10. Even when we are sick, we can see what’s happening in class.  ~Hannah

9. Our family and friends can see what we do in school.  ~Brooke

8. We can see slide shows of ourselves.    ~Mrs. Donofrio

7. It keeps us in touch with our class.  ~Kyle.

6. Blogging teaches us reading and writing skills.  ~Mallory

5. It helps with grammar and spelling skills.  ~Molly

4. We learn map skills.   ~Mrs. Donofrio

3. We’re learning through a new technology.  ~Mrs. Donofrio

2. We learn to set and work toward goals.  ~Mrs. Donofrio

And the number one reason we love blogging…..

1. We can interact with other classes and people.  We can learn about other places in the world and what they do.   ~Cogan and 83 % of the class

Although the above words are Cogan’s, her sentiments were shared by five sixths of the class.  Here’s what Kelsey said, “I like blogging because of how connecting it is.  I don’t ever think of it as an assignment but as fun!”

Clearly, the kids love connecting with other kids, and I do, too!  But I also love how we can work with writing skills through blogging.  In the past, we have practiced our writing exclusively with long assignments like essays and book reports.  Sometimes it is overwhelming to get so much feedback on our writing all at once.  Students only look at the grade, and place the paper into their binders, never to be seen again.  AAGH!  All that work offering suggestions for improvement gone to waste!  Blogging changes all that!  By writing shorter pieces we can FOCUS on our writing in a more precise way.  We have learned the importance of focus, organization, content, usage and style.  We see the importance of quality writing over quantity of writing.  

Today we learned that just because a piece is longer, it doesn’t necessarily mean it is stronger.  We learned that “gobbledy gook” whose only purpose is to fufill a word count or a paragraph requirement isn’t good writing.  Writing and reading comments on blogs helps us learn what makes good writing.

What do you like about blogging?