Should blogging be apart of your classroom?

Blogging is somewhat knew to me. I really had never heard of a blog or blogging until this past semester where I had to first create my own blog. In my college class, we used the blog to build community within our class and respond to different readings each week. It was actually a pretty effective way to communicate with my peers I wouldn't normally have talked to in the classroom. As a college student I found it pretty interesting to see everyone opinion's on different texts we had read and how differently everyone thoughts were. The blog was a way that everyone could have a voice, state their opinion and feel very apart of the class.

While I liked having a blog for my college class, at first I didn't know if I completely liked the idea of blogging with elementary students. The reason I was a little hesitant at first was mainly the safety issue. The blog is very public and out there for anyone to read. I at first felt that parents and many school authorities would not like the idea of putting students at any risk. But as I was reading, my opinion of blogs in the classroom began to change...

Like I said before, blogging is very new to me. As I was reading in our text this week, I began to learn more about ways that you can protect students and the class on the blog. Of course I would have to teach students the do's and don'ts of blogging and it may even require meeting with the parents/school officials to teach them of the safety measures to take when blogging. By teaching the students/teachers/parents/school authorities to be responsible bloggers and monitoring the site often, blogging could be a safe way for students to express their thoughts in a new and creative way.

I am really beginning to see how beneficial blogging could be to the classroom. Students would have the freedom to blog from home/school, whenever they wanted with questions and comments on their learning. It could also be a way to build community, just as it was in my college class. Teaching students to read/respond to classmates thoughts/opinion will only prepare them more for the real world and life.

I am excited to learn how to bring blogs to the classroom!