Why are you blogging with your class?

New Zealand Registered Teacher Criteria 6.1

Registered teachers articulate clearly the aims of their teaching, give sound professional reasons for adopting these aims, and implement them in their practice.

I’ve often said that first thing anyone needs to do when setting up a blog is think about why they are blogging. In fact I’m going to go out on a limb and say that most blogs fail because the author has no idea why they have a blog other than to have a blog.

So I’m taking my own advice and outline the purpose of setting up a class blog and came up with 5 reasons. Strangely enough my reasons aren’t because my school asks every class to have a blog.

1. Authentic writing opportunity for students. Above anything else blogging gives kids an opportunity to have an authentic audience far beyond the walls of our classroom through regular posting. Commenting and responding to comments also serves as a way for students collabrate and learn from each other.
2. Home school partnership. Blogs have the potential to change the ‘what did you do at school today?’ conversation to parents being able to talk about specific activities through blogging. They also have the potential to make information from the school more personalized and therefore relevant to each parent.
3. Enhance digital citizenship. Blogging is an authentic oppourtunity for teachers to model effective digital citizenship so that students can manage themselves online as well effectively participate and contribute to digital communities.
4. Global collaboration. Blogging gives students a chance develop their own personal learning networks whether it be like-minded kids, a scientist to help with a topic we are studying.
5. Sharing teaching practice. As a new teacher I find reading classroom blogs a great way to learn about what goes on in other teacher’s classrooms and will shamelessly steal borrow teaching ideas in order to adapt them for my context. If someone happens to gain something out of what is happening in what’s happening in my classroom this makes me happy.

Why are you blogging with your class?