Thing # 10

This RSS/newsreaders exercise was really interesting. I didn't have a clue about RSS before this, and I was honestly a little concerned that it would be difficult to create when I started reading. It was actually fairly easy once I got the hang of it, and I chose to use Google Reader. I could utilize this technology in the classroom by simply keeping up to date with world news and events. I think that is one thing that is greatly lacking in students' lives... an understanding of what's happening in the world around them. Having an RSS feed to news websites will give me access to up to date news that I could share with my class. I also have an RSS feed to the Smithsonian Institution's History website, which has lesson suggestions and teaching guides that are standards based. This website has a lot of projects/lessons that are really student oriented, and encourages them to participate more. I'm sure that there are other feeds out there that would allow teachers of other subjects to get access to the same types of helpful material. Personally, I also created RSS feeds that I could use for my own enjoyment (like an ESPN feed), that may not really be relevant in the classroom but is still cool to have. I hope I remeber to take advantage of the RSS feature, because I'm so used to going directly from website to website, but once I get used to it- I think it will be a very fun and interesting tool.