How do students become successful writers and excited about writing? Blogging or other online writing in your classroom can build literacies in all content areas by giving students the frequent writing practice that is missing in classrooms today. Students have to write to get better at writing. They need to write to an authentic audience— real people who are interested in what they have to say and are willing to comment back and engage in further conversation. Simply put, they need practice time in interactive writing. How might teachers do this? This book is the answer to this question. The book investigates blogs as digital spaces where students can practice writing and converse with an authentic audience. It focuses on idea development and gives students voice. Today’s students already occupy or will inhabit new online spaces in the future. Schools and teachers must move forward with the students and embrace this world across the curriculum in purposeful and creative ways. This will transform schools and teacher classrooms!

"Given the authors’ focus on elementary school writers, this book is perhaps most useful for K-12 educators who wish to begin incorporating student blogs into their classrooms. Nevertheless, those in higher education who are aspiring to improve student writing will also be able to glean sound pedagogical reasons for incorporating student blogs into our classrooms, as well as a helpful framework for how to do so." - Reflective Teaching