Three ways to use blogs

I agree with Richardson that I need to understand how blogs can be a useful tool for my students before I ask students to join me in blogging.  Richardson(2010) suggests that "it's not until (he) fully understood how these technologies could facilitate global connections and conversations around (his) own passions, and how they could help (him) create powerful learning networks and communities, that (he) was able to see what needed to change in terms of (his) curriculum and (his) teaching. (8-9)  I think that I need to learn more about blogs and how they function in my education and with subjects that fascinates me before I can realize their potential value in my classroom.  It was interesting to read how teachers have used blogs to facilate global audiences and correspondences in their classroom.  As I currently teach ESL to adult refugees, I think that there would be many interesting activities we could do that connect us with each other, as well as the world.  However, I think that it would be beneficial to my professional growth to view how other ESL teachers use blogs to facilitate learning in their classrooms.

In response to how I would have students use blogs, I think that one thing that I could do with my intermediate students is post a news article each week on a controversial issue and have the students offr their opinions in one paragraph on the contentious topic.  This goes along with the NYS ELA standards that propose in the area of reading thatintermediate students "can understand the purpose , main ideas, and some details in some shorter authentic and academic texts." Moreover, in regards to writing, intermediate students should be able to "effectively convey an idea, opinion, feeling or experience in a simple paragraph."

For my low-advanced class, I would propose a situation in which students would have to respond in writing using appropriate purpose and tone.  Initially I could create a weekly situation in which the students would have to write a letter or email to a friend, business, news editor, landlord, etc. Eventually I would let students come up with situation, real or imaginary, where a correspondence must be made.  I would have the students post their letters or emails on the blog and then have them comment on at least 2 classmates writings.  This activity is based on NYS writing standards for advanced students that expresses that students "can display an awareness of audience and tone."  I think that this would be a good long term lesson on the use of formal and informal writing.