Blog or Journal?

A confession: I have said a lot of unkind things about the "blogsphere" over the years. It began when my husband, well-meaning geek that he is, took to sending me links to blogs written by parents, mostly moms, about raising kids. These were largely horrifying to me. After a day of changing diapers the last thing I wanted to read about was diapers. As for the wisdom that might lie somewhere in this giant mass of random observations, celebrations and lamentations, I did not have the energy or attention span to sift through all the noise. I'm sure that the bloggers felt better as a result of their efforts, but were they really writing things that other people should be asked to read?? What happened to keeping a diary for the purpose of recording your innermost fears, joys, and frustrations?

Another confession: As a classroom teacher I was the Journal Queen. I found ways to work them in for every subject, including math and PE. I found that kids used their writing differently when journaling than when writing for an audience other than themselves. Having contemplated blogging as a teaching tool, I can see its potential, but I'm wondering how to use it in a way that doesn't contribute to the sort of idea pollution described above.

I guess what it comes down to for me is this: When should a student blog and when should he/she write in a journal? I'd love to know what other teachers have to say about this. One of the advantages of writing this here, instead of in my journal, is that I just might get to find out!