Reactions to blogging

Wow, I am still thinking, and new ideas coming up every time, about all the ways I can use blogging in my classroom. I loved the video "Spotlight on Technology: Blogging in the Classroom" which shows how a sixth grade teacher use blogging with her students and all the unexpected results she has got from that. It is amazing how many skills on very different areas can be developed when used properly: social, communication, writing, critical thinking, even facilitates the students' vision of how past events are linked to their reality. Teachers could use blogs with unlimited possibilities.

Last week I answered a blog about a law project in Missouri that, if approved, would not allow teachers to communicate with their students through social media like Facebook and such. For more details, check this link: http://socialmediatoday.com/steve-olenski/385170/should-teachers-and-students-be-allowed-communicate-social-media-follow#comment-47714. I was impressed of the answer someone else posted in that blog, stating that "communication should be limited to the four walls of a school" talking about how teachers should protect themselves and do not become friends of their students. I was totally taken aback with this comment, and it is really taking me a while to reply to it. This reply is understandable considering that this teacher was accused of an inappropriate relationship with a student, and still I believe that teachers should be as available as they can for their students, preferable with the parents monitoring. I think I will be ready to answer back as soon as I can.


I cannot wait to be back in the classroom to apply all this new knowledge I am acquiring in this course. This is definitely a wonderful tool to do different things and engage the students in something they enjoy while they learn the skills they will need to be successful. Blogs, wikis, and all this emerging technology are coming to stay, so teachers are the best they can have to teach them how to use them properly.