Blogging in the Classroom

I am creating this blog as a requirement for a Master's class at Fontbonne University. I hope to be continuing it past the time that this class is completed.
I think that blogging has a place in the classroom. Many of the educational blogs that I have read are where the teacher is using the blog as a classroom newsletter (some are daily and some are weekly). The educational blogs that I like are the ones where the teachers uses it for the students to display their thoughts. This is the most powerful use of a blog in the classroom. It is how I have wanted to set up my classroom blog. It took me awhile to work out exactly how I wanted to implement blogging with my students. I decided to not try to add something new to my classroom, but just modify something that we already do. My students write in their journal every morning. I am choosing one student journal every morning and having that student then go over and type their journal entry into our blog. We have only been doing this a couple of weeks, but it has really made an impact on the students in my classroom. They are more enthusiastic about writing and the quality of their writing has improved. It has motivated even the most relunctant learner in my class. You can read my student's writings on my class blog at http://msruder212.edublogs.org .