As Teacher Appreciation Week approaches, I want to share a fun, interactive post idea that will not only engage your school community but also shine a spotlight on the incredible educators in your district.
Trust me, this one’s a winner!
The brainchild of Erin Woodiel, Creative Services Specialist for Lee’s Summit R-7 School District in Missouri, the “Day in the Life of a Teacher” video feature will be a guaranteed hit. And while it takes several hours of effort, it’s really not that complicated to create!
Let’s walk through the steps to produce this video, step by step.
By the way, Erin shared this idea in a recent podcast conversation on “Mastering Social Media for Schools.” Join hundreds of subscribers, today, so you can benefit from weekly insights and ideas!
“Day in the Life of a Teacher” Video
Imagine capturing the heart, effort, and passion that goes into a single day of teaching. That’s precisely what this “Day in the Life of a Teacher” video idea is all about.
People love getting a peek behind the scenes of what goes on in just about any profession, don’t they? Harness that curiosity by providing a glimpse into the world of your teachers!
Before you read my step-by-step tutorial, click this video from Lee’s Summit R-7 and watch it all the way through:
How to Execute This Brilliant Idea
Step 1: Choose Your Star
Who better to feature than a teacher who goes above and beyond? Select a teacher who embodies the spirit of education with energy and positivity, and together, plan a day to document their journey. You can always make this a series, and feature teachers across multiple grade levels and buildings, but start small with just one teacher so you don’t get overwhelmed.
Step 2: Capture the Moments
Armed with just your cell phone (yes, that’s all you need!), follow your chosen teacher throughout the day. From the morning bell to the final wave goodbye, capture as many moments as you can – even the small ones.
Remember, authenticity wins, so let the day unfold naturally. Try to capture varied shots – kids lining up in the hallway, eating lunch, going to the library, wide shots of the classroom, and candid expressions of joy and laughter.
You can get multiple angles or perspectives of the same moment, too. During a math lesson, for example, show the whole table, then a detail of the marker on the board, then a close-up of a student smiling as they solve the problem, etc. It helps keep the pace moving when your narration is a little longer, for that part of the day.
It’s these raw, genuine moments that will resonate most!
Step 3: Narrate the Story
Here’s where the magic happens! Before you start stringing together all of your clips, sit down with the teacher and ask them to describe the day you just captured. Record them speaking, and this will be your video voiceover.
Ask them to be concise – Erin said she recorded the teacher talking for about 5 minutes and then clipped out the best soundbites to make a cohesive story, just under 90 seconds in length.
Step 4: Edit the Story
Once you have your voiceover, piece together the footage. Since you already captured a lot of clips, you can grab a couple of seconds from the best ones (that fit the narrative you captured in step 3) and string together a montage.
Utilizing editing software like Adobe Premiere or the Instagram app, combine your audio voiceover with your clips, and voilà! You have a video worth its weight in gold.
Step 5: Publish with Pride
Publish this day-in-the-life video on your school’s social media channels during Teacher Appreciation Week (or any time of year). Not only does this celebrate the individual teacher, but it also amplifies the hard work of all educators in your school.
The Proof is in the Engagement
While your 60- to 90-second video definitely will take more effort than most of the content you share on social media, I’m willing to bet your efforts will pay off. I’m going to let Erin take it over for a moment, to tell you about the feedback and traction her video generated:
The feedback was really great. On the whole, people were really excited to just get into a classroom for a day and see how it works. Our first round of feedback was from our actual community, the people who were seeing this when we posted it to our Facebook and Instagram.
We got a lot of great comments like, “We love you, Miss Malay”, “This is a great example of what a first-grade teacher should be”, and “We love seeing dedicated educators.” The mom of one of the first-grade students who was in the video commented: “She has done so much for our family. We love seeing that you are highlighting her.”
And then our second round of feedback came when the social media algorithm decided to push it out to a global audience! We got a lot of people from around the world who were watching this video, all of a sudden.
One part of her day was sending her kids off to lunch and recess and then she had lunch in the break room with her fellow first-grade teachers. And that duty-free lunch is very, very rare. And so, we ended up getting tons of teachers from all over the place who were commenting things like: “Oh my gosh, hold on to that job” and “You got a duty-free lunch? That’s crazy!” We accidentally promoted a really cool benefit of working for our district: Our teachers do have duty-free lunch!
By the way, Erin and her team have been covering multiple job titles, not just teachers! Watch this feature of their building manager and principal, for more inspiration for your social media efforts.
Ready to Try It for Yourself?
Sharing stories is how we celebrate students and staff and connect communities. So, why not plan ahead NOW for Teacher Appreciation Week, and create a “Day in the Life of a Teacher” video? It’s an incredible opportunity to showcase the love, labor, and impact of your educators!
I can’t wait to see what you create! Leave me a comment if you’re going to try this one out.
