CI5461: Week 6

Ever since blogs started to become popular, I've imagined using them in my classroom. I knew that using technology in this way would likely motivate students and would give opportunity to be more creative than simply participating in classroom discussion. I imagine blogging as a classroom discussion where everyone brings Powerpoint presentations-- they have visuals and sounds to help them make their points. Yes, this is fantastic.
However, I think that some of the points that Beach makes about using blogs to teach literature and writing also hold true in the classroom. His first example of Kathleen West's classroom brings up the issue of the subject matter that is discussed on blogs. When her students write on their blogs, she allows them to explore any facet of the text that interests them. She says they like this better than classroom discussion because they are not responding to her prompts, but to their own. This makes me wonder why she does not let them do that during discussion. I hope to teach my students early on how to come up with questions on their own (like they would if they were blogging) with which to begin discussion.
Of course, Beach makes some good points about the fact that blogs are motivating because students can access them at any time-- they are not simply limited to class hours (like discussions are). Also, they are helpful because they are a "paper trail" that will help both teachers and students remember and review the discussions. Beach also mentions that blogs are motivating because they give students a broader audience base. This is something I struggle with. I really enjoy the fact that students feel like they are writing not only for the teacher, but for one another and for parents as well, but opening them up to a "larger public audience" worries me just a little bit. Having an online identity puts the student at some risk to be exposed to people online who wish to do harm. I understand that my students are in high school and that they are aware of these dangers already, but as a teacher, I'm not sure I feel comfortable being responsive for that.
I hope to be able to implement blogs in my classroom sometime soon, but I do worry a bit about how to make it a safe learning environment when it is opened up to the public. Any thoughts?

Also, Beach mentions this site in his article. It's great for students-- very fun... but it's also great for teachers. See what students do with Shakespeare... stuff like that. I like finding things on this site that open up a lesson.