Blogs

= = toc =__Why Blogs?__=

**Student Participation ** Most students today are digital natives, and blogs present information to them in a way that is familiar and comfortable. More students may feel encouraged to participate in classroom discussions or groups activities in an online forum, especially students who are shy or socially awkward. The interactive nature of a blog can also encourage lively debate among students, empowering them to become more active participants in the learning process.

**Group Collaboration ** Blogs are a great forum for student collaboration. Students can engage in group work in an open forum, allowing them to communicate at any time. This can make group work more accessible as students do not have to overcome scheduling conflicts or other logistical details to work together, and they can practice their online communication skills. When students are not working on group projects, they can also use the classroom blog for learning from other students through discussion and exchange of ideas.

**Student Portfolios ** Blogs provide a lasting online home for student work, which can be culled at the end of the year or a semester to review progress and to evaluate student learning. Parents, students, and teachers can all review work to better understand learning progress and to identify areas for improvement. Students can also pull work from the blog if a portfolio or project example is needed for an academic application, such as for participation in an advanced program or for a scholarship.

**Classroom Management ** Teachers can use blogs as an online forum for classroom announcements and other managerial tasks. A blog can be created strictly for this purpose, or special pages can be set up on the blog. Announcements, homework assignments, project details, and other logistical details can be shared on the blog for easy access by all students. Teachers can also share links, reading assignments, instructional videos, and more. A blog can even be used to share grades and to track participation, assuming that appropriate privacy measures are used.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Parent Communication ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Blogs help make parent communication easy. Again, a special blog can be set up solely for this purpose, or teachers can choose to create a special section of the blog for parent communication. Teachers can relay information about classroom assignments, ongoing projects, deadlines and reminders, field trips, and much more. With the right privacy settings in place, teachers can also share information about student grades and progress. @http://www.theteachingbox.com/why-teachers-should-use-classroom-blogs/

=__Some Blogs__= Grade 3 Blog 6S Blog Another Grade 3 Blog Grade 1 and 2

=__Blogging Platforms__= Edublogs Blogger - with your Google Acct Posterous 21Classes