Stop #3: Using blogs in the classroom

While using a blog is an awesome idea for a student, there are also ways I could utilize this technology as an educator.  While in classes that were both successful and unsuccessful, I have compiled a list of "DO's" and a list of "DO NOT's." One of the items on the list of "DO's" is to create a blog to keep my students up to date with assignments, lessons, and classroom happenings.  I have a vision that there will be a website that my students can log onto to read a review of that day's lesson, the homework assignment, and a list of resources for further study.  This vision makes it easier on students who miss a day because they were sick, students who may have been called out of class, and students who just need a little reminder every once in a while.  In a perfect world, a blog would eliminate the "we had homework?" excuse and the "I forgot to write down the assignment" excuse.  In a perfect world...

Depending on what field I end up teaching, math or English, I may also require my students to keep a blog.  This would be particularly useful as an English teacher.  The students could write responses to readings, comment on each others' posts, and produce narratives which will instantly update to their class blogs.  Student collaboration on projects and assignments would be much easier to enforce with blogs already in the picture.