basis for their own edification and for audiences on issues important to them; bloggers write of their own
volition, sharing writing and thinking, and, in essence, publishing their work. As supporters of offering
students opportunities to publish and write for authentic purposes, how could blogs be used in high school
English classes for this end?
Testing the Waters: Getting Started
Although Keri had some personal experience with blogs, Barbara, a veteran teacher of twenty-two
years, had little experience. We began by creating a blog site at Blogger. Barbara’s three classes of English I
Honors shared one blog: “Reading Great Books” at http://readinggreatbooks.blogspot.com. Barbara
collected emails, helped students create email accounts, and sent out invitations to students. Blogger has
an option allows only invited members to post or comment. In an effort to keep students safe, students
created pseudonyms and any references to the school and the area were deleted.
Barbara introduced the blog with the following post:
It might sound corny, but I can't wait to get to know all of you and read about what you're
reading and thinking. This space is reserved for our spring semester classes, and I sincerely
hope you find a new avenue here, a place to share your thoughts and ideas and to connect
to each other. You may hear about some good new books to read, and I hope you learn
about the way your classmates think about them and the world in general. Your honest
responses will be respected. So, take a risk. Tell us what you think about your reading. We
have some very important work to do! Let the journey begin and good luck!
In that first week, we could not have imagined students would post over 1200 times in a 16-week
semester. Barbara chose to respond very little to the blog posts and allow students to guide the discussion
with their own questions. Once again, this thinking was guided by Barnes (1992) who writes, “Consider how
the pattern of a teacher’s questions tends to signal to pupils whether they are expected, for example, to
think aloud or to supply a ‘right answer,” whether they should obey an implicit command or merely show
understanding of a statement. Add to this the great power of the teacher’s reply” (p. 16). By not
commenting or posting prompts, students focused on each other’s thinking rather than focusing on
whether Barbara thought they had the “right answer.