Are Your Students Blogging?

Do you still require your students to hand in all of their homework and assignments on paper? Have you considered reducing paper waste and introducing your students to blogging? If you are a parent or teacher, you know exactly how much paper comes home in the kids’ school bags. This is just a fraction of the paper that is used at the school. The recycling bins at your school and in your students’ homes deserve a break.

Blogs these days are very easy to set up. Even kindergarteners are blogging. Regardless of their age or language level, your students may already be one step ahead of you. Don’t be surprised if they  show YOU how to blog. Check out this video on Digital Learners. While you’re at it, watch this video on Digital Teachers too. If privacy is a concern, your students can set their blogs to be private. They can share their blog posts with their teacher, classmates, or the world.

EnglishClub.com offers a free blogging platform for English learners and teachers. Blogging as part of a community has one very important advantage: writers have access to an instant readership. Bloggers that work alone spend months or even years building an audience. At MyEC no blog post is left behind. Hundreds of posts are added each month and some posts receive dozens of comments. Blogging is an interactive form of writing that builds confidence.

Announcements and messages for parents

You can also use a teacher blog to make important announcements. Find out which parents at your school have Internet access and create a parent email list. Print off only enough copies for those parents who do not have Internet access. Encourage your administrators to do the same.

For more information about blogging with students, visit Shelly Terrell and Greta Sandler on their new Wiki, Blogs 4 Edu.

Get Started
MyEC (for English learners and teachers 18+)
Kidblog.org (for kids)