How many evenings have you spent searching the internet for the perfect activities, article, simulation or list of quiz questions to use in class the following week? Hard work, right?
Finding your own resources, isn't impossible, in fact, it can be pretty easy. Sometimes the perfect activity is found in a textbook or a colleague will have a lesson plan you can tweak. Check "at home" or "in the office" for resources. All they probably need is a bit of updating and digitizing.
Other times the resource is so new you just heard about it, or in a textbook so expensive, you decide your mortgage is more important to spend the money on. Search engines and repositories can save the day in getting the materials you need.
If digging through books or file cabinets isn't your thing, consider using a search engine. There are several OER specific search engines you can use to begin looking for the resources you need. Consider the following:
Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE)
Shout out to the organizations that put their resources in the Public Domain! Here are some repositories that may have just what you need for your next lesson.
Sometimes, what you need is a good ebook or PDF. Other times, you need some obscure bit of information. Here are a couple of lists that can help with that.