Blogging participation

How much should I participate in my students’ blogs? 

Now that I’ve gotten my students set up with their own blogs, I’m not sure what my role is.  Do I let them use it as a personal journal?  Do I create topics for them?  Can it be a little of both?  When I asked my students how they would like to use their blogs, they said that it would be good to have both. 

Why did I ask them to create blogs?  First, I thought this would be a great way to help improve their fluency, as this is a class of English language learners.  Second, I thought a blog would be more engaging than a piece of paper.  I thought that if their English skills weren’t good, at least they could take pride in their professional-looking blogs.  Lastly, I thought blogging would be more interactive.  They can respond to each other’s blogs.

So, although I still think blogging is going to be beneficial to them, I’m not sure how much I should be involved.  Should I also post comments?  Or, should I simply observe?

 These are the questions I’m still left with…for now.

21classes

I have been blessed with a small class of ESL students this term.  When do you ever get to teach a class of nine students?!   I’m excited because I keep thinking of all of the possibilites and potential these students have with more one-to-one instruction.  Because this is a small class and because I’m new to the blogosphere, I thought I would try blogging with them.  They seem like the perfect candidates, as most of them are international students, far away from home, living with host families and needing to reflect.  I also think that this will be a great way to improve their fluency!

Eric MacKnight at http://www.ericmacknight.com/wordpress/?p=96 uses blogs with his students and recommends hosting class blogs on 21 classes at http://21classes.com/.  This host site allows each student to create and maintain their own blogs, using the homepage as home base to connect to the teacher and other students.

 I introduced my students to the assignment today, and am happy to report that they were able to register and start their blogs!  Some of them are available to the public to view and some of them are for the ESL class only.  It was the student’s choice.  If you would like to check it out, visit http://esl.21classes.com/.