Blogging...I'm excited!

I am so anxious to put what I've been learning about blogging into practice. So many ideas are filling my mind at this point. It's good to put my ideas down in words to sort of think out loud about my ideas and hopefully get some feedback as well. Blogging will be an asset in my 7th grade communication arts classroom if used effectively. Some ideas I intend to put into practice are using blogging as a warm-up activity. I could potentially choose a topic or a book we are reading about and have students read and respond to blogs on that topic. Another possibility would be to use blogging in literature circles. I could have groups set up and they could blog about and comment on blogs throughout their book. This will really encourage higher-level thinking and will give them practice on writing for a wider audience because I would like to find another class, who is be reading the same book or focusing on the same topic, to comment on/blog as well. It is so important that students see the big picture--a personal goal of mine, for my students, is to help them to see that Poynette, WI is not the center of the universe. It's a big world out there and there a whole lot of people out their with different backgrounds, beliefs, thoughts and ideas. Realizing this helps students to grow and expand their horizons. Blogging is the perfect opportunity for students and teachers to explore this realm! As you can see, I'm definitely excited about this, but I do have my reservations as well. I can see parents coming back to me or the district because of specific comments that kids make because of course someone is bound to be inappropriate. Even though comments must be approved first, students will talk and will be offended. This is something I struggle with. As a second year teacher, I do not want to rock the boat too much since I'm still on probation, however I find this to be exciting and something that could potentially change the way I teach and the way students learn. It could connect them to the world outside the classroom, and isn't that just what we, as teachers, hope to do for our students?