Blogging with the fifth grade students was a good experience. It helped me to realize, even more, how much internet "lingo" is influencing children's writing abilities. Some of the students were very capable writers and wrote very nice, grammatically correct blog postings. Other students, though, wrote in internet slang and used things like "idk," "u," etc. AND hardly any punctuation. It surprised me that so many students wrote in this way, instead of writing properly; many students today seem to think that just because writing is digital, it doesn't have to be correct, which isn't the case at all.
Doing some type of blogging activity with my students in the future is a possibility, since it would show them the importance of communicating effectively through a digital medium. However, my biggest concern--which, of course, is using proper grammar, punctuation, etc.--would definitely be addressed if I used blogging with my students. And, I would use a different site instead of Blogmeister, because it was kind of messy and hard to find things.
All in all, blogging with the fifth grade students was a good experience that provided good insight into how technology is affecting students today.
--Kristin.
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I think focusing on grammar and spelling when students blog is a good thing! I would let them get their thoughts down first and then have them get feeback from their peers about their ideas before focusing on correct grammar and spelling. Bloging can be a great way to motivate students to write...then focus on the polishing.
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