Often times I find myself coming up with amazing ideas (or so they seem in my head!) for an activity that I can do in one of my classes. Review games, worksheets to check for understanding, and more create themselves neatly in my mind. Then, when it comes time to teaching the lesson and I find myself preparing for what I need, I realize that as much as I would like to be able to pluck the graphic organizer or strategy from my mind- it still needs to be created. This usually leads to the grueling task of either creating the document in word (which doesn't seem hard at all- but the time sure flies by fast!) or searching around online and in resource books for something that comes the tiniest bit close to what I had in mind.
Resources are our friends. I have heard dozens of times not to go through the trouble of re-inventing the wheel. There are so many valuable resources out there that can be used for free! So why go through the time consuming and often frustrating task of making something new? Sure: there are times that I just have to make the table or document that I need for a specific lesson. However, more often than not there is a resource just in reach that would drastically cut down and manage my time.
This is why I would like to share a resource that a fellow student gave to us in my theory class. Have Fun Teaching is a website that offers a great number of pre-made worksheets for many different areas. Supposedly you can take these resources and edit them as well to put whatever you want into the text boxes- but I have been too busy looking through the different documents available (and free!) to test it out.
Admittedly, for many of us secondary education majors, the site may seem primary based. I thought this at first, too. Yet after hearing from my peers about many struggling ESL students or students who simply have a hard time writing complete sentences (which I can sympathize with, working in an interrelated classroom), I realized that while the activities and worksheets may not seem age appropriate, they are level appropriate. Our students need that lower skill connection and breakdown of instruction in order to access the content. Not to mention, I have seen Senior students have way too good of a time writing their answers on bat or ghost cut outs around Halloween! When we teach, we don't just teach an age, and the activities and worksheets are what we make of them, especially with those struggling, older students. So if you're finding yourself running out of ideas or needing a relevant, confident and skill boosting bell work: check out the site! I'm sure there are dozens more out there, but it never hurts to add another resource to your collection.
No comments:
Post a Comment