What the BLOG are you thinking?

Why use a blog for the electronic portion of this assignment? Well:

1. I make money blogging, therefore it is a relevant to skill to me, but also to my future students.

2. Peterson suggests, students "want [their writing] to be read by a wider audience than just their teacher. Indeed, their writing motivation and committment to writing will be much higher if they know that their writing is going to have an impact on someone else and will not simply be the sources of a grade on their report card" (p. 17)

• this relates to "real-world" connections. As a part of student engagement, it is important to demonstrate to our students how course content relates to the "real world" so it "comes alive" and becomes relevant. This has been stressed in our Math class with Donna, and similarly it is a key tenet to Critical Literacy theories (as it relates to the previous Reading assignment).

3. This is a paperless form of drafting and publishing -- and it teachers computer, internet and media literacy! CROSS-CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS *ahem!*

4. It provides an additional avenue for students to be "turned on" writing. Perhaps a student doesn't love writing, but loves designing/formatting websites, or simply enjoys the Internet.

5. One of Peterson's writing strategies is that of the "Author Group" (p. 19) wherein students' read drafts and edit, or offer suggestions and critiques of other students' writing. Blogging allows students' to always have a more casual author group in session, through the form of commenting on their classmates entries. This takes the form of "Assessment as Learning" as suggested in Growing for Success.

6. The versatility of blogging is endless -- it can be a subject-specific blog (for a specific student), a blog geared across the curriculum (for a specific student), or alternatively take the form of a multiple-contributor blog -- featuring the entire class. It supports WRITING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM.