National Geographic and Scholastic Blogs

When I think of classroom blogs, I think of my own personal classroom blog, like this one, or a blog where the teacher posts assignments and students turn in their assignment by responding to posts. Recently, I’ve discovered new ways to use blogs in the classroom. Students can use blogs as a way to collaborate as they work on a project by creating posts and responding to each other by commenting on the posts, which I think is a great way for students to get in touch with one another when they’re not in the classroom, and I can easily monitor their communications.

Another great way to use blogs in the classroom, and I got this idea from viewing the National Geographic and Scholastic Blogs, is to have a page on the blog dedicated to each group project. The students can research the project and then post their part to the page. This way the teacher can see exactly which students participated and how much they contributed. This type of blog is an easy way to take some of the negativity out of group projects because it holds every group member accountable.  I can see this type of blog being used in high school, middle school, or even upper elementary school. And the cool thing about it is that it doesn’t have to be used in just ELA classes, which I feel is often the norm with blogging. Blogging is an easy way to use literacy throughout the curriculum, and I think that it would be a nice change of pace for some students.