Speaking and writing in the target language are two fundamental goals of the Foreign Language Department. To that end, French teacher Louise Dechelette is utilizing blogs with her 8th grade classes. Each of her students has a blog (hosted by MICDS and powered by WordPress MU) that can be used for school-related work. Approximately once each month, her students post a substantial piece that has undergone review and revision and includes a recording of the text read by the author and created using Audacity. These posts will, over time, become a portfolio of the students’ progression in French.

Louise uses Google Reader to manage the process of reading, listening and responding to the posts. This system allows her to quickly and easily keep track of her students’ work and offer timely and relevant feedback; a must-have for effective language learning.