Teachers Using Blogs in the Classroom

In a wonderfully eye opening article entitled Using Blogs in the Classroom: A New Approach To Teaching Social Studies With The Internet, C. Fredrick Risinger does a great job of breaking down just what a blog or web log is and how it can be used in education. Like him, I was amazed to learn the many ways that both educators and students can use the versatility of the web to broaden their horizons.
One particular link in his article was the web log of Eric Langhorst, an American History teacher at South Valley Junior High in Liberty, Missouri. His blog is entitled "Speaking of History" (www.speakingofhistory.blogspot.com). Mr. Langhorst's web enhanced information site contains a classroom homepage, course description, a teacher's resource page, and his own podcasts. He has web links to relevant sites such as Smithsonian's Interactive Gettysburg Address and several links to USA Today with relevant articles to his subject matter.
In a different kind of web log, history teacher, Dan McDowell at West Hills High School in San Diego, California, has established a teacher information blog. Information includes personal articles with his views on teaching as well as lesson plans, projects, and teacher workshops. Other teachers may log on to share personal views and professional information. His blog has links to other work related blogs and news. I enjoyed this blog because it gives teachers an opportunity to share ideas as well as vent to each other about personal and professional issues in teaching. The idea sharing aspect of it was rather reminiscent of our ALEX or Alabama Learning Exchange.
If you would like to visit the Speaking of History website, click on the link icon. CLICK HERE