Blogs. You've seen the word, you've seen the web sites and you may even have one.
But have you ever wondered: What's the big deal about blogs? To make sense of blogs, you have to think about the news and who makes it. We'll look at news in the 20th vs. the 21st century to make our point. In the 20th century, the news was produced professionally. Blogging in the Classroom (TCR2167) « Products. Blogging with Middle Schoolers: Frontloading and First Steps. So I just finished introducing blogging to my middle school classes.
They are hooked, as each year before them was hooked. I use it as a substitute for Reading Logs, that dreaded love-of-reading killer which causes eye rolls in many a Language Arts class. Rather than simply log the quantity of books, perhaps embellishing with a short summary or bibliographical entry, I have them discuss quality. The discussions are rich, organic, and run themselves.