CONYERS, Georgia - Anne Davis remembers how she reacted the first time she saw a weblog being used in the classroom. "I thought, 'This is all about possibilities,'" she recalls. "It's about listening, talking, collaborating, having a dialog. And it can work for any subject."

Weblogs seemed like just the tool for Davis to introduce in an elementary setting. A longtime classroom teacher, she recently became an instructional technology specialist based at the Georgia State University College of Education. The role takes her to school campuses to share new ideas and provide support for classroom teachers.

Students experienced a little anxiety at first about sharing their writing.

J.H. House Elementary is one of the schools Davis visits. It's also the school where she used to teach; indeed, she's a past Teacher of the Year for the 566-student school located in a suburb of Atlanta.

Davis approached a former colleague, Marcia Mateling, about launching a weblog project devoted to writing instruction. Mateling "jumped at the opportunity," and handpicked some students to participate. Principal Joyce Hooper heard about the idea, Davis says, "and suggested a few more students who might benefit." And Davis had a few others in mind. By design, she kept the group small: 11 students from the fourth and fifth grades. "It's a cross-section," she says, with most students falling more in the middle than at either extreme on academics. "The middle student who's quiet can get ignored sometimes in a busy classroom," she says. But with a little attention and individualized instruction, she suspects, "these kids can soar."

She began the project by focusing on writing rather than technology. "Most students told me they didn't enjoy writing. They didn't crave it. They found it hard, and not fun."

Working with the group for two hours every Thursday, Davis set out to make writing more enjoyable. She offered ideas for different ways to open stories and introduced activities such as news writing. "I wanted to get them thinking about what writing could be." She also set up a weblog for each student. That allowed for instant publishing and created a space where classmates could read and comment on each other's work.

Students' attitudes began to change. "They saw weblogs as a place where they could have an audience. They knew that writing mattered," Davis says. A student named Emily said "this was something you could do as a child, without having to wait" to finish growing up.

Around the same time, Davis received an intriguing email from a high school teacher she knew. They share membership in an online network (Educational Bloggers Network at www.bayareawritingproject.org/eBN*). Will Richardson, who teaches journalism in Flemington, New Jersey, suggested that the two classes collaborate, with the older students acting as mentors to the younger writers. The teachers set up a joint Web site for their project ("The Georgia-NJ Connection" at http://weblogs.hcrhs.k12.nj.us/georgia/*).

From the start, Davis's students were enthusiastic. "They were delighted," she says, to be paired with older students from a place far away from their home state. They were also eager to read the articles posted by the New Jersey students. But when it came time for the elementary students to publish their work online,

Davis could tell "something was amiss. They found it scary." Having a larger audience read and critique their work seemed intimidating. What's more, those high school students were producing stories that seemed impossibly long to the elementary writers. How could they compete? "The length of some stories blew my students' minds," Davis admits.

The teacher relayed her students' anxieties to Richardson. He brainstormed with his high school students about how they might put the younger writers at ease. "They handled that with class," Davis says. The older students went online to offer reassurance, encouragement, and instruction. Students named Meredith and Kristen, for instance, took time to deconstruct a piece of writing for the elementary students, labeling and explaining all the components of a news story. They also explained the reporting process. And Davis reminded her students, "You don't have to have something this long written by tomorrow. I told them to relax, and reminded them these are high school students. You'll get there someday." Meanwhile, she promised to "chunk it down into smaller pieces for them."

That reassurance was all they needed to take off. The younger writers became enthusiastic webloggers, eager to publish their work and read the responses from their New Jersey mentors. "This is what education is all about," Davis says. "My students are all reading, writing, listening, thinking, reacting." The weblog has become "a place to share ideas. We shape it as we go. It's all about listening to students' voices." Davis knows the project has been successful when she walks into class and hears students clamoring for her to read their work. "Isn't that great?"

Behind the scenes, the two teachers have worked hard to forge positive connections between their two classes. "This doesn't just happen on its own," Davis says. "As a teacher, you have to oversee it, make it custom fit to the needs of your crew." She and Richardson have continued their dialog throughout the project, comparing notes and making improvements.

Parents have shown an interest in the project, as well. By reading their child's weblog, Davis points out, "parents gain a window into their student's educational journey. Where else can they get that?"

Near the end of the project, Davis decided to share her thoughts about the successful experiment on her personal weblog (www.schoolblogs.com/newsquest/*). For a moment, she felt the same butterflies her students had experienced. "I was a little scared," she admits. "I realized I was putting my writing out there for anyone to see."