Blogging Without Tears

Blogs are very useful to the classroom teacher.  Teachers can provide their students with an overview of the subject matter and add links to enhance their learning beyond the classroom or textbook.  Blogs are a tool that teachers can use to bridge the gap between themselves and their students.  As I first began this endeavor, I felt like one of my student’s that has embarked on a new territory, Middle School.  I have had many of my students in tears as they are faced with lockers, several teachers, and massive amounts of homework.  I always tell them, “There is no crying in Middle School” just like the quote, “there is no crying in baseball”.  We are all human and are scared of the unknown but after we shed a tear or two, and we learn how to do it, everything works out. 

Using a blog to communicate with the students and their families would bring my classroom into the 21st Century.  Currently, we are typing out a weekly newsletter that rarely even makes it home.  It would be great to have the students create a paper using Video Clips from Teacher Tube about what they are studying, Podcasts to review for a test, or even supporting a Wiki’s to have a discussion about a novel they have read.