Do you have a class blog?

When you have a class blog, it is often about a "showcase" - showing your parents what their children are doing in class and celebrating their achievements.
If you are ready to take the next step, it can be very empowering for your students and will help them raise their literacy levels through more careful attention to correct grammar and presentation, with your guidance.
When you use student blogs in this way, it moves the blog from a "showcase" to a "process" portfolio.  Students make progress and are able to show their learning in an explicit way.  If you can encourage your parents to make positive comments and to extend the authentic audience for the students by letting their friends and relatives have the link as well, you will see great progess in student literacy achievement.
Not only will you be able to show learning, you will also be able to show evidence of students reaching the National Standards.  This will make the blog an "accountability portfolio."
You will need to make a decision about whether you want to check every post on the student blogs or whether you will do spot checks and address digital citizenship issues as they arise.  I prefer the latter because the students do need to learn to "live" in a digital world.
Teach the students how to comment positively on their peers blogs and you can also let your parents know what kinds of comments will help their child's progress.
If you have a class blog on Google Blogger and you want to add links to your students' blogs to the class blog, this short video will tell you how you can do this.

I would love to hear your stories of how student blogging has empowered you and your students in these ways.