Currently I do not use blogs in my classroom. The reason being is that I am still very new to this form of technology. I want to make sure that I know what I am doing before I expect my students to do the same, that way I can answer their questions.
When I do begin to use blogs, because I know that I will, I plan to use them to post question/answer sessions for the students. This way, if one student has a question about a grammar exercise or a reading comprehension passage, they have the chance to post their questions and it gives another student the ability to help answer that question. Sometimes, what we cannot learn from teachers we can learn from one another. I believe that it is very important to have a student commrodery within and outside of the classroom. This way, students are continuously learning, whether from one another or from the teacher.
I also thought as using blogs to post language exercises and even videos dealing with pronunciation of words, vowels and consonants. It gives the students the opportunity to hear the sounds when they aren’t within the classroom setting. So in a way, it’s like bringing the classroom home with them!
You have some great ideas in mind for your classes, but you are right to try to become more familiar with the technology yourself first. However, remember that with technology since it is quite complex and continually changes, you will never have all the answers.
Dr. Burgos