I am really torn with whether or not I think it is appropriate to have fourth graders blog. It makes me very nervous that they are only nine and ten year-olds and placing something on the Internet that is open to everyone. As a parent, I am not sure if I would be comfortable with my own children doing this. I love the idea of using it in the classroom but do you think it takes away from the blogging experience by restricting it to the classroom students only?
I think it all depends on how you are using blogging with your students. This could be a cool way for students to publish their work, and they don't necessarily need to be tied to the post other than a first name. They could submit work that you then publish. This would protect the child's identity but allow other students and parents to get a glimpse into what is happening in your classroom. Also, I believe many blog hosts allow you to specify who has access to reading the blog and even lets you keep it password protected.
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