With more and more teachers all around the school integrating social media into their classes (i.e. Twitter, Instagram, etc.), math instructor Kevin Koch is taking it to the next level, assigning his pre-calculus students to create Vines and upload them to an account he’s made available for all of them to login to. The account, “KochyMonsterMath,” has been active since the beginning of the second semester, and multiple vines created by his students have already been uploaded. Koch explains the reasoning for starting his class-wide Vine account and how it will help in explaining pre-calculus concepts.

“We’re going to be using student created Vines, and some teacher created Vines, to assist in our learning this semester,” Koch said. “Our first one that we completed was simply ‘What is trig?’, so they [the students] could do a literal definition, they could show me examples, or they could make up an example. It was really just to kind of get them experienced, because although a majority of the kids have already been using Vine, some haven’t, so this was kind of a quick introduction and to do something easy.”

He also goes on to explain what gave him the idea to start Vineing for class.

“It [creating a Vine account] was an idea I had based upon a speaker [Will Richardson] that we [the faculty] had come in right before [Winter Break],” Koch said. “He [Richardson] talked about how much information is out there for students to use to learn, and how little we actually use it as teachers. It got me thinking about how I’m on my phone as much as anybody, so I found some ways on the internet of how teachers are using Vine to increase the awareness and knowledge in class, so I decided to give it a shot!”

But despite the enthusiasm from Koch, some students are still warming up to the idea and how it will actually enhance their learning experience both in and out of the classroom, like junior Nicole Russell.

“It’s just extra work to do,” Russell said. “I don’t think it helps. Like for the last one we did [‘What is trig?’], most people just looked up pictures on the Internet. I think you get more out of it by looking up the definition in the book and having it taught to us.”

On the opposite end of the spectrum, junior Maren Stone explains why she is so enthusiastic towards the Vine account.

“I love the fact that Mr. Koch is trying to bring something fun that kids enjoy outside of the classroom, into the classroom,” Stone said. “Sometimes when you can’t think of anything creative they seem a bit pointless, but overall I think it’s a great idea. I think it’s a great representation of Westside’s creative learning, not many teachers at other schools have Vines or Twitter accounts. It’s just another way for students to communicate with teachers, and it’s fun!”

Koch is optimistic and excited to use Vine in the classroom even more as the year progresses, whether it be on a small or grandiose scale.

“As we get more along it’ll be more directed towards the particular material that we are working on,” Koch said. “Another piece that we are going to try and use with this is the NeSA math state exams that’s coming up. We’ll be doing some review segments for that as well, which not only kids in my class could use, but all of the juniors could use to look at and help them prepare.”