Using Blog Posts in the Classroom

As technology is becoming more advanced, so are the ways in which teachers use the media. For example, chalkboards are seemingly disappearing leaving space for an electronic white board. No one would have guessed that years ago teachers would be able to save whatever they wrote on a white board onto a computer as a document. I predict pencils and paper will soon be obselete, especially with the usage of blogs in the classroom.

In my education career, I have only used a blog once (now twice). As an undergraduate student at Kent State University, one of my requirements for the education department was to create a blog discussing different lesson plans. This was helpful in sharing lesson plan ideas with all of the other students in my cohert. Essentially, the blog allowed each of us to brainstorm to create bigger and better lesson plans.

The idea of using a blog in a middle childhood education classroom is quite new to me. I know in my middle school days, I would have to do daily journal entries and then share them with my peers. As a Language Arts teacher, I believe incorporating the blog as a way for my students to keep a daily journal would be beneficial. Not only would it aid them in strengthening their writing skills, but it would also allow them to become proficient in educational technology. I could also use the blog as sort of a review for a book the class has just finished reading. For example, if the students just completed The Outsiders they could easily log onto their blog and provide me with their opinion of the book. This enables students to voice their own opinion and in a sense become their own person. It is during these middle school years that students are beginning to develop their sense of self and a blog would certainly do that!

My other content area is Social Studies. In a world that is centered on politics, many media outlets such as Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, and HLN take on air time as a opportunity to express their views on what is happening in the country and the world around us. In creating a blog, students could use the blog to express their opinion on what is going on in the world in relation to the Academic content being taught in the classroom. This would give students the opportunity to make intelligible connections between historical facts and what is going on today. As they say, history does repeat itself. To say the least, it would be interesting to see what connections my students would be able to create.

As I said, technology is ever changing. To make my lesson plans the best they possibly can be, I must include educational tecnnology that will positively influence my students. I must be aware not to overuse such technology. I believe blogs would be an asset to my classroom with respect to the Academic content areas such as Language Arts and Social Studies. Again, middle school is the time for students to begin formulating their opinion of the world around them. Undoubtedly, blogs would enhance this important chapter in their lives.