In my job, as a preschool teachers there are many resources I use. The biggest resources I have are (1) my imagination, (2) fellow co-workers and (3) the internet. I realize this does not fulfill the requirements for this blog about technology resources, but I figured I throw the first two out there anyway. After all, what kind of teacher doesn't consider their imagination as a resource? Or the other co-workers who have tried different ideas or who have been around longer?
Back to the topic, resource #3 is one of the biggest helps. When I'm tired and my brain just can't think of any new ideas or my co-workers are busy, I go straight to the internet. I realize that the internet is incredibly huge, so I will narrow down to my 3 favorite sites. Definitely, Google.com would be the first site I go to when I'm stuck. I type in my idea and Google brings my a list of sites that might help me. For example, this year my co-teacher and I have been doing a Letter of the Week theme. It's not always easy thinking of books and ideas related to specific letters. We read books that start with the Letter of the Week, we do activities relating to said letter (stamping for letter S, jellybeans for letter J, etc.). I do not have a list of pre-school appropriate books and ideas in my head, so usually I go to Google for help.
The next site I usually always go to is AtoZTeacherStuff.com. This site offers ideas for themes, and resources within those themes. I find it useful because when Do quick themes (within the Letter of the Week - for example O is for Ocean) this site offers different activities I can do with my students to help them better understand that theme. I like this site because the topics aren't too complicated, they can be manipulated to work on the pre-school level. At the very least, this site just gives me ideas as what I can teach my students.
Pre-kpages.com is site that I find useful as well. The reason I like this page is because it offers ideas on not only what to teach, but also how to teach. I really like the fact that it offers ideas on how to set up the classroom. When I first started this job, I didn't quite know what to expect. This site helped me with things that I now realize are obvious. Classroom set up and organization are essential, and pre-kpages.com helped me figure find ideas on how to better manage my classroom.
To summarize, I find the internet a wonderful tool. I often visit Google.com, AtoZTeacherstuff.com and Pre-KPages.com, for tips and ideas. Other than that I rely very heavily on my imagination and the imagination's of my co-workers.
Talking about your imagination and your co-workers is a great idea. Being a teacher, I rely a lot on my co-workers for help and support throughout the year. The internet is also a great resource tool to use. You would be surprised at what you can find on the internet. Many teachers have already post things so you don't always have to reinvent the wheel. Your imagination is another great tool. Having a great imagination is important for teachers to have, especially when teaching young students (pre-schoolers).
ReplyDeleteI agree with Vinnie. Imagination is something we often take for granted in the field of education where high stakes testing is essential and creativity is put on the back burner. Pre-Kpages seems like an excellent resource for your field. I would love to find a resource like this one.
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