Resources!

Resources matter. You need the right resources, complete resources, quality resources, and researched based resources. I feel like I am lacking all of the above in much of my curriculum. I think I have a plan then realize ooh ummm I don't have enough for all the students, or all the students in that grade level, or I don't have the teachers manual. Then I think ooh this will work and realize oops is missing a chunk of important information. UGGH. I am beginning to see why my predecessor reached for workbooks. Somehow gaps have to be filled in. I am trying to do this in creative ways. I can't worksheet my students to death. Started teaching 2nd grade and up Typing today. Through Dance Mat Type this free typing program can be found on BBC Schools. You find resources in the strangest places. I have found that 1st grade hands just are too tiny for keyboards. Second grade and up their hands can usually fit without a lot of stretching to reach the keys. They have other programs for reading, science etc, but I have not tested them yet so I can't say whether or not they are quality. Learning to type helps the kids with online testing, research, running software and more. What Is cool with this typing software is the kids really get into it. It is fun so it works for kids. I really hope that I can fill in some of the gaps in my resources with free resources. Then I can figure out how to build upon the resources that I do have. I just want my students to be successful. After many of the assessments I did this week I realized that my students lost a lot of ground over the summer. This has a lot to do with parents not doing simple things with their kids like reading with/to them every day. Doing a little bit of math simple addition and subtraction. Also, letter recognition, shapes, and numbers. On the most basic level. I wish more parents worked with their kids even for a short time every day. Read to them... is that really hard?? I can almost immediately tell the first week of school what parents read to their kids. If they are read to they can write complete sentences, write multiple sentences, and read easily. Anyhow... I am soo pooped tonight. We did get a lot done today. I owe my friend a thanks for teaching me about P.E. Central I found some really fun P.E. games to do with multi-grades. We had P.E. today up on the grassy field. The kids love to take their shoes off on the grass... so I let them. Today we played Spiders and Flies. They got a big kick out of it. I discovered I am missing a WHISTLE! I need a whistle. Oooh progress today on the technology front. I have an e-mail login for school, and I can login to my own desktop now. WHOOOO HOOOO! We have more to do in the technology area but I accept any amount of progress! Another Sonic Boom today... after school. It scared one of our Kinder's and she fell over. Mean ole Navy Pilots!! Sheesh :) Gooodniiigghhht!