How to use Language Blogs in your EFL classroom

To be able to diversify your teaching is one of many challenging things you come across as a teacher. By using a Language Blog, you and your pupils' can easily post different kinds of texts, pictures and videos that everyone can be a part of. As a teacher you can also use the blog to share important information about the project your working with or use it as a tool for collaborative writing. 

The purpose...

The purpose of using a Language Blog evolves around the thought of collaboration between you and your pupils'. It’s important that all of you knows how to use the blog and are able to access it easily.

The blog can work as a multiple ICT platform, where you can have different projects running at the same time. You can create different categories and pages in your blog, which can be used for different exercises.

Using the blog is all about practicing to use English in both writing and reading. It’s about evolving the pupils' ability to use English, by practicing grammar and vocabulary but also to make themselves understood. To make other people understand what it is you want to say is an important part of learning a new language.

What you need to do...

To be able to use this tool, you have to create a blog which both you and your pupils' easily can access and edit. 

You also need to be able to use computers or ipads in your teaching, so the pupils' have an opportunity to work with the blog at school. A good thing with using a Language blog is that the pupils' also can access this blog from a different computer, which gives you an opportunity to post homework or repetitive exercises for the pupils' to do after school. 

How the Language Blog can be used...

A language blog can be used in many different ways. Here are some examples of how you can work with it together with your pupils:

The blog can be used for collaborative writing. The thought of this exercise is for the pupils' to improve their ability to write and use the English language by writing stories. The pupils' get to add their own piece of the story that the whole class are writing together. You can either decide in which order the pupils' will write the story or you can let the pupils' decide for themselves when they feel the inspiration to write and create. The story can later be used as a reading exercise for the pupils', maybe as a storybook which they can read out loud to practice spoken English.

You can also use the blog to give the pupils' alternatives to ordinary and regular exercises by sharing links and exercises for practicing grammar, vocabulary or reading on the Internet. You can also share ideas and suggestions of good books or stories that the pupils' can practice their ability to read. Maybe the pupils' have some suggestions themselves which they would like to share with the class and write a post about. 

The blog can also be used as an opportunity to do a presentation of a project the pupils' have been working with. They can prepare a text or a video together or alone and then post it on the blog for their fellow peers to see and give comments on. It can be a good way to practice giving constructive criticism to their fellow peers.  

Other perspectives...

This Language Blog is open for everyone to visit, which makes it a great way to collborate with the pupils' parents so they get a glimpse of the work you are doing with English at school. It can also be used as a tool for parents to help their children with homework or other exercises at home.