Last semester we were instructed to set up an RSS feed through Google Reader. At the time, I mainly used it to check my colleagues blogs. It keeps them all nice and neat so I can access them easily and respond. I also subscribed to a few technology sites that I thought would be helpful. I only checked it when I needed to read and respond to my peers' posts. The information that was coming in from the tech sites was very overwhelming, so I would either ignore it or just skim the latest headlines.
So, now I am in my second semester, and my professor has instructed me to subscribe to more feeds and learn to get better at reading, or rather scanning, my feeds. I'm still pretty overwhelmed and not entirely sure how much is too much. So, I still have some questions regarding that. Right now I feel that Richardson has summed up my thoughts best when he says, "Don't be surprised if at first you think RSS is adding to your information overload instead of easing it". I am holding out hope that he is correct when he then goes on to say that "with a little time and experience, you'll begin to understand why pretty soon RSS will be a household tool, and why it will make you and your students smarter, more effective consumers of information." (Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for the Classroom; Richardson; Corwin, 2010).
The best thing I was able to learn from this chapter in Richardson's book was the ability to organize. I love when things are organized! Learning how to use folders in RSS was an "ah-ha" moment. Now I can easily find the blogs of my peers, the cooking blogs I've subscribed to, the technology information I have, and then the other classroom support blogs.
While scanning some information lately, I found an interesting article about using podcasts and vodcasts to help struggling readers. My "Classroom Technology" feed provided an article (http://www.convergemag.com/classtech/science-podcasts.html) where a science teacher was using vodcasts so that he could provide lecture information before class and then use class time for the actual experiment time. What a great idea! I know we will be learning more about this type of technology in the future of this class, so I'm sure I'll use this article again. The article then provided a great idea for me with my 1st grade readers who need additional help at home. It suggested that we send an iPod Touch and book home with a podcast of us reading the book for the student to follow along with at home. How great an opportunity for me to extend my teaching!
So, my goal is to become a better scanner of my RSS feeds, know how to look for and subscribe to the most pertinent feeds, and organize it accordingly as I go along so that I can find it easily and not be overwhelmed. I also want to find sites that I can use as a teacher and my students can use for class. I have first graders, so finding things for them will be a challenging goal. Someone suggested using a shared site that they can access, which sounds like a good way to start.
I feel somewhat overwhelmed with the whole thing of click this feed, click that feed, add this, add that... but I think as we get use to using it, we will begin to understand it more. I agree with you too on seeing the benefits of using RSS feed for upper grades but i find it harder for lower. Depending on the feeds, as a teacher, I may be able to better teach my students but I am still having problems thinking of how I could really use if for my first graders.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I could find a feed on a favorite T.V. show and have them create writing on it. I will have to think about it.... ALOT MORE!!!!