Over the past years, blogging has taken off all over the world! Today you can find blogs on practically any topic you may want - from cooking to education, technology to interior design - you name it, there's a blog for it!
The question I am discussing in this entry is regarding teachers blogging for their students. Can blogging have a successful place in the classroom? Am I ready to start a blog in my classroom? Here are my thoughts and suggestions on the topic.
I've always thought that blogs could be a great resource for educators, and in the past, I have explored and actively read many teachers' blogs. I have discovered a lot of successful ones, all of which were focused on inspiring and sharing ideas with other like-minded teachers. So, I didn't put a whole lot of thought into teachers blogging for their students to read and respond ... until I recently did some research into it. In Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, Will Richardson provides some wonderful ideas about how educators are using blogs in their classrooms today. He listed a variety of topics and assignments to try with students. Richardson also mentioned some specifically, one of which was Bill Chamberlain’s teacher blog (Mr. C’s Class Blog). I spent some time exploring it and was totally amazed to see the ways he used technology to truly inspire his students. His classes have even benefited from sharing with students from the other side of the globe. Also, Richardson told about his own adventure, when he set up a blog for students to respond with their thoughts on a specific book. He then contacted the best-selling author, who agreed and enjoyed interacting with and answering questions of students.
So maybe blogging can have a successful part in the classroom.
I think that if you are asking yourself this question - "To Blog or Not to Blog?" - then you probably need to first ask yourself these questions:
- Is my school or district able to handle this? Is my school equipped with the appropriate technology needed to "get online" with student assignments and resources? It seems that there is a broad spectrum of schools' technology equipment across our country. Where does yours fall?
- Will my students be able to handle blogging? Will they be able to read/participate at home? For these questions, you need to consider their age, family, background, experience/level, and availability of technology. Depending on your community, it may be difficult to give a solid "yes" to this question.
- Do I have the knowledge, resources, and time to monitor a blog for my students? Running a classroom blog can take up a lot of time, with the constant need for writing new material for students to read, while monitoring their comments/responses.
- Will starting a blog encourage my students to reflect and share their voice? Will it aid in teaching the standards in my classroom? For most teachers who have already ran a student-focused blog, they would easily answer "yes!" But also think about what will your blog have in it that will accomplish this - the focus, the content, the subject.
Overall, I think that blogs can have a very positive effect in the classroom. As teachers, we see so many different types of learners each day in our classrooms, and they need a variety of outlets to express themselves. Blogging can be one way of making learning fun and creative, while students read and share relevant information. For myself, I have gone through this list of questions, and I will not be adding blogs to my elementary classroom, mainly because of the young age of my students. However, I do think it can have a positive effect on today’s students when it is utilized with the right age group and with proper technology available. I hope this helps you as you may be asking yourself, "To blog or not to blog?"
~Your not-so-techie teacher
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