Thing #4

A blog about blogging. I am completely onboard with allowing students to read blogs during SSR/DEAR time. I think that by allowing students to rotate through the computers in my classroom as we have independent reading time, the use of the computers themselves would be a selling feature for students who might not be as initially "in" to the idea of reading blogs. Once students got into reading them, I'm sure they would be completely engaged. I hope the time is coming in the near future to allow students the capability to respond to blogs. Blogs, by they very nature, call out for a response from the reader, don't they? Allowing students to read and comment would quickly imbed so many of the literacy skills teachers preach and pout about everyday. Students would, in my opinion, be drawn to the natural, friendly, conversational style of blogs. Without the constraints of formal writing, students would be more free to express their thoughts and ideas. I think students are often reluctant to put their true thoughts down on a paper to be handed in to the teacher for a grade. When everything students write is scrutinized and read by the teacher who "gives" the grades and communicates with parents, students just parrot back what the teacher wants instead of taking a risk. Risk might not always equal the grade they want or need. Blogs are free from all those restraints.