A Webblog would be a valuable learning tool in my 8th grade French 1 classroom.

The blog would be a great place to share course information and documents, such as the course syllabus, homework assignments, project instructions, and other important communications. I could also post class notes, presentations, and other media. This would benefit students and parents immensely.

There is a tremendous amount of resources available about the French language and culture. The best way to learn a second language is to immerse oneself as much as possible in that language. Although my students are only beginning learners, identify resources rich in the target language and culture for them will hopefully help them appreciate the language in real contexts and connect to the culture. I want to get them excited and motivated about learning French, and what I can provide to them inside the confines of a classroom is just the tip of the iceberg. A blog would be a great place to centralize their access to the wonderful resources available to them.

Eventually, the blog could be a place for students to share as well. Students could share their thoughts, reflections, and links articles, Web sites, and online materials that they locate. It would also be an ideal place to highlight student work as well.

I have thought about, and even explored resources pertaining to, pen-pal type communications between my students and French students. It seemed that the logistics become very complicated -- I only have one group 18-25 of students each year. From the pen-pal matching sites I had explored in earlier years, many teachers had different numbers of students they were trying to match. Given the differences in second language learning in the two countries, it also seemed difficult to match students' language readiness / levels with their respective ages and interests. Perhaps blogging would be an ideal forum to re-examine this possibility.