Blogs

Blogger, Blogmeister, Wordpress, what are all of these? These are websites that host blogs. Blog is the nickname for what was once termed Web- logs, or Weblog, then just became blog. In basic terms a blog is simply a means of communicating with other via the internet. Blogs exist on virtually any topic you can imagine, and some are just people's random thoughts on anything and everything. The require no special software, or training to use - if you're just commenting on what others have posted. However, if you create your own blog, you may want to play around with it for a while to learn the in's and out's of the particular website hosting the blog. The most popular websites for blogging are Blogger.com, Blogmeister.com and Wordpress.com. And while the ability to download photos and videos to blogs is possible, a majority of blogs consist mostly of peoples' written thoughts. A blog creator will write and publish a "post" then readers will "comment" on what the creator and others have said. Truly, the best way to understand a blog is to find one on a topic that is of personal interest to you and just start blogging! Once you've blogged you'll understand it better and be able to find ways to connect it to your classroom.

 For instance, during the 2007-2008 school year, I decided to have my students blog rather than write "old-fashioned" paper and pencil journals. The response was huge! Kids loved it and wrote far more than I typically required, but what was better than that, they were reading each others comments and responding!

 __Other ways to use blogs in education include:__


 * Teacher Communication: use it to communicate with students, parents or other teachers
 * Dialogue Generator: teach posts questions/comments on a current subject to introduce it, discuss it further, get students thinking & responding
 * Student Blogs: (see my example above)
 * Teacher Blogs: teachers can use it to communicate with each other with thoughts, comments, questions. This could be very useful in a mentoring program.

__How blogs help students: __


 * Students find a voice: blogs (and wiki-writing) help students find a personal "voice" and can help develop individual interests.
 * Creates Enthusiasm for writing & communicating: while not every student will enjoy blogging (just as the don't with writing), blogging does generate greater enthusiasm for writing, and for reading & sharing.
 * Engages students in conversations & learning: blogs have the potential to engage students with each other in a way that might not occur face-to-face, likewise it can engage students with other students across the nation and world! Imagine the kinds of relationships that could develop amongst teens across the globe?!
 * Provides an opportunity to teach about responsible journalism: because blogs are not as private as a personal diary, blogging provides opportunities for teachers to teach, and students to learn, responsible, ethical habits and behaviors.
 * Empowers students: Student blogging is incredibly empowering in the following ways:
 * 1) Instead of writing as a mechanized approach to empowerment where we learn to write well enough for school and work, we learn to write for authentic purposes which provide opportunities for life-long learning.
 * 2) Writing and blogging and life are intertwined as difficult issues are exposed and dealt with in a transparent community of voices. Although this type of writing entails risk and trust, growth and teamwork naturally result.
 * 3) <span style="color: #3d2b5e; font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Writing and blogging encourage students' initiative to write, to be engaged at more than just the head level. It involves writing from head and heart. Children often have not learned to do more than live from the heart, while adults have concentrated their efforts on more cerebral approaches. This means adults and children can bridge the gap that exists by writing together, creating a community of writers in their classrooms where there is no pseudo-community, only community where humans write <span style="color: #593b87; font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">.

<span style="color: #623f92; font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">For other blogs check out: [|Wil Richardson's blog][|TeacherTech blog][|The Shifted Librarian][|Scientific Blogs]from Wired

<span style="color: #623f92; font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;"> For articles on blogging see: [|Scholar's Who Blog]from Chronicle of Higher Education (June, 2003) [|Writing with Web Logs] from TechLearning (Feb., 2003), [|Blogs = Invitation to Lives] by Clarence Fisher [|What Exactly is a Blog, Anyway?] by Andy Carvin - PBS.org