worksheet quandry

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Home : 2003 : October : 19

worksheet quandry
By Susan

I feel your pain. I was a nongraded primary teacher when I started teaching. We were using a whole language approach and were including children in groups according to their current level of work, not on their age. I left
for 6 years (babies) and now that I am back and at a new school, the pendulum has moved to the other end. The teachers I teach with have moved to using traditional methods. I used centers very effectively in the past. I am currently trying to work technology into these centers. To address your problem, though, I have begun replacing one activity at a time with a more open-ended one.

I understand that you don't want to create a competitive atmosphere with you coworkers. You might begin by using the worksheets at the centers. You can slip this by pretty easily. After a while, add more interesting activities. This will also give your students a chance to adjust to moving to centers. Once you get in the groove of moving, you will find that the planning will be much easier! We sometimes even invite parents to help out with one center that is particularly active or involved. Be positive! I'll bet that once you get going and the others see how excited you adn the children are, they'll want to do centers and authentic activities, too!!