookSnaps with teachers via media outlets such as Google Classroom, SeeSaw, Twitter classroom, etc.?

You are likely asking, what the heck is a BookSnap and how does it work? Fear not, you’re in safe hands! I’ve been trained by the Master Snapchatter, my fifteen-year-old, Kaleb. It’s as easy as 1-2-3.

1.) Download Snapchat from the App Store

2.) Add your book study pals by clicking the little ghost and “Add Friends by Username.”

3.) Begin documenting your reflections as you read

To create #BookSnaps watch this quick little how-to video. You will be guided to navigate the features of Snapchat, create adorable visuals and upload the images to your Snap Story and other social media outlets so we might visibly see what you’re thinking.

How to Create #BookSnaps

If you would like to follow my #BookSnaps:

1.) Simply open your Snapchat app

2.) Take a picture of this image on the right – the SnapCode

3.) Add as Friend

4.) Or, you can add me at taramartinreal

Please comment below and/or share on Twitter @TaraMartinEDU if you try this in your class or with your colleagues. Let’s flood Twitter by including the hashtag #BookSnaps with each image posted. I’d love to hear about your “Snapping for Learning” adventures.

Here are examples of #BookSnaps I’ve created for Innovators Mindset, Kids Deserve It, Teach Like a Pirate, and Learn Like a Pirate:

Thank you, Dave, for this incredible opportunity to share my latest BookSnap experiences. What an honor to guest post for my EduHero–The Pirate!

~Tara Martin

* If you’d like the link to my blog on Snapping for Learning
http://www.tarammartin.com/snapping-for-learning-booksnaps/

* If you would like to create #BookSnaps with APPS other than Snapchat or see MORE examples, Click HERE! Also, for more creative #BookSnaps options, view the Resources Tab on my website.

Wow!!! Thank you, Tara! She has just recently complete an amazing #BookSnaps Student Challenge to encourage reading and powerful reflections. Here is a link to the Week 2 winners. She also made a fantastic video reflection of the experience that you can see RIGHT HERE.

Dave