The two articles I read were Blogs and Teaching and School Blogs. In Blogs and Teaching, Hernandez-Ramon commented that "(students) expressed a lot more uncertainty about their writing because they didn't have a target audience". That would be me. Blogs are very open and I tend to need those checklists on what to write. (Yes, I have been working on this blog awhile)
However I will say the articles made me think of possible options of how to use blogs in my classroom. One way would be to create a class blog. Allow the kids to post what they are doing in school. What better way for a teacher to see if what activities he/she is doing are relevant and even fun? What works and what doesn't? Also, the parents could see the students activities and reactions. It would also allow the students to take ownership of school-to-home communication.
I also wonder if you special ed students and regular ed students could connect for friendships using blogs. Students with cognitive disabilities often need lots of opportunities to "talk" with others. I wonder if blogs could be used as a less-stressful way to reflect and connect with peers. Students could write a blog about life, classes, interests etc and see who responds.
I think for me allowing the students true "free" blog writing would be difficult. I would be more willing to use blogs through carefully planned opportunities. Maybe through use and time I would be more willing to loosen up my activities.
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