How I would use blogging in my classroom

I'm taking an Instructional Technology class for Elementary School teachers and one of our assignments was to create a blog and write weekly posts on it. I've never had a blog, or a Facebook account for that matter, so this could be interesting and definitely a learning process!

Our first assignment was how we might use blogging in our classroom. I think blogging could be a very effective tool that a teacher could use for a classroom. I would use a blog in my classroom to allow students to get feedback on their work, or post an assignment or project that they are especially proud of. Most elementary school students are very technological savvy, so why not teach them technology in school and help them become better at using it so they can use it for the rest of their life? I think that something like this would be so fun for children. They LOVE getting on the computer and playing around and learning new things. They love the idea that they get to play and use something that adults use, or that they've seen their older siblings use.

I also think a blog would be a good motivation for students to get their assignments and projects done. Instead of having "paper homework" like normal, they get to use the computer and do something different.

I think this would work to do a blog in a classroom, but the teacher would have to be very cautious about how they go about using it and how they teach the students to use it. Children don't think about safety, and that there might be people out there that want to hurt them. There would have to be a lot of instruction on keeping kids safe, and how they can post things about themselves and their school projects without really telling people too much about themselves or their family.