After leaving Zalika’s class today, I couldn’t help thinking how I just wanted her to keep going on and on about her tools for the classroom and great books that she uses to integrate curriculum. I wonder if we will take a class this year that will help us with specific tools for the classroom. I think that would be wonderful, and I vaguely remember the student teachers at Catlin telling me that they had to read hundreds of children’s books before the year was over. From what I can tell there seems to be millions of children’s books out there so how do you differentiate the ones of substance, like Taky the Penguin from others that do not open up amazing dialogue.

My second question is about funding. How do teachers pay to have their rooms set up and get all the materials, like books, for their students? I am guessing that the school provided the basics, desks, tables, projector, but what about all the other essential stuff. All the classrooms I have visited had hundreds of books, did the teacher buy them out of his/her own pocket? I know this may sounds like I am obsessed with the small practical things but I just hope we get to learn more and more tools for classroom curriculum and resources.

Is this really our last blog? I am going to kind of miss blogging - or at least reading everyone else's blogs!