Classroom Uses of Weblogs

You might like to start a class blog to . . .

• post class-related information such as calendars, events, homework assignments, and other class information.



• post assignments based on literature readings and have students respond on their own Weblogs, creating a kind of portfolio of their work.



• post prompts for writing.



• provide examples of classwork, vocabulary activities or grammar games.



• provide online readings for your students to read and react to.



• gather and organize Internet resources for a specific course providing links to appropriate sites and annotating the links as to what is relevant about them.



• post photos and comments on class activities.



• invite student comments or postings on issues in order to give them a writing voice.



• publish examples of good student writing done in class.



• showcase student art, poetry, and creative stories.



• create a dynamic teaching site, posting not only class-related information, but also activities, discussion topics, links to additional information about topics they are studying in class, and readings to inspire learning.



• create a literature circle.



• make use of the commenting feature to have students publish messages on topics being used to develop language skills.



• ask students to create their own individual course blogs, where they can post their own ideas, reactions and written work.



• post tasks to carry out project-based learning tasks with students.



• link your class with another class somewhere else in the world. (Richardson, 40)

Source: Richardson, Will. Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press, 2006. Print.