"Resources panic"

My colleagues in the department have recently commented on what they call 
"resources panic". I know what they mean. We seem to have such a huge range of 
resources: powerpoints, web sites, worksheets, songs, text 
book exercises, CDs and games, that you sometimes feel snowed under. "Back in 
the day" had a text book to work with, cassette, repromasters, worksheets you produced 
and, if you tried hard, the occasional recording from French long wave radio! 
The problem now is not where to find stuff, but choosing from the plethora of 
resources available.

Our approach to the scheme of work (or is it a "scheme of learning" now?) is to 
have a thick ring-binder for each year group with most of our sheets and 
references to other materials all in one place. The SoW is not one in which 
every lesson is mapped out hour by hour. Because we see pupils four or even 
five times a week for 40 minutes at a time, it makes more sense to plan some 
lessons ahead, but to adapt as you go along. I also like the idea of allowing 
my colleagues some scope for creativity. I'd hate to think we all did the same 
thing all the time. If we just had two sessions of one hour or 70 minutes a 
week, I would be tempted to be more prescriptive.

I pick up loads of good ideas from people's blogs, twitter links, emails etc,

but I only end up using a small minority of them, partly because, like many

teachers, I have a limited repertoire of practices which I know work well,

and partly because I am stuck in my ways!