Let me start off by saying, teaching is HARD.
End of post?
Kidding.
However, because for me, 15 years ago when I started teaching a wise mentor of mine repeatedly told me, “don’t recreate the wheel.” As a first year teacher of core subjects I was only one day ahead of the students. A full-course load, no prep (because we only get 10%, so one class in one semester, not each semester), and the expectation to take on extra-curricular activities meant that I was at school preparing new resources and coaching and marking (because how could we forget that joyous activity) for 14-16 hours a day. Work-life balance? Zero.
So, when I was burnt out and tired and surviving my third cold of the school year in October, my mentor wrote down the number to the medical clinic and also handed me a binder of resources to help me out. Because, why on earth would we create something new when there are so many resources out there?
That was 15 years ago, so the binder was a great option then. Now, we have more and more options like OERs and open education and other digital sharing methods.
Open education and other resource hubs are fantastic, yet, they can be extremely time consuming. I am all-for-it, but I would prefer if someone sent me to specific area of a resource that gave me what I needed for my particular subject.
Sharing is a survival method for teachers first of all. But also, why would we not share tried and true methods of educating students?
I have always been willing to share any of my resources with other teachers who ask and feel it would help them. I teach History, and if anyone knows the Saskatchewan History curriculum, then you would know that it is old. Like, objectives not outcomes old, like most recent update is 1992 (although History 10 MAY be getting worked on currently). The other side to this, is that it is not a user-friendly curriculum to work with, we’re talking a 300-or-so page pdf document that you have to sift through pages and pages of information to find any kind of learning goals. It is nice if you are unaware of the knowledge that is suggested to be used, however, if you compare it to new curriculum, those documents are around 30-70 pages. Big difference. Huge. So, where I am going with this is that, if you are a brand new teacher and learned about new curriculum in university and then get slapped with a Saskatchewan History course, you are basically dumbfounded by what this mass text is even suggesting be taught. It is a serious challenge. So, I will always share.
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