Blogging in Grade 1?!

First of all, I have NEVER written a blog in my life. However I am familiar with them enough to navigate this assignment. I think there are many valuable blogs readily available that teachers can and should frequent in order to gather ideas. However, I am a very private person and know that once this assignment is complete I will probably never have the urge to publicly share my thoughts again (there's that generation gap- that has changed our definition of privacy- in action). That is also why I do not have a facebook account or similar social networking account. I just don't have that much to say to anyone I don't already say it to.  But I do see tremendous value in technology, the knowledge of it, and it's role in the modern world! I strongly encourage my coworkers to stop fighting the technology and use it to reach their students, expand their territory of expertise, and supplement their worksheets. 100+ math problems in 10 minutes vs one cut and past worksheet is invaluable!
The text Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson describes the shifts occuring to our world as a result of technology and it reminds me of a video shared (via youtube!) in a previous class that said something along the lines of... the top jobs today didn't even exist ten years ago. Children need to be adders of information. The "participatory journalism" is really critical literacy in every sense of the word. And teachers need to stop being hypocrites by resisting the opportunity to learn what they do not know. Engaging our students as teachers is an amazing experience for both us and them.
I am very interested in incorporating blogging professionally, even if I don't use it in a personal way. Using iPads, I am going to try out the ideas from the text about blogging rather than journaling on paper all of the time. Unfortunately- 1st graders are slow typers and therefore this will have to be a limited experiment. But who knows, I have been surprised so many times already. I love the idea that this is an "online filing cabinet" (page 24). After checking out Mr. C's Class Blog I was really inspired to find ways of incorporating video to remind students of lessons/ share what we are working on, but more in the way that it was done on the 1st grade video posted on our class blog. I also prefer the format of the write blog.
There is definite value in embracing technology... both for you and your students!