Blogs in the Classroom

I think blogs are an awesome addition to the classroom.  There are several ways I plan on using blogs in my future classroom.  First, I would like to keep a teacher blog with updates about classroom policies, assignments, and future events.  I think it would be an excellent way to communicate not only with the students, but also parents about what is going on in their kids science class.  I could also post extra-credit assignments or information to bring to class to encourage kids to log in and and keep themselves updated on a regular basis.  Another way I'd like to use blogs in my classroom is for students to post responses to questions.  Research has shown that students produce a higher quality work when it is going to be viewed by their peers and it also builds student collaboration.  Once students are comfortable using blogs they will be more likely to create blogs of their own for classroom projects or assignments.  I have used blogs in several of my masters classes instead of writing a traditional paper and feel that I have created a product that is richer in content because it is multimedia, and it can be used as a resource by others.  I linked two other blogs of mine, one that I finished last semester, and another that I am currently working on for another class.