Favorite Ways for Teachers to use Blogs

There were several ways I discovered that blogs can be used by teachers. Most of the ones I have listed have to do with communication between teacher and students, teacher and parents, and from student to student.

1. One blog was used for students to comment on current projects. They can post progress, ask questions to the teachers or other group project members, or comment on what needs to be done. What intrigued me most was that the students shared experiences in class, both successes and failures, positives and negatives. It is a way for the students to voice complaints or concerns that they may not feel comfortable doing in class or would take up class instruction time.This is great to get feedback from students on what they think of your class, new strategy, etc. It is great for an qualitative, evaluation tool.
2. I found where students could post homework assignments. This would certainly cut down on handling papers. This would be great because I could post quick comments on their homework that would give more individual attention to students that need extra encouragement, instruction. On the same note my special needs students could receive more personalized attention too.
3. Another blog shared pictures of a school field trip during National Sports Week in a Middles School in Manchester, England. The pictures were good for both the teacher and the students to reflect upon that special day and remind them of lessons learned experientially. Learning can be extended and deepened after the field trip by having the students do a post-evaluation of an event or experience. And parents can be made more aware of what actually went on during a field trip and thus the child can share the experience with the parent. This helps break the communication gap between the parents and the child's school experience.
4. On Mrs. Wanak's Classroom Blog students were asked to post a one sentence response to thought provoking and revealing questions. Questions like: What is one phobia you have and why/how does it affect you? or If you could have ANY superpower, what would it be and why? This was an effective and succinct strategy to further the classes discussion on psychology and phobias and also enable the teacher to find out more about their students outside the classroom!
5. Finally, I noticed how links can be posted for parents, students, or curious teachers, like myself, to use to extend the classroom learning experience, help students with class assignments, and help to research topics on a deeper level. This saves times for students because the teacher has already done the hard work of screening out unreliable sites and mining the "gold nuggets" of sites that can really be helpful to the students or parents.
6. Another way I saw a blog used was where an English teacher in California (http://www.yourenglishclass.com./) posted videotaped lessons on specific topics. This would be great for students to not miss anything if they were absent, to review a lesson they need help on, or to show their parents a little more about their teacher. It is also helpful for teachers like myself as a source of professional growth by observing another teacher that might be really strong in an area that the teachers need to grow in.