The Courage To Blog With Students

By Marsha Ratzel

When I asked my students recently how blogging in class makes a difference to them, they had lots to say . Blogging has allowed them to meet students from all over the world and discover new interests. It's also helped them improve their technology skills and write more on assignments than they could if they had to use paper and pencil.

But for the teacher, bringing blogging into the classroom can be both thrilling and terrifying at the same time. No doubt about it, making the decision to try student blogging is an act of courage. With that in mind, I’d like to share eight things I’ve learned that can help ensure your brave step is also a wise and successful one for you and your kids.

Tip #1: The best way to get your feet wet without drowning is to use a group blog. On a group blog, the whole class participates together. Teachers provide the writing prompt, and students reply in the comments section. The most popular blogging platforms are Edublogs , Word Press , Blogger , posterous , and kidblog . Depending on the software, teachers can have moderating controls set so comments appear immediately or stay in the queue until the teacher "approves" them. You may want your blog to house student work that looks like traditional assignments (e.g., writing portfolios or story drafts ). Or the blog could have student writers reporting on the day’s classroom activities, or sharing their artwork , or what they’ve learned during the semester. Sometimes comments might be specific to a class assignment from history , math , or science .

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