Try #2 for classroom blogging

As an English and Language Arts teacher, my entire content area is about writing, analyzing, and discussing, which I think is what blogging is all about. The idea of a classroom blog is exciting to me, because I like the idea of fostering a respectful community for discussion outside the classroom as well as in it, which would perhaps also provide a better outlet for students who grow up learning to type faster than they can write. A classroom blog or forum would be perfect for the students who are like I was in high school, shy about speaking up in class, and afraid of everyone’s scorn when I seemed too smart by answering the teacher’s questions. If the students don’t have to actually speak up in front of each other, they might be able to think more in depth, and answer more in depth about a text or discussion topic. I could also remind students about their assignments, and field questions outside of school in a group setting via the class blog.

One other advantage of a classroom blog would be that I could give each student the same amount of attention while commenting on their post, or their question, which is almost impossible to do in a classroom setting. Depending on the different comfort levels each students has, I could either choose to show the class my responses to each post and make everyone able to comment on each other’s posts and questions, or keep it private for some of the students who don’t want to appear as interested, or desire more privacy from the eyes of their peers when discussing their interests and knowledge.

A good activity that I can imagine assigning each week to my students would be to ask what they think about whichever text we’re working on at that time, and have them post in small groups, and comment on each others posts, which is similar to our activities in our classes during our MAT. Another good group building activity would be for each student to talk about their lives outside of school, and their interests, in the form of a quick write about their families, or about a memory they had growing up. Once they’re more comfortable with each other online, I could ask them to discuss their own personal experiences they’ve had that they feel relate to the text we’re studying, or a topic that we have covered. There are really a lot of ways that I could use a classroom blog. I can only hope that all of my students will have equal access so that I can one day use one.