Should Teachers Blog? Could We Blog?

Now that I have been working on this blog for awhile, I continue to see major advantages to blogging. The only issue is time, but I think more and more, time may not be an issue if done right. Once the blogsite is set up and parents and other educators are notified about the site, you can get lots of information out to these people quickly and you can communicate back and forth through this same blog site. Obviously not everyone has Internet capabilities and not everyone will check your blog, but getting the information out is still very valuable, especially to some. (Side note....setting up a class page on Facebook, not "friending" your students and parents but setting up an information page, can also be a great classroom tool to use!) So...what is the hold up? Well, if you are like me, it was simply not knowing what a blog is or how to set one up? This brings me to my next informational link...Commoncraft videos. I am not embedding these videos or showing them to my class as you will learn even though they are free on the site and on Youtube, they do request you sign up for a license if you are using these for profit, using these for large group educational purposes, or using these in a training. Maybe not all are on Youtube and those on Youtube are free, I don't know, but either way, I think the link I have below is a great 3 minute plus video that makes blogs simple. I also recommend watching the short video about "RSS feeds" made simple. Long story short: Consider doing a class/teacher blog this year and see if it can add to your class.

CommonCraft site: http://www.commoncraft.com/

Blog made Simple: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2I1pWXjXI&feature=player_embedded