Literacy Skills

   Critical exposure to the blogging process allows a student to develop his or her literacy skills, and explore his or her interests. Through constant exposure to interactive writing and feedback from a wealth of sources, students gain the necessary knowledge to improve their writing. The active process of commenting from a diverse audience exposes students to reinforcement, conversation, agreements and disagreements. Receiving constructive feedback on blog posts helps a student realize his or her strengths and weaknesses.

            As a student gains comfortability creating posts and receiving feedback, he or she becomes more conscious of his or her respective audience. With an audience in mind, a student begins to exhibit a unique voice within his or her own writing. Students begin to get a sense of what it is like to take ideas and express them to a diverse audience. This strays students from a basic, typical, and formulated response they would write in a traditional academic setting. Instead, students develop a voice of their own to convey their thoughts in an interesting, passionate manner. Having a unique voice is a beneficial for students because it transforms writing into a medium that is more personal. As students define their voices, they learn more about themselves and their interests. Realizing these interests can help students peruse his or her passions. In turn, this process gives writing more meaning and importance. As students are able to delve deeper into their interests, they become more passionate about expressing their personality through their writing.

            As students establish an investment in their own blogs and writing, they will become more inclined to appropriate the literary conventions learned in mini lessons to better convey ideas to their audience. This will make the literacy skills taught in class feel not only more relevant but also more productive. Relating and applying conventions in context to student blog posts is more effective than stand alone lessons. The blog represents a more realistic opportunity to improve writing. Through the constant practice on their blogs, these skills will be transferred to other areas as well.

            Practicing these skills in student writing helps students communicate their ideas more clearly. Effective communication is an imperative skill for students to possess because it helps them succeed in school, as well as in the professional field. Providing students with a strong foundation of effective communication sets up students for greater growth and success. Practicing this skill from a young age is important so it can keep developing through their schooling.