Have you ever been dissatisfied with a particular lesson?
Let’s be realistic, we all give lessons from time to time that we are not proud of. We either feel we did too much speaking or the lesson was all about content and did little to address specific outcomes or assessment standards. Perhaps you were dissatisfied because it was evident that the learners were not engaged. They were lethargic or just plain bored!
You have felt dissatisfied? Well, help is at hand.
Thutong is an online bank of resources and documents that relate to all things to do with education. Here you can find resources on policy, professional development and school administration among a host of other items. What is especially appealing to us teachers is a hoard of some 20 000-plus curriculum resources! You might find something to use that will change your boring lesson into something quite different.
Thutong has been developed by the national department of education with an eye to creating a ‘one-stop-shop” for anything to do with education. The idea is to create a place on the internet where learners, teachers, school management, district officials and even provincial and national officials can find the documents they need to optimally perform their duties and tasks. Consequently, any document that relates to South African education is being collected and stored in the Thutong database. Currently, this store contains 24 000 resources and is being added to on a daily basis. A ‘one-stop-shop” might be a convenient way to describe it but an added benefit for us teachers and administrators is that it is a free service. The only requirement is that you register for the service.
After registering (a once-off process) and logging into the system, you need to locate the ‘Curriculum” navigation tab at the top of the screen. The other tabs identify other specific focus areas: policy, professional development, and so forth. Click on the Curriculum tag to access the curriculum resource search facilities, and you’re on your way.