Blogging and the ESL Classroom Experience

Technology in the classroom has always played a significant role in education.  The introduction of the internet as a classroom teaching tool may be perhaps one of the greatest innovations for education since the blackboard.  The internet allows teachers and students to easily connect with each other when they are not in the classroom.  One of these internet tools for education is the blog.  Blogging can play a significant part in the modern L2 classroom.

There are several ways as a teacher I can use blogging to connect with my students.  One great advantage to having students blog is it allows them to have a voice.  For ESL learners it is important that they get comfortable having a voice in the target language.  A student may have a lot to say in their native language about certain subject matter (politics, sports, art and music etc.) but not feel as comfortable expressing themselves orally in an ESL classroom.  This is a way which blogging can really help a student grow more comfortable with using the foreign language in a natural and comfortable way.  Once a student begins to find their English voice online it will provide a big push for them to begin speaking.  A once a week blogging assignment could be given as homework.   Students could be required to write short essays in proper English form about different subjects they enjoy or opinions they feel strongly about.  Students would be encouraged to read and comment on each others posts, and some of the best posts could be used for class discussions.  A regularly occurring homework assignment such as this could be used to satisfy NYS ESL education standard ESL4.C.1A: Students use a variety of oral, print or electronic forms of social communication and for writing to or for self, applying the conventions of social writing.

As a teacher and a professional blogging has many advantages.  It can be a great place to share thoughts, ideas, stories and lesson plans with others in the profession.  One of the best parts about the blog is its ability to reach anywhere in the world, unlike a conference where it can be harder to get together.  A blog can serve as an online conference where teachers from all over the world can gather and discuss ideas with one and other easily and instantaneously.   In addition to be able to connect and share ideas with other teachers, blogging allows for teachers to connect directly with their students in a more relaxed way than classroom teaching.  A teacher can set up their own blog where they share thoughts and ideas with their students about English.  Teachers can post interesting or funny videos or article links which the students can use to strengthen their language skills in a more natural and fun way.