Blogging about Blogging!

So here I am, writing a blog about blogging.  First off, I know that not everyone is a believer in blogging, or blogs in general.  I don't really have a feeling about them one way or another, but I am more of a blog reader, than a blog writer.  I think it's important to note that when you are writing a blog, you have to want to be writing it, and you also have to have something interesting to say so that people actually want to read it. I know that many of the blogs that I read (fitness, DIY, cooking blogs, etc) have relatively short posts which makes it easy for me to keep up and follow on a regular basis so I think it's important to keep it short and sweet so that readers don't get overwhelmed with the amount of information on the page and decide not to continue reading.


I know plenty of teachers who have used a blog I their classroom for educational purposes, but I've never tried it myself. Some teachers use it for themselves as a way to reflect on their teaching and happenings in their classroom.  I think that is a very valuable way to use a blog. Others can see your insights and creative ideas but also learn from your mistakes if you write about things that you did that didn't go as planned during a lesson.  As long as the information shared is interesting, I know lots of teachers who would be willing to read about a teacher's reflections.


Another way to use a blog in the classroom is to get your students involved.  Either having a class blog or having each student create their own if they are independent enough, having them experience the world of blogs could teach students a lot that they can't learn about just by reading books or having class discussions.  A class blog would be great to teach the class how to work together as a community and could foster lots of conversations that end up on the blog for readers to read.  The possibilities of things the class could blog about are endless and it would also give parents and family members a place to see what's going on in the classroom.  For the older grades, it could be a place of reflection and dialogue between students and also a way to provide feedback to each other.  This will allow for growth, progress and understanding across the board on many different topics.  It allows students to also work on writing skills so it is a great way for teachers to have lessons that are cross curricular.  


Overall, I think blogs are a good idea in the classroom. It is just a matter of people getting comfortable and figuring out how to use them in a way that works and that benefits the students.