Blogging, Fears Relieved
Judy Harden
Thomasville Ga. Pathways

Progress from Pen		To Keyboard

The Technology Conference in Atlanta in November 2005 was my first in approximately ten years. I was excited yet overwhelmed. There were so many sessions to choose from and the information from almost all of them appeared beneficial. I considered the needs and interest of the students that I teach and decided to attend Why Weblogs work in K-12 Education presented by Hillary Meeler, Sandi Dennis, and Derek Fort. I was leery about using weblogs in my classroom. The thought of my students expressing themselves openly and freely was frightening. Their presentation was excellent and very informative. Weblogs were seen in a different light.

The realization that people from all over the world could comment on the student’s thoughts and work was exciting. Affirmation of student’s opinions by peers, teachers, and professionals is invaluable. The fear of weblogs was removed once the safety features were explained. Teacher’s ability to preview the post of the students and control over what is posted were a big relief. Weblogs could actually be fun for my students and promote writing.
Upon returning to the classroom after the conference, I set out to begin exploring the world of blogging. I searched and found several blogs that interested my students. I required each student to make a post to one of the blogs. Instead of the usual gripes and complaints about having to write, I was thrilled when I heard comments such as “This is cool.”, “Can I write another one?”, and “Can we have our own blog?”. These were foreign comment to me. I knew that I had hit on something exciting.

The next step was to create our own blog. This process was also explained in the session. Patrick Crispen’s session Blogging 101: Digital Journaling and Group Projects provided me with the information and step-by-step instructions for creating a blog for the students in my classroom.  This was extremely easy even for the most non-technological minded. I created a simple blog at www.blogger.com for my students to comment on daily. This easily replaces daily journaling. A record of their writing is now available. Subjects of the blogs are changed daily. Each student is given class time and opportunity to post a comment. This has opened up new door for my students and me. Visit us on our blog at http://hardensclass.blogspot.com/2006/02/blogging-in-school.html .

            I found that technology could enhance and complement what is being done in the classroom. I am creating a blog for our director to be posted on the website that my class is creating. The future looks great. I am hoping that I am allowed to return to the conference before another ten years has passed.

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