Blah, Blah, Blah Blogging

Blogging for education, blogging for your classroom and blogging as an educator sounds like Blah,Blah, Blah. Actually that Blah,Blah, Blah blogging can be a valuable tool to use for/with your class and students.  Blogging for students could take the place of individual

journaling.  Each student could have their own Blog site.  The site could be made private.  This way they could share it with only people they allowed. (Of course, they would need to share it with me.) This Blog would be their own, their own voice, their own style and none of the worries of others seeing it.  Going forward, the student could keep their blog for forever if they like.  It could be a school and personal blog.  They could see how much they have changed and developed over the years. Their blog becomes a tangible piece of evidence of their individual growth.  How awesome is that!

On a classroom blog that I would name “Daily Thoughts”,  a question,quote, thought or statement could be posted and the students could respond. Students should be given an option to either respond directly on the Blog or respond in their

personal journal.  All of my students are special needs.  Some of them despise writing (either because writing and the process is difficult, they have difficulty expressing themselves, they lack the confidence in their writing ability or fear rejection or criticism). I could also have a classroom blog that I share about the happening in the class. Parents would be able to view the blog and read about, see pictures and comment on our class.  

    If I wanted a Blog site as an educator, I could share stories, tips and daily life as a teacher.  My colleagues and I will often joke that we should write a book about the crazy things/anitcs😁 that students do and say.  Of course, no real names would be named.   Those stories would be an interesting read.   Perhaps I should talk to my colleagues about this.  

As with all things, a Blog comes with risks and potential problems.  Students are not always mature.  I could see some students commenting with inappropriate things and my boys would definitely add a lot of potty talk.💩  With words comes DRAMA. Words written could be misconstrued. My older students especially the girls love to talk, share, text, and participate in all other social networking stuff. Many times they would come crying to me and telling me that so and so said this.  I do a lot of mediating and role playing to help the students deal with the drama. A Blog could potentially have the same issues and DRAMA will happen.  I would also be concerned about bullying especially on the students’ individual sites.  Even though I work in a Christian school, our students can be mean and hurtful. It is definitely a heart issue with them. The students will need to be taught and reminded of proper blogging etiquette. It a wonderful thing that I can openly share Jesus with my students. What better way to help your students learn to blog when you can mold your students from a Biblical perspective!