Required Blog Questions

1. How can I use Blogs in my classroom?

Blogs are useful for a variety of reasons. I have used blogs as a place for students to respond to certain questions, images, or movies in our Language Arts class. The excellent thing about a blog is that a teacher may present it as instantaneous publishing. Students have the pressure of seeing their published work accessible by anyone. This article from Edutopia explains one of the greatest benefits of blogging when the author explains:

"The real power of blogging, the greatest benefit in writing for a blog, goes not to the audience but rather to the writer. It is in the very act of writing, the preparation of the content you are going to share, that the benefit is found. Writing is a reflective process, and the creation of content you're going to share causes you to work hard to make your thinking clear."

I wish I could get a blog account for every student in our school so that I could make blogging a regular practice in my class curriculum. Of course, this hasn't happened due to a number of precautionary measures

2. Where will Blogs fit into my curriculum?

For my middle school Language Arts classes, I would like to set up blogs for all of the students to use as a place for them to document their thoughts about their independently chosen reading books. I would like to designate a time where students log on to their blogs and write about the happenings in their books and what metacognitive thoughts their currently having about what their reading. Then, once a month, the students would be required to log on to the blogs and read each others' posts. After reading, students would then comment on posts that they think are compelling. This will encourage two of the most important elements of our seventh grade literacy curriculum. First, students self-monitor and reflect upon their reading comprehension; second, students learn to write critically and relate their own literary knowledge to the knowledge of others.

Welcome 650!

Today we are learning about blogging and wikispaces. Here is some entertainment for all of you.