Category: Free Inquiry

My last inquiry post… seems crazy to me but here we are! Overall, I really enjoyed the inquiry process. It was nice to have a project that was designed for us to devote time to something we were interested in. My original question was how can I increase my engagement on social media, but over the 13 weeks, that question did shift. I explored many things related to social media including shifting focus to video content, and incorporating more teacher related content into my personal social media. I also reflected on other topics such as the effect of stress and weather on my creativity and the importance of self-care and mental health.

What went well with my inquiry: I think the best part of my inquiry was the freedom I had to explore any topics that came up through the process. I enjoyed focusing less on the outcome and more on the process. Through research and conversations with friends, I became very inspired about content creation and creativity in general. I think I was able to really delve into the reasons why I started content creation and why I want to continue as well as the importance creativity has on my mental health.

What didn’t go well and what I would change: I definitely could not devote as much time as I wanted to my inquiry. When life got busy, I fell off track with it and was not able to post as much as I had planned. I also did not see any improvement in my engagement and following which was unfortunate. If I were to do it again, I would try to spend more time on the inquiry and make more sustainable and small goals for each week. Additionally, I feel like many of my updates were very similar so if I were to do it again I would either pick specific things to reflect on each week (related to the goals) or I would just make fewer updates so they were more differentiated.

I plan to incorporate inquiry into my teaching because I think it is a great way to get students engaged in learning about topics they are interested in. Additionally, I think the freedom allows for critical and creative thinking and metacognition which are all important skills for students to develop. Similarly, I feel that inquiry is a great way to make documentation of learning very accessible and inclusive as it can be shown in many ways. I’m curious to know how others plan to integrate what they learned into their teaching? Please comment down below!

Honest update incoming: I have not thought about social media in the past week. This has not necessarily been by choice, but with lesson plans upon lesson plans due and practicum coming up, I have not had the mental capacity to focus on Instagram on this inquiry. I still would like to incorporate some of my previous goals like making education based content and connecting more with my followers, but I have definitely failed at that this week. However, I have still learned a lot from this and past weeks. I have learned that when I get overwhelmed and stressed my hobbies fall to the wayside (I mean doesn’t this happen to everyone – still good to reflect on this). this also means that a lot of my self care practices have also fallen to the side, including social interactions. I have not even spent time with friends or my partner in person, therefore I cannot even fathom trying to create content for my online community.

This has lead me to make a goal for this week and while it is not directly related to my inquiry I believe it will help me become active on Instagram again. My goal is just to incorporate some kind of self-care activity everyday this week. Whether that is getting coffee with a friend or having a relaxing shower, I want to prioritize my mental health again during this busy time. I have found a list of self-care ideas from Good housekeeping that I can refer to during this week: self-care activities.

This week I worked on reaching out to brands to get some collaborations for the spring and summer. I was able to secure another collaboration with Bluenotes (I have worked with them in the past), as well as with a brand called Sunday Club.

Getting to work with brands is one of my favorite parts of content creation (and not just because I get free stuff – although that is cool!). But I love being able to share brands I love with my followers and community. I have had so many opportunities because of my content creation and have made some very close friendships. As I near the end of this inquiry, I have been reflecting on the fact that even if I have not increased my followers, I am still so thankful for my platform and everything that has come from it. I have realized more than ever that it is more important to me to create meaningful connections and community versus focusing on followers and engagement. Through Instagram I have had the opportunity to work with many brands, do multiple photoshoots, make connections with small female-run businesses, stay at an AirBnb with friends, and have made countless meaningful friendships.

I remember back when I first started content creating and I got my very first collaboration with Teangle Matcha. It was such an exciting moment and has lead to so many more amazing opportunities and memories.

I look forward to seeing where my content creation journey will take me next!

This week I struggled with posting on my Instagram again, upon doing some reflection I think it is because I am struggling to incorporate my two identities of student teacher and fashion content creator. I have been conflicted between where to put my energy, because I have to put almost all my energy into schoolwork I find it very difficult to devote my leftover time and energy into content creation. It just seems like my time could be better used either continuing to work on school work or to rest and recover.

Because of this reflection, I decided to do a little bit of research into why social media marketing is an important skill for teachers to have. I thought that maybe I would be more interested in spending time creating content if it was related to teaching. We have had some discussions in class about teachers as content creators, and I wanted to dive a little deeper into that concept. In my EdTech presentation we discussed social media use in the classroom and our various opinions and research on the topic and I am a strong proponent of teachers incorporating or leveraging social media within classrooms. From upEducators, I found a article discussing the reasons it is important for teachers to have social media skills. These included communicating efficiently, engaging students, keeping parents in the loop, and collaborating with other educators.

These reasons are very similar to the reasons I feel that using social media as a tool for teaching is so important. I also think that maybe trying to make content that is related to teaching would help me be more motivated to create content in general. Even if it is not strictly related to school even creating content that revolves around my student teacher life such as outfits of the week for practicum, or a vlog of my morning routine as a student teacher would allow me to engage in my creative outlet while still having it relate to school. I would like to try creating this kind of content to see how it makes me feel and also see how it performs on Instagram.

This week I decided to try asking ChatGPT “How to increase social media engagement” to see what tips it would come up with. I have not done as much research as I maybe could have in this inquiry and so I wanted to both try doing a little more research while also practicing using ChatGPT (which I don’t have that much experience with).

It came up with many tips on how to increase social media engagement including “knowing your audience, having a consistent posting schedule, creating quality content, using hashtags wisely, having engaging captions, creating visually appealing content, hosting contests and giveaways, using stories, responding to comments, doing collaborations, using analytics, sharing educational content, and making paid content.” From my experience these tips are some of the best ways to increase social media engagement. However, they are also quite vague and do not provide too much detail on what actually is visually appealing content or engaging captions. Additionally, although paid content and collaborations can be really good for your career as a content creator, if done too frequently it can lead to frustration from your followers and even losing followers. I would be curious to know what other content creators think about these tips.

Even though it is important to read these tips with a critical eye, some of them like having a consistent posting schedule and responding to comments are definitely helpful tips. Also when I hosted a giveaway once I did gain a lot of followers in a short period of time and that increase was sustained (they did not all unfollow right after the giveaway ended). I think I would like to host another giveaway in the next month or two. Overall, I think using ChatGPT is a great way to get bigger picture tips and ideas.

Over the past week or so I have definitely been more active at posting on Instagram. I cannot believe that we are about half way through our inquiries! And although I have not seen any growth in my account I have learned a few things. One, video content definitely seems to perform the best. Two, I post more when the weather is nice. Three, I am more motivated and inspired when I don’t set rigid deadlines for myself. Content creation has always meant to be a creative outlet for me and I want to ensure that I keep that freedom and creativity so I don’t feel stifled or like it is just another thing on my to do list.

I did work on one collaboration post this week with another one planned that I should be able to shoot and post in March. Having collaboration posts is one of the most exciting parts of my Instagram journey. This week I worked with the brand Berlook to shoot swimsuit content… which is a little difficult to do in the PNW in February. This forced me to get extra creative as I was not about to go on a tropical vacation for this gifted collaboration (although I wish I could write that off!). So I found ways to take pictures indoors and while I don’t like them as much as I would if I could have taken them outside in summer, I am still proud that I figured out how to create the content. I have also considered creating more content that relates to my teacher identity, but I am not sure I’ll have the motivation to do that right now. Overall, I am looking forward to working more on creating more content especially as the weather starts to get better.