Reading students' (and teachers') blogs

Barbara Ganley has a post discussing students and teachers reading each other's blogs. She says that her students read her blog, usually without commenting on the blog itself. She talks about teachers reading students' blogs, the personal ones, and whether or not they should do so without informing the student. She asks:

But do we have a different kind of responsibility to let our students know we're reading their blogs if they haven't identified themselves on it nor have they openly identified us yet we know who they are and that they're, in truth, writing about us?

It is an interesting question. I am not sure I have the answer.

With my particular students, I can't imagine being hesitant to share my blog or to read their blogs. I would do this openly. But I am teaching adults, men who are studying for the priesthood. (My students currently don't even have access to blogs because of current Internet policies in place.)

I think the issues might be different for high school teachers. Bud has talked about similar issues over at his blog. So have other people; you can read some of the discussion here and here.