Joining the wave of RSS feeds has been an enlightening experience. I had no knowledge of what the google reader is. I had seen the RSS feed button before, but did not know what it was or what it did. Since completing the RSS lab, I have been exploring the vast array of information available on the internet and have created a google reader (pictured above) and added feeds to it. I started with the feeds required for the assignment and then ventured out for topics that relate to my subject area of physical education. I have found some good and some that do not offer the content I want.
The feeds I chose that relate to physical education consisted of lesson plans, creative ideas, state and national organizations and the MYP IB program. These sites contain a lot of information that will be valuable to me as I grow as a professional. The state and national associations (AAPEHRD and MAPEHRD) allow me to keep up to date on what is happening in the profession at a higher level than just my school district. There rest are blogs and websites that offer articles on physical education. The blogs are helping me to discover new and creative ideas that people are using in PE. Mr. Robbo uses the ipod touch to teach movement concepts, SPARK offers innovative ideas on how to teach skills and discussions on "political correctness" within the profession, and the IB blog gives insight to how to teach in the MYP PE program. The websites with feeds are professionals writing articles, which seem very similar to the blogs, just not as personal. I have found this experience to be a great way to get professional development on my own time. I can incorporate the new ideas I find through the feeds to improve my teaching and the students learning. A wealth of information is at our fingertips for free, no more worrying about money and time away form the students to get all of my professional development. I know I will be able to incorporate some of the ideas I have read about into my classroom.
I posted a comment on the MYP IB PE blog that I have been following. The post was describing the process of completing the movement compositions piece for the IB program. I commented on how much I liked the organization of the blog and asked a few questions in regards to the topic. We are transitioning to become an IB school and any help we can get will help ease that change.
The feeds that do not relate directly to physical education are proving to be just as worthy. I like to read about the new technology and uses that are available and coming soon. The amount of technology I have learned in the past three weeks has left me wanting more. The technology feeds keep me up to date on even more technology available for me to learn to use. The general education feeds are a good way to see what is happening around the nation and what thoughts people have on helping to improve the educational system. I find myself not reading as many of these, but a few catch my interest.
I have found the RSS feeds to be a valuable resource for my future professional development. However, it is not easy to keep up with all of the feeds. I will, over time, streamline the number of feeds I am following to the ones that I find the most value in. Some of the feeds do not update as much as the others. It seems that the more specific the topic, the less it is updated. The more general topics can have up to 10 new posts a day.
I believe I will be able to use the RSS feeds to improve my skills as a teacher. The goal at our school is to prepare our students to be able to compete in a global society. My use of the RSS feed will help enable me to be able to give the students the skills, in physical education, technology, or both, to accomplish that task.
