Blogging and Me?

This is my first time blogging! Whoot! I must say it rather enjoyable and as I love to conventionally journal, I can see myself getting into this. Wow, the possibilities for teaching and blogging are huge! From what I read, my favorite ideas for using blogs in the classroom are for classroom management, personal writing and portfolios. As a teacher, blogging would be a fabulous way to post class info, course descriptions, housekeeping, etc. in a way that is accessible to all students and parents. The beauty of the blog would be the ability to keep updating the information while having a record of past communication. When I think about my jr. high experience, blogging would have been a great way to do those personal journals we did in English class. It's so important for teachers to understand their students and having diary blogs could foster this process. Furthermore, these blogs could be expanded to include publication of student work in a way that facilitates affirmation and collaboration. Along these same lines, blogs could be used as portfolios of student work. Students could create their own blog to show their individuality and this combined with student assignments could help teachers authentically assess their students.
Although an exceptional tool, great caution should be used on the part of teachers in introducing and implementing blogs in their classroom. Students must be at an appropriate maturity to handle the technology safely and must be carefully taught about the purposes, dangers and expected etiquette of blogs. With this in place, blogs could be highly useful and engaging tool in many classrooms in any subject.