SPOTLIGHTS
Almosteverysectorisaffectedbytheeconomiccrisisinonewayoranother,
and the Education sector is no exception. Classrooms all over the country
if not the world are being affected by budget cuts. Teaching materials are
scarce, after school services are being eliminated, and layoffs are becoming
inevitable. Do you have less teaching materials to use in your classroom?
Are your planned activities not as engaging as they used to be as a result?
Here are a few suggestions that will help bring back the enthusiasm and a
fullengagementfromyourstudentsinyourclassroomagain.
The most basic thing you can do is to recycle your old teaching materials.
For example, you can adapt materials that were used 2 or 3 years ago with
your5thgradeclasstoplanactivitiesforyourcurrent7thgradeclass.
The next option is to literally raid your colleagues' closets. Fellow teachers
are a great resource for teaching materials. Teachers are known to keep
all types of materials including decorative materials years after years. It is
commonknowledgethatteachershaveahardofgettingridoftheirteaching
materialshopingthatsuchmaterialswillbesomehowreusedinthefuture.
Teachers have always used their imagination and skills in their classroom.
Teacher-created materials as it is known are materials that teachers create
to be used in their classrooms for specific lessons. The financial crisis and
the challenges that it brings is a great opportunity for you to put your
imagination to use. This is a great time to pull out your construction paper,
scissors,markers,etc.Yourimaginationisthelimit.
Finally, have you ever thought about swapping or selling your teaching
materials? As mentioned above, most teachers have accumulated a lot of
materialsovertheyearsthatareeithersittingintheirclosetsorthattheyno
longer have any use for. Do you have any used materials that other teachers
can use in their classrooms? That activity book that you used 5 years ago
with your New York City 3rd grade class can certainly be of use to a 3rd
grade teacher in Kansas this fall. In return, you will gain access to materials
neededforyourcurrentassignment.Swapit,sellit,anduseit.
TheeconomiccrisisisinevitablyaffectingAmericanclassrooms.Budgetcuts
make teaching materials more and more scarce nowadays. In order to keep
your lessons interesting to your students, you need to be very imaginative.
Recycle,createyourownmaterials,swaporsellyouroldteachingmaterials.
AbouttheAuthor:
GiaTheodoreisthefounderofhttp://www.swapboards4teachers.
comandEducationow.Educationowisaresourceforeducators,
scholars,researchers,andothersseekingtoimproveandraisethelevelof
educationalstandardsintheworld.
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/k-12-education-articles/dealing-
with-the-financial-crisis-in-your-classroom-707931.html
Dealing With the Financial Crisis
in Your Classroom: Learning How to
Make the Most of What You Have
6 | CHARTER SCHOOLS TODAY SPRING 20096 | CHARTER SCHOOLS TODAY SPRING 2009
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