After almost every school break, I used to hear many of my kids reference how much time they spent over break going on MySpace, or how they were going to head to MySpace as soon as they got home.
While I accept that MySpace is, and despite what I may hope or wish for, will remain an important part of their social lives, I also accept there IS something I can do about it. Kids are always looking for new things to explore and play with online. Right now they have a TON of ways to connect with their teammates online, but do they have a way to connect with their teachers?
I find classroom blogs an awesome way to communicate with students inside (I’m lucky enough to teach in a room with 24 computers) and outside (you’d be surprised how many will look at it in their free time!) the classroom. I began by writing daily about what happened in all four of my classes (we often forget about how little they see of the other groups, but how much they want to know about the other groups!), and it evolved to updates, commentary I don’t have time for in class, pictures, and could be so much more!
The English teacher on my team then created her own blog, and I LOVED the idea of all teachers in our school blogging! You can write about YOUR interests (how little they actually know about us is amazing, how much they WANT to know about us is surprising!), what you’re reading, thoughts on the world, or whatever you want! Imagine a world where students go home and have the option of MySpace, but also the option of 5-30 teacher blogs to choose from! If we can show the Internet as a place of learning and community with their teachers as well as their teammates, we are expanding their social and personal learning networks to a place where growth doesn’t have to stop at our school door as they board the buses…
Just a thought 
Check out my old class blog at:
http://www.saltinerockstars.wordpress.com
In today’s class you’re going to get to set up your class blog. Begin by checking out the class lecture, which will walk you through all the steps needed, and then dive in to creating your own! Once you’ve set up the basics, with your first post, head to our class wiki and enter your name, subject, and a link to your blog so we can all check it out!
Check out the Class 2 Lecture by downloading it from the Box.net widget on the left side of this page.
All assignments for this class are also included on the Class 8 section of the class wiki.
