March 21 Teacher Blogs

I checked out three blogs, Borderland, Adventures in Educational Blogging and Blue Skunk Blog.
I found Borderland to be the most interesting because the author is a reading teacher from Alaska. I got started reading an old blog about DIBELS and snake oil, then I had to read through all the comments and discovered the last one was written by Richard Allington! The author, Doug, seems to like controversial topics and uses the blog to put forth his opinions on literacy instruction.
Adventures in Educational Blogging is a record of what is happening in the teaching life of a tech supervisor in Singapore. Susan Sedro uses blogging to talk about the techniques and technology that she is using in her school. Her latest blog was about using technology in music instruction. Her purpose seems to be to reflect on how well the technology works for her, the staff and the students as well as to give blog readers ideas of how technology can be integrated into teaching.
The last site I visited was Blue Skunk Blog. The author is a director of media and technology in a Minnesota school system, an adjunct faculty member with a university and a writer of professional articles. His most recent blog was written like a newsletter, full of short news items, jokes, anecdotes and some personal news. Other blogs are articles on one topic. His blogs deal with various subjects, but usually something having to do with libraries, standards or technology. The postings are often very humorous. He wants responses to his blogs as they may form the basis for articles for publication in professional journals.
I think students could use blogs in the same way these authors do. They could write journals where they describe school projects and reflect on their usefulness. They could write newsletters full of opinions and anecdotes to share with other students and get feedback from their peers. They could use a blog to stir up controversy that might cause others to respond. This could result in deeper thinking or it could cause them to become more entrenched in their beliefs.