EduBlog Insights

me how blogging may be used in the classroom?” Now that’s a question

that was asked of Tom that I would like to answer. First, I’d like to

refer you to a couple of previous posts I’ve made on this topic. One

was Ways to use weblogs in education and the other is Weblog think

abouts. Perhaps those will help anyone thinking about blogging in the

classroom. As I reread the posts, I kept thinking that I need to update

them and then my next thought was how all this is still just in the

process stage and who knows really where all this will lead.

I think there are many ways to use  blogs in the classroom.No,

there’s not a right way and a wrong way but I do definitely have my own

opinions about ways I would like to see them used. First and foremost,

I would like to see them used with students in ways that help them

better writers and thinkers. And just putting students on blogs does

not make this happen. The teacher makes it happen. I’ve talked before

about the conversations and the connections you can make with students.

It’s important to talk to the students about what is happening.That is

crucial. I use my teacher blog with the elementary students to do that.

I’d start each class off sort of touching base with what I was

writing.Many times I would highlight what a student or another blogger

wrote. We have to talk about what is going on with their blogs. Who

have they heard from? Do they agree? Do they disagree? We talk about

what they are learning. We make connections to how this affects them

and our world. Are they excited about it? Do they understand it? What

questions come to mind? Where might we go to find answers. Then after

the discussions it’s back to the blogging. I think maybe we need to

spend more time talking about this aspect of blogging. The

conversations motivate the students to see themselves as writers who

have something to contribute. I also think we educators can learn a

great deal from the students by observing and listening to what the students have to say.

Having the larger community a weblog provides does make a difference. We can’t get that

from other avenues. I often reads bits of other educator blogs to the

students. It stretches them and I found that their writing and thinking

improved as a result. I don’t have all the answers but I’m still

exploring and learning.

Another thing that makes a difference with weblogs is that the students

are amazed when they realize that someone outside the classroom cares

about what they are writing. It makes quite a difference. Again the

teacher is the one here who needs to help that happen, if it doesn’t of its own accord.

I love the process of building this type of learning together. We truly

are guiding and learning right along with them, not just lecturing. So I encourage you to enter the world

of blogging in your classroom but first spend some time really thinking