Blogging in the classroom

As a future teacher, I'm always looking for ways to engage my students in meaningful activities. I think that blogging could be one of the tools that I use for activating students' interest and getting them involved, especially within literacy. In my 5th grade practicum classroom, we are currently involved in a project that requires students to write, edit, and publish their memoirs. They also have one hour a week to spend with laptop computers. Since so many of these students feel comfortable in the technological world, I would love to involve blogging as a way for these students to publish their work in a seemingly "more legitimate" way than just writing it on paper. In this case, students could provide positive feedback on each others' stories.

Another idea that I've been tossing around is reflective journaling between the teacher and the student. This would be a space where students could write without judgement, and communicate with the teacher about successes and difficulties that they're having in class. I think that this is another place that blogging could come into place. Instead of a paper journal, the students could blog with just the teacher, or the teacher and other peers. A necessary consideration would have to be creating a safe space within the blog, and scaffolding students' understanding of mutual respect and healthy communities.

Finally, because of my science focus, I can imagine using blogs to publish findings from classroom experiments. Especially for the younger kids, the idea that their original science conclusions were online would be exciting and novel. Students could also include diagrams, photos, and links to other research online. In all instances, blogging helps students move into the higher thinking in Bloom's Taxonomy; into analyzing, evaluating, and (especially!) creating. With proper resources, I can see my classroom as a place where blogging is a tool for showing critical and creative thought.

Other idea: use kidblog! Safe, closed off to the public, kid-friendly: http://kidblog.org/home.php