Last month I created a short slide show titled “Every Teacher Should Have a Blog.” The slide show is about the benefits of having a classroom blog. The slide show was constructed for fun and barely scratches the surface of the many uses of blogging. In the last month I’ve received a number of comments in which people have mentioned that blogging isn’t a good replacement for phone calls and emails. I agree, blogging will not replace the need for one-to-one contact with parents. What having a classroom blog does is open up another option for communication with parents and in some cases may reduce the number of emails or phone calls teachers receive about routine matters. For example, when I taught freshmen I would receive a lot of questions centered around transitioning to high school, questions like “what is the block rotation following a three day weekend?” While I was happy to answer that question for parents, a FAQ page on my blog cut down on the number of times that I was answering the same question.
In short, nothing can adequately replace consistent one-to-one communication between teachers and parents, but there are some great technology resources that can supplement and improve teacher-parent communication. Blogs are one of those resources.
(If you’re reading this in a RSS reader you may need to click on the blog post title to view the slide show).
The podcast I released two weeks ago also addresses some possible uses for blogs in education.
