Angela Burgess - Electronic Portfolio
  • Introduction
  • Video Reflection
  • Resume
  • Vision
  • Diversity
  • Standards
    • Standard 1 >
      • 1.1 Shared Vision
      • 1.2 Strategic Planning
      • 1.3 Policies, Procedures, Programs & Funding
      • 1.4 Diffusion of Innovations & Change
    • Standard 2 >
      • 2.1 Content Standards & Student Technology Standards
      • 2.2 Research-Based Learner-Centerd Strategies
      • 2.3 Authentic Learning
      • 2.4 Higher Order Thinking Skills
      • 2.5 Differentiation
      • 2.6 Instructional Design
      • 2.7 Assessment
      • 2.8 Data Analysis
    • Standard 3 >
      • 3.1 Classroom Management & Collaborative Learning
      • 3.2 Managing Digital Tools and Resources
      • 3.3 Online & Blended Learning
      • 3.4 Adaptive and Assistive Technology
      • 3.5 Basic Troubleshooting
      • 3.6 Selecting and Evaluating Digital Tools & Resources
      • 3.7 Communcation & Collaboration
    • Standard 4 >
      • 4.1 Digital Equity
      • 4.2 Safe, Healthy, Legal & Ethical Use
      • 4.3 Diversity, Cultural Understanding & Global Awareness
    • Standard 5 >
      • 5.1 Needs Assessment
      • 5.2 Professional Learning
      • 5.3 Program Evaluation
    • Standard 6 >
      • 6.1 Continuous Learning
      • 6.2 Reflection
      • 6.3 Field Experiences
  • Field Experiences
  • Blog
  • Capstone

Feeding our needs, fueling our feeds (Or, finding useful RSS feeds)

2/1/2013

0 Comments

 
This semester, we have been asked to set up Google Reader accounts and follow a variety of different feeds.  For years now, I have seen the little orange “RSS Feed” icon and yet never known what it is or what to do with it.  However, over the past few weeks, I have begun seeing its use more and more as a quicker way to stay abreast of current trends and information.

Today, I would like to share a video course that I found via the roundabout way that the Internet typically works.  One of the feeds to which I subscribed is Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne.  In a recent post, Mr. Byrne introduced A New Crash Course in U.S. History, a new video series by John Green of VlogBrothers fame and author of The Fault in our Stars and An Abundance of Katherines.  I was intrigued.  I have a passing familiarity with John Green due to his association with all things Harry Potter, and knew that he has a large Internet presence.  This educational aspect of his work was new to me, and while I am not a history teacher, I occasionally bring history into my classroom as a way of setting up the context in which a literary work takes place.  Consequently, I went to the U.S. History Crash Course site on YouTube, watched the first (and so far, only) video with my 5th grade son, and knew that this was a potentially great resource.

After the video was over, it then showed related videos.  Lo and behold, John Green also has a Crash Course on English Literature!  The short introduction video is something that I wish that I had had when the year first started.  Watching it led me to other gems to use in my classroom, like a video about the French Revolution (perfect for French 4) and another about the Roman Empire and Julius Caesar (perfect for my upcoming 10th Grade Literature and Composition unit in which we read William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar).  As I said, I watched the first video with my son, who loved it so much that he is now pleading with me to finish so that we can watch another.  If my students like it even half as much as he does, then I will feel that I have accomplished my goal of increasing their engagement in the class.

If I had not already been convinced that my RSS feed would prove to be beneficial, last night’s perusing proved the point.  While I won’t talk about them all here tonight, here are some other tidbits that I found intriguing:

  • New interactive table offers accessible learning by Tech & Learning
  • Meet the winners of our 2013 Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards by eSchool News
  • Teaching Media Literacy with Memes by GradHacker

What about you?  Tell me your favorite finds in the comments.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Angela Burgess is a high school French and Lit teacher, as well as an Instructional Technology Specialist.  She is also  understandably a Francophile and technophile. She obtained her M.Ed. in Instructional Technology from Kennesaw State University in May 2014.

    Archives

    May 2014
    January 2014
    August 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    August 2012

    Categories

    All
    Reflections On Learning
    Resources
    Rubrics
    Student Blogs
    Wikis

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.