Susie spent hours collecting and curating resources for her
upcoming unit on cells. She is able to successfully use much of what she
has found when implementing her plans.
The following year, when it is time to begin the unit on cells again, Susie forgets about the resources she curated. She essentially starts from scratch, performing the task of searching, saving, and sorting once again.
Create a plan or provide suggestions for ways to make your curated resources a regular part of your planning.
When reading the above scenario, my first thought was "Shame on Susie for not keeping her lesson plans" which I assume would have had her curated resources. My second thought was Susie was perhaps a first year teacher and therefore forgot, or didn't know, to save her plans. My third thought was that, like many teachers, Susie got shifted from one grade level or subject to a different one, but it appears she is still teaching the unit on cells again, so scratch that third thought!
But, alas, the problem remains that Susie has probably learned her lesson and is likely quite frustrated each time she sits down to plan. Therefore, she needs a long-term plan that considers what to curate and where to curate it.
First: If she doesn't already have one she needs to invest in a large capacity flash drive and save all her plans on it. BETTER STILL--she needs to learn about Cloud storage and utilize something like iCloud or SkyDrive. By utilizing Cloud storage, she won't have to worry about disappearing or laundered flash drives!
Second: She needs to think about how she wants to curate resources. Does she want a central spot for ALL her resources? Does she want to curate resources in each lesson plan? Does she want to curate sources for each unit? These are all things to consider as each person has unique preferences.
There are numerous ways to store resources whether it be on hardware like a flash drive or external drive or online in any numerous ways of Cloud storage. After familiarizing herself with her options she should pick one and stick with it. Nothing is more frustrating than having too many different storage spots and forgetting what is stored where!
Although there are many great options, my recommendation would be to store websites and links on Symbaloo or delicious.com by bookmarking them and to store other resources like worksheets, notes, screenshots, etc. on OneNote--my personal favorite so far.
Regardless of her personal preferences, there are too many great options available to have an excuse for not curating the sources she worked so diligently to obtain in the first place!
The following year, when it is time to begin the unit on cells again, Susie forgets about the resources she curated. She essentially starts from scratch, performing the task of searching, saving, and sorting once again.
Create a plan or provide suggestions for ways to make your curated resources a regular part of your planning.
When reading the above scenario, my first thought was "Shame on Susie for not keeping her lesson plans" which I assume would have had her curated resources. My second thought was Susie was perhaps a first year teacher and therefore forgot, or didn't know, to save her plans. My third thought was that, like many teachers, Susie got shifted from one grade level or subject to a different one, but it appears she is still teaching the unit on cells again, so scratch that third thought!
But, alas, the problem remains that Susie has probably learned her lesson and is likely quite frustrated each time she sits down to plan. Therefore, she needs a long-term plan that considers what to curate and where to curate it.
First: If she doesn't already have one she needs to invest in a large capacity flash drive and save all her plans on it. BETTER STILL--she needs to learn about Cloud storage and utilize something like iCloud or SkyDrive. By utilizing Cloud storage, she won't have to worry about disappearing or laundered flash drives!
Second: She needs to think about how she wants to curate resources. Does she want a central spot for ALL her resources? Does she want to curate resources in each lesson plan? Does she want to curate sources for each unit? These are all things to consider as each person has unique preferences.
There are numerous ways to store resources whether it be on hardware like a flash drive or external drive or online in any numerous ways of Cloud storage. After familiarizing herself with her options she should pick one and stick with it. Nothing is more frustrating than having too many different storage spots and forgetting what is stored where!
Although there are many great options, my recommendation would be to store websites and links on Symbaloo or delicious.com by bookmarking them and to store other resources like worksheets, notes, screenshots, etc. on OneNote--my personal favorite so far.
Regardless of her personal preferences, there are too many great options available to have an excuse for not curating the sources she worked so diligently to obtain in the first place!
Thanks for your great ideas on this issue. I am a veteran teachers (25+ years) and I have the notebooks and file cabinets full of papers to prove it! But I am still a novice at learning to "curate" and store resources digitally. (I do have a flash drive and all my word documents are organized in files by class!) You have given me several great ideas to explore.
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