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**RSS for Educators** //Imagine an educational tool that could magically transport you to the south of France, or the top of the Eiffel Tower. // //Or perhaps you want an update on the situation in Haiti, and how the orphans have been affected by the newly elected administration. //

//Using RSS, Really Simple Syndication, can help the 21st century educator wade through the ever-increasing and overwhelming sea of information that is available, and constantly changing, on the web. By using RSS, you can receive relevant information, whatever your content area or area of interest, without wasting hours searching the web. // //Making RSS a part of your daily educational routine will put a smile on your face!!! //

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= = = = **Setting up an RSS Feed** ===//For the easiest way to learn to set up an RSS Feed, check out this video from Common Craft. //=== ====**Locating Quality RSS Feed** //RSS will only be as good as the feeds that you subscribe to, so finding quality feeds is important. To find blogs that have been recognized as outstanding by the education community, try The Edublog Awards page or the list of top blogs at Bloglines. You can also take advantage of what others have found via social bookmarking at a site like Delicious. You can also customize the feeds you receive from news sources so that they are based on your specific interests, making sure that the information that you are being sent is relevant. For example, if a social students teacher wants information on the 2012 presential campaign, she can create an RSS feed from numerous news sources, and will receive the information as it is published.// ==== == **See some of the most popular RSS Feeds here. ** ==

**Uses of RSS Feeds in the Classroom** //Look carefully at the 21st century learners below. Notice that **they all have one thing in common.** No, it is not the fact that they are all asleep. **They all have additional appendages, AKA iPods, permanently attached to their ears!!** As educators, it is time to use these appendages, and RSS feeds are perfect for these always-plugged-in learners. //   //﻿// <span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">**Complete portability + automatic updating = perfect tool for your 21st century learners**
 * ====//<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">if your students write blogs, you can use the RSS syndication feature and subscribe to their blogs, as well as comments on their blogs. //====
 * ====//<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">create a linked list of all of the students' subscriptions on RSS and they can see what their classmates have found for a specfic topic //====
 * ====//<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">get your email via RSS //====
 * ====//<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">students can keep track of homework, projects, special dates via a class calendar that you create and they have sent to their favorite mobile device //====
 * ====//<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">share information or give parents of your students a weekly update //====
 * ====//<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">the teacher can select a few feeds for specific course topics, and the resulting RSS feeds function like a textbook for the class, except that the copyright date is always TODAY //====
 * ====//<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">have any RSS file converted into an audio file for the iPod //====
 * ====//<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">provide individualized enrichment and engage students by pointing them to several RSS feeds that deal with their favorite aspect of your content area //====
 * ====//<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">current events //====
 * ====//<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">create RSS feeds for search terms that will bring in any current news for your specific topic //====
 * ====//<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">research 24/7 with the RSS feed doing all the work //====
 * ====//<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">[|everyjoe.com] more ideas on how to use RSS for teaching //====

<span style="background-color: #c5e4fc; color: #000080; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify;">** RSS Feeds for Struggling Learners - KEEP IT FRESH **

[[image:lemons.jpg width="147" height="217"]] [[image:fruits_in_baskets.jpg width="306" height="215"]]
//<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">What's good for struggling learners is good for all learners! Most struggling learners need help with organizational and study skills. Practicing reading, writing, and math skills is critical for their academic progress. The question is how can teachers keep students motivated and engaged as they work to develop proficiency?? Students can set up and customize their own RSS feed depending on their needs. They can keep it fresh by receiving feeds with opportunities to: // //<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">A great starting place to find a variety of practice activities is on the [|New York Times]website. // ==//<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">*For learners who need support due to low reading skills, any RSS file can be converted into an audio file for the iPod. //== =<span style="background-color: #c5e4fc; color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**RSS Feeds for Professional Development** = ====<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">//Teachers are also using RSS Feeds for the own professional development. A teacher-made blog of classroom experiences, lesson plans, and reflections can be set up as an RSS feed so that other educators can learn from your experiences and give you ideas or examples of similar lessons they have used successfully. In addition, an RSS feed can be used to track professional goals, make lists and then take and access those lists anywhere. Some of the recommended sites for this purpose are listed here:// ==== === **<span style="background-color: #c5e4fc; color: #000080; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: justify;">RSS Feeds for Enrichment - How do you want to fill your basket??? **<span style="color: #2900ff; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: justify;"> === ===<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> //RSS Feeds can also aid in professional and personal enrichment. Instead of checking your favorite websites and blogs daily or weekly, RSS brings them to you. In the same way that RSS helps you connect with students and their online work, the feeds you subscribe to can provide helpful resources in nearly any topic. Teachers can subscribe to other teacher's blogs, get the latest updates on research methods, or simply follow their favorite sports team.// === ===<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">//To locate RSS Feeds for personal enrichment, follow the same procedures as described above. Enter a search term or website into your aggregator like <span class="wiki_link_ext" style="background-color: #ffff00;">[|Google Reader], [|Delicious], or [|Pageflakes] , and organize your feeds in the way it makes sense to you.// ===
 * //<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">learn a word of the day //
 * //<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">do a math problem of the day //
 * //<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">review study tips and tools //
 * //<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">read about topics of interest //
 * //<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">complete a crossword puzzle //
 * //<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">practice a writing strategy //
 * //<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">blog about current events //
 * //<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">share opinions on topics of interest //
 * ====<span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">**[|Tadalist]** ====
 * ====<span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">**[|43things]** ====
 * ====<span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">**[|rememberthemilk]** ====
 * ====<span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">**[|trackslife]** ====

===<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">//If you have trouble getting started, check out what other people follow: Technorati's Top 100 Blogs, RSS Feed Folder, and Wall Street Journal Feeds offer suggestions on top sites that you might be interested in.// ===

<span style="background-color: #c5e4fc; color: #000080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">All photographs were taken by Cindy Goldbach in her travels to France and Haiti. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">