Blogs in the classroom

I think that there are many options to using blogs in the classroom that can be very beneficial to students. A fellow classmate told me about a website called kidblog.org which she had discovered in her Practicum classroom. Basically, it is a secured area that the teacher can set up for all of the kids to go in and blog certain topics/assignments. This can be a great tool to introduce children to techology while they are doing an assignment. If you have the students go onto the classroom blog and "write a blog" about the book they just read, it will likely be alot more fun and meaningful for them than just doing an old fashioned book report. This class blog site can be shared with as many or as less people as the teacher chooses. I think it would be a fun idea also to pair with another classroom and each class reads the other classes blogs and has discussions and replies on if they liked the book too, etc. This is a great way to make "assessing a student's reading comprehension" fun and meaningful for them.

Another great use for a blog is a teachers blog. This would be a great way for a teacher to reflect and talk about what the class is doing as well as what is coming up. This is a great way for parents to be able to go on daily and see what their student has done in class. It also could be a great tool for the teachers who are in the same grade and on the same team see what each other are doing and grab ideas.

I do see a few drawbacks to blogging in the classroom.One may argue that it is a little bit "inequitable" as not all families will have access to a computer at home or anywhere. Why is it fair for those families with the skills and computers to know what the kids are doing but not the families who cannot afford computers or have not obtained the skills to use a computer? A solution to this could include the teacher offering to print copies of the blog upon requests for parents that want hard copies.

Another small drawback is being the first teacher to implement this program with students. Alot of time and energy clearly has to go into teaching the students how to use the blog as well as expectations. But, like with any new idea or way of doing things, this is the case. I think that if a dedicated teacher recognizes this will take time and takes the time to do it, it will be beneficial and productive in the long run.