I have long thought that a blog would be a great teaching tool! At McKay, I'm going to be teaching Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" and I can certainly imagine creating a "Caesar" blog where I could post facts and quotes about Shakespeare, about the history of his work and about the play itself, then invite students to comment.
I have children living all over the world, and many of them have travelled extensively. As a social studies teacher, I think I could prepare a travelblog and have my kids post photos and travel notes that my students could look at and ask questions. I hope I will have enough opportunities to travel that I could post some stuff too! In fact, students could be invited to submit pictures and reports from their own travels. I envision this blog as an ongoing thing which students could follow from year to year, even after they were no longer in my class.
As far as classroom blogging: my children are often asked by their teachers to complete reading logs--wouldn't a reading blog be fun? Students could post the names of the books they're reading and other students could comment. I'm sure sharing their reading experiences would help students get more excited about reading. If the rules were set properly, blog posts could take the place of book reports!
Students in a US History or Government class could participate in a "Bill of Rights" Blog, where teacher and students could post links to news stories and stories from history that illustrate the Five Freedoms or other rights--then other students would be assigned to comment.
As an ESOL teacher, I could create a blog to help students practice their English skills. I think I would just start a conversation topic and ask students to comment with a few words. I would keep it simple.
I'm sure there are many more applications for blogs in teaching!
I am anxious to see your Caesar blog. Definitely high motivation! Combined with Cliff Notes (online version) ... no, just kidding. Hope you have a wonderful student teaching experience.
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