A weblog - or blog for short - is basically a website where people can post comments on any topic they want to share or as a more personal tool becomes a sort of diary where entries are updated on a regular basis.The interactive and open nature of blogs is what makes them so interesting since you can share anything you want to with any person in any part of the world and get instant feedback.
Considering our profession, blogs become an invaluable tool for teachers. First of all, it is a way of making students write! We often complain because of the lack of time we have during lesson to devote to this skill and now we're in the process of discovering how powerful the Internet could be as a resource in our - still and for many years to come - devoloping country. Not less important is the fact that our students' words could be read for any person wherever he/she may be. No more those wonderful pieces of writing we get from time to time sleeping in a folder waiting to be corrected and then returned to be forgotten at home!
Another aspect to consider when blogging is that not merely our students' writing improves, but our own as well! We spent our whole life reading and evaluating something we, in fact, don't do regularly, isn't it ironic? In my case, the last time I wrote about something was more than 2 years ago when I was studying but after that I've been just constrained to the sentence level and that's what we have to avoid. So, why don't we write about the topics we feel comfortable about? I chose my experience with teaching because I believe that the growing has to do with the sharing, but it could have been about my hobbies or any other aspect of my life...
Thirdly, I feel like devoting time to reflection and this time I give to myself and my thoughts is becoming more and more important day after day. It "forces" me to think about what I actually do. Then, I'm not going to stop saying "Let's make use of this trully convenient means of communication!"
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