"Effective teachers spend most of their day meeting with children in small-group settings, rather than whole-class settings, in order to provide differentiated instruction. The quality of small-group lessons with struggling readers must meet the same high standards as those with above-grade-level readers." (Allington,2006).
Allington, who has written extensively on motivating students to read and learn, suggests that one on one instruction be carried out for effective results. This may be particularly important when dealing with struggling readers. However, small group quality instruction is beneficial to all parties involved, the weak readers the strong ones and the teacher. The use of blogs can allow for this type of 'one on one' interaction between the teacher and the student. With proper teacher guidance, students can write their thoughts and feelings down and publish them, answer questions and comment on other's thoughts. Those who lack confidence to speak their answers can comfortably write them and know that their contributions have value and will be received, read and commented upon. This type of interaction not only compels the student to concentrate on the task at hand, but, also feel a sense of belonging and importance in the whole scheme of things. Through blog responses, teachers know what students are thinking and reading problems they may be encountering. This makes the teacher's job easier.
References:
Vlach , S., and Burcie, J., Narratives of the struggling reader. , 2010, The Reading Teacher, 63(6), pp. 522–525
Syndy Jahoor
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