Thing 10 - RSS Feeder

Dr. Wall must have read my mind, as I was thinking that these blogs, wikis, tweets are fun, but who has the time to search through all of them?  Tada!  Really Simple Syndication (RSS).  Apparently, I had already set up Google Reader in one of my other Things -- Really, it must have been an accident, because I know there was no conscious thought to it.  Super easy to set up.  I added the following subscriptions:

Teacher:  The Pioneer Woman; The Cool Cat Teacher; Dangerously Irrelevant and Do I Dare Disturb the Universe.

News:  National Public Radio (NPR)

Play/Exercise:  Running Catholic

I love that via RSS, the blogs I'm interested in can come right to me.  I chose the teacher type blogs, so that I can get direct feeds from teachers on what is new, teacher tips, lessons, and more.  Plus, it's fun to get insight into other teachers lives.  I was surprised to find that NEA does not have RSS available.  I currently get an email every morning, but would now prefer to get updated through my Google Reader, since it's so much easier.  It's like opening five or six newspapers, but they have been pre-read so you just have to look over the headlines, etc. and decide what you REALLY want to read.

My car radio stays tuned to National Public Radio (NPR) in the mornings, unless the news is so stressful that I need to change the station so that I can be at peace in the day (I usually change it to something that I can really clear my lungs by singing with -- you don't want to hear me, either!).  I had to hunt for their feed, but it really didn't take more than using the search and typing in rss.  NPR is my morning alarm, too.  Oftentimes I feel as if I don't get enough news as I'm working, schooling, running the kids somewhere, making dinner . .  you get the picture.  NPR streaming straight to me via the Google Reader lets me at least browse the headlines so that I know the current state of affairs of our country.  Besides that, I love the personal stories they air that really let me experience the true lives of people in places that are only mentioned on the news. 

I put the Running Catholic in my reader because I need motivation to keep running.  Not only is he a runner, but he's a Christian.  It's always nice to get some scripture to help keep me peaceful.

RSS feeds will help me to stay current as a teacher, and as an informed citizen.  I'm not quite sure how I'd use it in the classroom for the students, unless I was working with older students, say in a social studies class.  Maybe open the day with students looking at the feed for bell work -- they'd have to choose an NPR story and say why they chose that.  Just an idea.  I have a while to think about it more.

Thanks for reading!