You Told Us Your Stories!
Now Meet the Winners!
In late August/early September, we wanted to know -- in 250 words or less -- about your experience with Curriki, and how that experience has made a difference in what you do. A panel of Curriki judges selected their favorite stories, and now we're posting the winners here to help inspire you! Here are the questions we asked to help get people started:
- How has Curriki helped you or changed the way you work?
- What’s your favorite Curriki resource and in what ways does it benefit you?
- Have you saved valuable time (weekend or after-school) or money by leveraging Curriki resources?
- How have your students benefited?
- How have you shared and/or customized Curriki content to better meet your needs?
Grand Prize: Greg Guy (Florida)
Runner-Up: David Der Sarkisian (New York)
Honorable Mention: Linda Olson (Virginia)
Runner-Up: Godfrey Mabika (South Africa)
Honorable Mention: Sanika (India)
My wife and I stumbled upon Curriki while searching for innovative resources for the classroom. My wife thought it was a great community; I was skeptical. I decided to test the powers of Curriki by preparing for a lesson for Martin Luther King, Jr. It was November so I was certain the education community would be stumped and unprepared. I found numerous resources using only Dr. King’s initials in the search box. I compiled several resources from various plans and created an elaborate study of Dr. King’s speech which included visual stimuli, a tag cloud of his speech, the audio and an extensive history of Dr. King’s life and the Civil Rights Movement. Four years later, I’m using this exact lesson plan with every class I teach. I have taught all grades from 6th through 11th and I have had the most detached students delve into this interactive lesson. Don’t think for a moment that students won’t grasp large concepts. I now use Curriki resources in nearly all of my lessons. Sometimes you have to tweak and combine existing plans but there is no place better for compiling teaching resources. So, I offer a belated “Thank you” to Curriki from a humbled teacher and intrigued students.
As an educator in New York City, my role in the classroom extends far beyond “Teacher of English.” While working to improve my students’ reading and writing skills, I strive to help them learn to negotiate life. Furthermore, I am constantly working to build their self-esteem, provide a safe learning environment and give them the individual attention they crave and deserve. All of that leaves me with very little energy at the end of the day. Being able to browse through Curriki has allowed me to bring effective lessons and teaching ideas into the classroom when my brain is too exhausted to develop them on my own. This has made Curriki an invaluable resource that I use on a daily basis. First, Curriki provides a virtual collaboration forum. Second, by providing strong ideas, Curriki has allowed me to tailor lessons to meet the specific needs of my students. As such, my students have been progressing on an individualized basis, while still meeting the common standards. For example, I was having a difficult time figuring out how to teach metaphor to my students in a meaningful way. I did a quick search on Curriki and found a very simple, yet highly effective approach that I could not come up with on my own. The lesson encouraged students to develop metaphors from a given picture. This forced students to develop an understanding of metaphors beyond just memorizing the definition. Curriki has increased my effectiveness and creative capacities as a classroom teacher.
Born on the twelfth of September 1968 in Zimbabwe, I did my High School education at Mutare Boys’ High from 1988 to 1989 after attaining my seven ordinary passes at a rural day school called Devuli Secondary School in 1987. I earned a Diploma in Education at an associate college of the University of Zimbabwe in 1993 after which I taught Mathematics,English Language,and Accounting. I furthered my education by attaining a Bachelor of Education Degree in 1998 and a Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA).
In most of the schools I taught I was also the teacher librarian. Knowing that a library is the heart of a school, I had to apply for book donations from various organizations to help equip the inadequate libraries. I was also a business consultant for Junior Achievement Zimbabwe. My duties were mainly to help the youth to form simulated companies which they had to run following good business practices. I was also a team-leader examiner of Accounting at Advanced level. I had been offered a part-time lectureship post to teach Business Finance and Accounting at Women University in Africa but I had to turn down the offer because it would be costly for me travel from Chisumbanje Estate where I was staying to Mount Pleasant in Harare where I would contact the lessons. I do regret not taking the opportunity to provide myself with that academic experience. At the height of hyper-inflation in Zimbabwe, I had to emigrate to South Africa where I am currently teaching Mathematics and Economic and Management Sciences. I had to face different challenges since I found myself in a small farming town called Stella, about forty kilometres from Vryburg and approximately one hundred and twenty kilometres from the North West provincial capital, Mafikeng.
Setumo Intermediate School, where I am teaching,carters for the disadvantaged black children. Although the community benefited from the government’s reconstruction development programme (RDP) to redress the imbalances caused by the apartheid system, some of the people are still living in shacks.The school is the window of opportunity for eradicating illiteracy and poverty. Owing to lack of exposure to education,which during apartheid was a tarbo, the community has become prone to HIV/AIDS. AIDS orphans abound at the school.
The classrooms are predominantly mobile and inadequate. They are over-crowded:most of the classes swell to as far as sixty-five learners.The library is also used as a classroom for grades ten and eleven, so this leaves the school without a library. Teachers have to improvise.
My discovery of Curriki has been a blessing for myself and the school. As a member of Curriki ,I have benefited in a number of ways. Curriki has provided an easy access to knowledge for me – a thing that has made my work manageable. The fact that I can do my research without pains makes my content delivery in the classroom more informed and confident. The Free High School Science Texts: Textbooks For High School Students Studying The Sciences (FHSST) is one of my favourite Curriki resources. Using my digital projector, I make these crucial materials accessible for my disadvantaged rural community learners who do not have access to a myriad of learning facilities. Curriki resources provide sources of illustrations and activities. The impact on learners is invaluable.Learners that had hitherto been having no interest in education became motivated.The school that is undergoing a trying transformation from being intermediate to being an FET school has to benefit a lot from Curriki resources to achieve its academic pursuits. Most students’ performance in Natural. Physical and Mathematical sciences has dramatically improved.
By taking advantage of Curacy Resources, I have saved time and money. My time management has been enhanced since I can now readily access much-needed material without much effort. My library is now a click away. My learners can now also be exposed ,at no extra cost to them, to the same information that learners in urban schools do enjoy.
Since permission to use the Curriki content is granted to every member, I have extracted sections relevant for my classroom requirements and used it for lesson delivery and for additional reading material for my students whose exposure to libraries is limited by their rural set-up. For me and my students, Curriki has made the world a global village. We can now share information with people all over the world. Curriki has provided us with an intellectual diet that has diminished any risk of “rickets of the mind” resulting from lack of reading.
My father bought this laptop on 27th September 2009. He bought the person who connected internet also. When my mom sat on internet I also sat with her. We opened Gmail and my mom had joined Curriki for me to study. When I knew it,from that day I was fully busy with Curriki book reading. My mom said "Stop it now, Sanika! Stop it Sanika!" but I didn't stop. I opened many sites, stories, newsletter and one day I got an most interesting book that was "SOLAR STUDENT". It taught us how Earth rotates around the Sun, how moon rotates around Earth. My whole Geography was there in solar student. In this way solar student was very nice. When I opened this story writing competition I saw there was animated activities, teach English reading skills with digital stories and games,I saw the maths free education from kindergarten to 6th. In this way Curriki helped me very much. It is very very very nice. Because of it I scored 20 out of 20 in maths. What I say to you sir it is very very very very very very very nice. NICE CURRIKI!
I teach special needs children at Bowling Green Elementary School. I found that I could research on the Curriki site and be able to find the exact worksheet or resourse that a child in my class would need. When your children are as diverse as mine, it is timesaving and beneficial to look to your site first. This year I will be starting the first Elementary Autism Class for our district. The range of needs for each child will be different on many levels, but I know that Curriki will help me meet those needs. Thank you for this site.
