Add RSS feeds to your wikispace

You can add RSS to your wikispace. This is so very useful and I used it today to make the Westwood Wikispace much more useful for my students.

Here is what I did:
1) I made it so that the most recent 5 entries in class blogmeister are automatically on my wiki homepage.

This is useful because the kids were having to check the blog and the wiki. This way they can just check one place. This is useful.

2) The most recent 5 headlines from the school news.

3) Today’s school schedule and events.

Here is why I did it:

• Obvious reasons,

• To keep the students informed, to keep it simple. One place for everything in class!
• Unobvious reasons, to tell the story. (See yesterday’s post.)

  When students see real ways that RSS benefits them, they begin to understand the WHY behind RSS. When they see the WHY, they will care more about the HOW!

Here is how I did it:

1) Go to the page you want to get the feed from and look for the little XML or RSS “chicklet on the page”
2) Right click and select “Copy Link Location” or “Copy Shortcut”
3) Look at the instructions and when you type the code in your wikispace, paste in the URL that you just copied.
4) Remember if you want to just have the titles, then set description=false

I’m excited!
This is so very useful and helpful! My students are going to love it! I assign questions of the week on blogmeister and they just forget to check it. Now, that is not going to be a problem because the wikispace is the hub of all we do!

I think it is important to have a one stop shop to prevent confusion. Using RSS lets you do that!

My students are using the wikispace for this semester’s project and I’m offering bonus if they use an RSS feed on their wikispace to track information about the Web 2.0 website they select for their project. I want them to see, become interested, do, and understand!

We’re having so many “light bulb moments” lately. It is very exciting!

Time for a break
I’m taking a hiatus for a few days. I will come back a renewed and excited blogger, a better teacher, and a better mother.

This is a tough time of year. Remember that:

“You can’t pour water out of an empty bucket.”
Quote: me!

Refill your bucket by taking time for yourself. Smelling the flowers. Enjoying the scenery. Reading a book. Taking a run! Doing something non work related. This is about living life not just about how many things you cross off your list!

You won’t remember if you missed a few days posting your blog. Your child will remember if you never have time to watch their game. Or if every time you showed up, you spent it talking on your cell or texting. Take time to actually BE with your family. Mind, body, attention, focus. Family and friends are important!

Keep the faith. Keep the fire burning by adding fuel. Tell the story!