Blogging: The Future of Our Writing Classroom

Writing in the 21st century classroom means more than a pencil and paper now. It means blogs, tweeting, Facebook, KidsWrite Publishing Co., websites, stories, word processors, and on and on and on it goes from here until the next big literacy technology to take the world and classrooms by storm. This type of writing is "a writing that belongs to the writer, not to an institution, with the result that people—students, senior citizens, employees, volunteers, family members, sensible and non-sensible people alike—want to compose and do—on the page and on the screen and on the network—to each other" (National Council of Teachers of English, n.d., p.4). Students are now able to express themselves in so many other formats other than with pencil and paper which makes writing a whole lot more exciting and more often than not, enjoyable to them. By allowing students to create their writings through blogging or word processors or via a website, they are able to still follow the writing processes but are putting a more interesting twist on their composition. As stated by the article, Writing Re-Launched: Teaching with Digital Tools, "by design, pen-and-paper composition is a one-person undertaking. But digital writing is often collaborative. There are a variety of ways students can collaborate, says Eidman-Aadahl. For instance, they can create a text jointly, through shared documents or wikis, or they can take turns posting on a collective blog" (Heitin, 2011). 
Students and teachers working collectively on a blog or wiki, I believe, can add exponential benefits to the classroom. Whether they blog or type in the wiki at home or school, they are contributing to a discussion which can then be carried into the classroom and be developed into something further such as student inquiry lessons on the topic of interest or a community/school project. The possibilities are endless. 


Such as blogging about books they've recently read. The students can discuss the characters, the plot, the main idea of the story all through virtual discussion with one another and through reading other's thoughts, it can help them gain more understanding of the text. Turning it around, writing a review on a book can help students to break down what they've read, listen to other peers or the teacher comments, and give feedback on what they read from others. Creating a classroom blog is a good way to get this started and will only encourage the students to blog and communicate with one another through it. As they continue to write, comment, interact, blog about what they read or what they're writing, students are only gaining more knowledge of themselves as writers to write more while building their confidence as well.