Blogging

Blogging in the classroom is versatile and easy to implement. Almost any assignment that involves writing can be transformed into a blog. Although blogs may seem technical at first glance, they are simply writing online for as big or as small an audience as the writer wishes to have.

Blogging ideas . . .

• Reflective writing: Do your students write reflections on what they’ve read? Do they reflect on their research? Instead of turning in a paper, have them post a blog.
• Creative writing: Now their stories can have a wider audience.
• Promote discussion: Do you have students partner up and share ideas? Are your students ever asked to comment on at least one other student’s work? Then have your students submit that work as a blog. The commenter can post his or her ideas below the original work.
• Who said this had to be for students only? . . . How many newsletters have you sent home only to find that they never made it there? The backpack wasn't zipped. The dog threw up on it, etc. Now newsletters can be easily accessed in one location . . . your blog!
• Share work: Do you need a more authentic audience for student work? Do you need a better way to share work with families? Share your blog by giving out the Web address and password for viewing or by allowing your blog to be aggregated with an RSS or Atom feed. (What is that?) Watch this helpful YouTube video from The Common Craft Show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klgLsSxGsU&

Useful tools . . .

• Blogger
• Edublogs
• GoogleReader (for reading aggregated content)

Equipment/Software needed . . .

• computer with Internet connection

(This is not an exhaustive list. If you know someone who uses a different

tool, you might want to use the same one so that you have a local “go to” person.)

I would encourage you to read the post entitled “Getting started” before diving in, and remember to get parental and administrative permission before beginning any endeavor that places student work on the Web.

If you have had success with a lesson involving blogging, please share your pearls of wisdom through a comment to this post!

Angela CMG