First Week of School

I have decided to have my students create blogs. In A.P. English the students will use blogs to react to the reading we do and to share their ideas about writing. In English 10 I need to think specifically about the type of writing I want them to do. In the past, I've had students do "free writing," where they furiously and spontaneously write about their thoughts, memories, or feelings about a topic. Such writing is designed to get the kids to record their innermost ideas--to capture images that sit somewhere in their brains. The theory is that sometimes these uncensored thoughts produce very vivid, authentic prose. At first I thought the blog could be used in this way, but then I realized that the strength of free-writing is that it is uncensored, private, and free. Of course one doesn't want to put such writing on the internet. Duh. Blogs are supposed to be edited carefully--so I need to think some more about what I want to use them for in English 10. I certainly don't want the blog to be just a diary. I want it to be more intellectual--and I want students to write well. Interesting, though, I am free-writing on my blog!!!!! I need to continue talking to people and thinking about my goals. Next week, I hope to have a better idea about my intent.