Chapter 2: Weblogs--Pedagogy and Practice

Reactions to Chapter 2:

• The author mentioned "Meredith's Page!", the blog of a former student who reflected on her work and assignments. Writing portfolios are used in many English or composition classes. Having students create a Blog Portfolio might be a fun way to encourage more collaboration between students and give students a wider audience for their work.
• I've never thought about the distinction between blogging and journaling (p. 20)--this would be an interesting and valuable discussion to have with students
• The author mentions his surprise at how frequently his students used the journalism class weblog. This year, I set up a Ning site for my library skills classes for students to blog on their SSR books and respond to prompts about their research process. Like Richardson, I was surprised at how many students used the NING site outside of class time when there was no expectation or requirement to do so.
• I think a class portal blog is a terrific idea. Having said that, from a practical standpoint, many teachers don't have easy access to labs and not all students have computers/internet access at home.
• I really like the idea of students collaborating through blogs with people outside of their school, like authors, people in the workforce, and other students.
• As an English teacher, I tried to teach writing as a continual process. It was often a challenge to get students to see that writing involves collecting feedback, thinking, re-writing, and more re-writing. Using a blog in an writing setting would promote the idea that writing is a continual process.
• I just checked out the AP Calc Blog--WOW! Something to strive for...I'm already thinking of ways I can use a weblog for my Library Skills classes.