Contemporary Forms of Memoir: How to Use Blogs and Zines in the Classroom

Technology is changing the ways we write memoir, and teachers can be incorporating new forms into their teaching of writing. Newer forms of memoir such as zines and blogs are also becoming part of classroom practices, and, as teachers, we must be ready to engage and support students in such endeavors. This paper addresses three topics, all of which will be meaningful to teachers. First, I will provide definitions of blogs and zines so that teachers may have a rich understanding of their functions. Second, I will explore the various, complex roles that blogs and zines play in the lives of students, and hence, in their learning. Third, I will offer several tangible examples of how to meaningfully integrate contemporary forms of memoir into everyday classroom practice, with considerable attention paid to the safety issues associated with children and adolescents using new media and technologies.