I had already decided that my 7th graders were
going to write next year. Those dismal
writing scores on the ACT Aspire had teachers across the county and state talking about what needed
to happen to bring them up. So already I
was planning on less objective tests and more open-ended, essay responses for
assessments. I had also considered
having my students keep a learning journal.
Then I really started considering a familiar idea which I had never
tried in my social studies classes:
blogging.
According to Kristen Kennedy, students will write when they
have something to say, an audience, and feedback (Writing with Web Logs, 2003). As I consider how that could possibly be
different than any other writing assignment, it struck me that my students
might be more aware of their thought process and what they’re writing when
there is an audience who actually read and respond to their words. It might take writing beyond just an
assignment that only a teacher is reading into a whole different level of
connectedness to the larger community and world.
And they might even learn something in the process!
