Blogging Bliss

This is my first experience with blogs or blogging. I am a member of Facebook, I’m not sure if that is considered a blog or a social page.  I have heard the terms several times in books I have read, on television shows and on internet sites; however, I have never been to a blogging sight or read blogs.  As I began to set up my blog I had a feeling of uneasiness because it was something I had never done before.  I noticed I began typing slower, although I have been a proficient typist since middle school, quite a few years ago.  I became stiffer and nervous, as if someone was going to tell me “NO, NO, you are doing it wrong.  As I began the process I had to change the link to my blog several times and I am not really sure at this point what I did wrong.  When I finally entered the part of the site where you actually started writing for your blog I began to relax.

Prior to beginning my blog I looked at several blogs and found a few favorites.  The first blog I enjoyed was http://blog.yummly.com/blog/.  This is a blog that contains articles about food and recipes.  I enjoy trying out new recipes at home during the summer so this would be a website that I may go to again.  The next blog I enjoyed was “Overheard in New York”,  http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/.   On this blog people share funny things that they overhear on the streets of New York.  It was of interest to me because my sister and I will be in New York next month.  I wanted to get a taste to what I might hear.

As I was viewing the various blogs I noticed there were a variety of subjects to choose from.  There were blogs on politics, literature, cooking, fashion, the stock market, etc.  This provides students the opportunity to read and write about what they are interested in.  This opportunity may motivate struggling readers or students who are not interested in reading to become better readers.  In my teaching career I’ve seen students who are struggling find something that interest in them and that may be the turning point in how they view reading, it is now beneficial for them to be able to read and write so they may participate in these blogs.

What concerns me about students using blogs is that they may not be able to decide what a fact is and what opinion is.  They may read an article about someone or something and take it as the truth, when in fact it may just be someone’s point of view.  As a teacher before introducing blogging in the classroom I would have to ensure that my students knew the differences between what facts are and what opinions are.  Blogs would also have to be screened or previewed by the teacher to ensure that the type of material that is being posted is not inappropriate.