> I think this "blogging community" is such an important piece of
> this. Not sure learnerblogs, edublogs, visitmyclass, ePals, etc.,
> etc. is creating something similiar, but the community that is
> sprouting up around BlogMeister is what keep me using it.

Gordon, you are so right! As we enter our second month of blogging, that
community is so important. It is also important, at least for my third
graders, to have a familiar interface to interact with. There are so many
things these kids have to know in order to read, post, and comment.
Blogmeister provides a wonderfully consistent format - and it has so many
great kids using it!

I have to say something about comments, as well. My kids are struggling with
this. I very much appreciate all the good suggestions from list members, and
I look forward to spending more time on this with my kids. But that is the
problem - time. In spite of the 17 computers in my classroom, I struggle to
find the time that I know we should be devoting to this. The curricular
demands are so time consuming - add to that my school's mandated writing
curriculum with ZERO tech component - can you feel the frustration? My kids
stay in from recess to blog, or just to read blogs. It takes them a while,
being 8 and 9 year olds, to get through the writing of some of the older
kids who blog and who comment to them. And writing is still a real challenge
for many of them - but the motivation, my goodness!

So, my apologies to those who have had their kids send comments to my class
in Seattle. I know how important it is for your kids to get feedback. We are
working on it, and we will get back to you!

On the original topic of this thread, I don't know if it's location, or
what, but I have several parents who read and comment on student blogs. I
have a class email list, where I regularly write to 16 of 21 families to let
them know what's happening - this is the biggest reason for my parent
involvement, I'm sure. I have really not made a big deal about blogging,
except to get (extremely) excited about it. - Mark

http://epnweb.org/blogmeister/blog.php?blogger_id=5655

Mark Ahlness
mahlness@...
http://ahlness.com
http://roomtwelve.com