I'm hoping that the title for this entry is what you are saying now! If you have read my previous postings and looked at some of the sample blogs, you are definitely ready to start blogging yourself.
According to Richardson, "The true potential of blogs in schools comes when students and teachers use them as publishing tools." "Middlebury College professor Barbara Ganley, who uses Weblogs extensively in her courses, asks, 'How can a teacher erxpect her students to blog (or to use any other tool, strategy, or technique) if she doesn't use it herself, exploring the impact it has on her thinking, writing, research and creativity?" Richardson states that teachers should blog to show students that it is something of value and to model appropriate ways of doing it. Here's one more place that is suggested as a way to find award-winning blogs - http://edublogawards.com/. Look for the 2010 award winners in various categories. Some of them are quite good!
So, whenever you are ready to start your own blog, the suggestion is to start small. Create a link to something interesting on the Internet and say a little something about it. Create an entry that tells a little bit about yourself, your background in education, and what you hope to accomplish with the blog. Think about posting an assignment on your blog and then sharing that screen using your classroom computer/projector since some of your students may not have access to the Internet at home. Don't worry about collaborations or conversations at the beginning. Get used to how the blog works and what you will post and how often. Then get your students to read your entries and use your blog in the classroom. Then you can spread out to the home by letting parents/guardians know where to find your blog online.
Regardless of how you start using blogs with students, make sure that everyone is clear about your reasons for using it and the expectations you have for it. This includes making sure your administration knows what you are doing. Teach students from the very beginning how to be responsible online. Celebrate good use of blogs by your students.
The final entry this week will help you take steps to start your own blog using Blogger, although there are many other free sites that allow a blog (like Weebly). Richardson recommends Blogger because it is easy to use, is owned by Google,and you can have as many blogs through one account as you wish. Hopefuly you will take advantage of this free blogging service!
