A while ago someone I follow on Twitter (@shareski) wrote a post that to be an excellent teacher all you need to do is blog ( I am simplifying it a lot).
However what I can say is that if you want students to be engaged then simply blog. I set up a blog for each of my fifth grade students using kidblog.org . Then I gave them a choice of topics to write about and asked them to comment on at least two other blog posts. I must be honest the writing and the comments need some work but the enthusiasm was amazing. Students were looking to see who commented on their blog and one point a student said "how come nobody commented on mine yet." When we got back to class one student said "boy that was fun" another commented "can we do that again" . Later that day I left some feedback and comments on each post. Then an amazing thing happened today a day later students came in and said I read your comment but I didn't have a chance to edit my post and another said "when are we blogging again".
During a recent #edchat( a forum on Twitter to discuss relevant issues in Education) someone commented that students are blogging anyway why not bring into the classroom. That is so true ,we have a perfect opportunity here to make a connection and relate to our students on their terms and in their world why not take advantage of it an make it a learning experience.
Once students are engaged and are excited about what they are doing the learning happens almost automatically.
Akevy
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