Ok, so I have been reading about a website (there's probably more than one) where teachers can go and pay other teachers for lesson plans and lesson ideas. I am a classroom teacher and I know that teacher's do not make the big bucks. But we all knew that before we went into this profession, and many of us chose our profession because we want to make a difference in the lives of young people. Our district curriculum offices hire teachers during the summer to write curriculum for our courses as it is needed (and with the coming of the Common Core, that's a lot of needed curricula) and these teachers apply and are accepted by the content area offices to write what is needed. So essentially, our best teachers are selected to share their expertise and knowledge about delivering a solid educational experience. Their own ideas, lessons, and activities are willingly given over to the district to be published in the curriculum guides. Yes, the original ideas belonged to the teachers, but most of the teachers that voluntarily apply for curriculum writing understand that they would be willingly giving up their "ownership" of the ideas to have it published and vetted across the district by other teachers.
And isn't that ultimately what we want to happen as teachers? Don't we want our ideas to be recognized and praised and used by our colleagues? Don't we need feedback from others in order to facilitate professional growth? Don't we need to share ideas and work collaboratively as teachers? Isn't that part of the profession? Notice I did not refer to it as a "job." Teaching is a profession and we garner more respect when we refer to it as such.
Think about doctors for a minute (not the pay, it will make you crazy). If you have a health issue, you generally see multiple doctors. You will want those doctors to share their expertise with each other, to gain and accept feedback and suggestions from the other doctors, to be working collaboratively to best benefit your overall recovery. We don't pay doctors to meet and share information and doctors do not pay each other to work together for a patient, it is expected of the profession.
Ultimately, the students (all students, especially in the era of Common Core) should "own" our lessons and plans and ideas. That is how we know they have learned what we wanted them to learn.
Here are some free lesson plan links. Remember, though, a teacher still needs to plan how the lesson is going to work for his/her own students and fit the curriculum as well. Even though you will find a "lesson plan," you will still need to PLAN to make it your own.
Thinkfinity - blogs and lesson plans for free
Here is a link to NCTM illuminations, which has a strict vetting process for teachers that wish to provide math lessons.
http://illuminations.nctm.org/Lessons.aspx
This link is geared more toward supervisors, but may have some helpful information for teachers.
National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics
Here is a link to one of my favorite comics (only the math ones). My favorite one is about a math atheist, but that's for another time.
Calvin and Hobbes math comics site
Here are links to fellow educational bloggers of interest (to me and hopefully to you as well.)
http://rigglesmath.blogspot.com/
http://elementaryschooltech.blogspot.com/
http://tech2013leader.blogspot.com/
Hey! You put my blog in as a fellow educational blogger! I am so flattered!
ReplyDeleteI find this post very interesting. I don't think educators should be able to 'sell' their lessons and creations. I was under the assumption that what we create in our classrooms was the property of Baltimore County. I should think it would be the same in other jurisdictions. I will check out the links you graciously provide to see if there is anything to correct my thinking. First, however, I will check the Calvin and Hobbes because I need a laugh.
AMEN to your comment: "Remember, though, a teacher still needs to plan how the lesson is going to work for his/her own students and fit the curriculum as well. Even though you will find a "lesson plan," you will still need to PLAN to make it your own." How critical this, especially now when we are not giving the teachers a scripted curriculum. (Did we ever?!?)
My thoughts on this topic are that the curriculum and resources given by the county or school district is the property of the school district. Many teachers use the curriculum but create resources not provided by the county that they find necessary for their students. When a teacher creates their own resources to suppliment the curriculum, I do not think the county should have any rights to it. The resources made by a teacher come from that teachers ideas. Yes, it is based off of the skill the curriculum is telling the teacher to teach but the VSC or now Common Core Standards also tell us what skills to teach. Does this mean our products should be owned by the state too?
ReplyDeleteGood questions Allison. I don't actually think that the state or the district or the school would then "own" the products created by teachers for individual classes. I think the teachers would "own" the authorship of those. But I also disagree with the premise that one can "own" the creations to sell them.
ReplyDeleteTeaching is a profession where collaboration is essential to the growth of both teachers and students. Equity in the quality of lessons is necessary throughout all classrooms. Children are aware of the climate and culture of the classrooms around them and their friends share what they are doing in class. It is important for students to feel like they are treated fairly and receiving the same opportunities and education as their peers. The purpose of each lesson we teach or development is for the greater good of student achievement not only in our class but in all classes. What if your child was in the classroom next door? Would you share or even consider selling your lesson to your colleague that was teaching your son or daughter?
ReplyDeleteI really like all of the ideas and questions brought up here. One of my the many things I enjoy about teaching is the ability to collaborate with others. When the whole "ownership" of lessons is brought up then it might make those whole were once willing to collaborate questions their actions. I think that teachers become better teachers by sharing ideas and observing others. Do you think that "ownership" of lessons will change in the world of education in the future?
ReplyDeleteI honestly think that with the number of opportunities for sharing and collaborating on the internet for free and the more interactive and readily accessible these ideas are, the less teachers will go to pay sites for lessons.
ReplyDeleteTimely topic with excellent comments -- you've started a following! Continue to post, add Bloggger tools such as a poll, and integrate some graphics or videos.
ReplyDelete