An Open Letter to School Administrations across America
Recently I asked some secondary teacher friends if they had
ever heard of Teachers Pay Teachers, the teacher-to-teacher resource site where
millions of teachers buy and sell curriculum.
“What’s that?” Blank looks. Confused stares.
While TPT has taken off like a rocket in the primary grades,
many high school teachers still don’t know it exists. And it’s a rotten shame,
for them and for their students. You could do something about that, dear
administrators.
Let me establish some credentials here before I make my
argument. I have worked in three high schools, one on the West coast, one on
the East coast, and one abroad. I have taught all four grades, and worked with
regular and honors students, students struggling with English and student body
presidents. I have my B.A. from Pomona College, my M.A. from Middlebury. I’ve
attended a slough of professional development workshops and had my work
published in the English journal, Independent School Magazine, Classroom Notes
Plus, readwritethink.org and Reading Today. I have spent hundreds of hours
reading about pedagogy and examining what there is to offer teachers in terms of
internet resources.
I’m not new to education.
I discovered TPT when I took some time off from teaching to
stay home with my young children. Looking at the curriculum packets, filled
with careful instructions for teachers, rubrics, examples and attractive
handouts, I couldn’t help but remember my first year in the classroom.
Desperate for ideas, I spent all my free time that year
at the Los Angeles library and Barnes and Noble, trolling the education shelves
for relevant, interesting inspiration. I
read many wonderful books, including Why Read?, by Mark Edmundson,
and The Courage to Teach, by Parker Palmer. I read about differentiated
instruction, the differences between boys’ and girls’ brains, independent
projects and portfolios, the role of active learning.
But almost none of it was directly applicable to the next
day’s lesson. And the clock was always ticking.
I turned next to conferences, attending the National Council
of Teachers of English conference and a retreat for new teachers in Northern
California. I was inspired by much of what I found, and I eagerly snapped up
the packets of materials teachers shared with me. I researched further online,
learning more about new pedagogies like Harkness and literature circles, and
finding inspiration at teacher sharing sites like Outta Ray’s Head and Web
English Teacher.
All of this I considered to be the natural hard work of the
English teacher. By finding inspiration in the work of other teachers, I felt I
was giving my students the very best I could. After all, I was new. Surely I
had much to learn. I designed tons of my own curriculum, but I also adapted the
ideas of others who were willing to share.
Is that the teacher’s version of plagiarism? Was I
unoriginal? Not hardworking enough?
Ha! I often spent fourteen or sixteen hours a day working,
trying desperately to produce the best possible curriculum for my students with
little or no guidance from my school administration (no offense meant).
So here we get to the crux of the issue. Teachers Pay
Teachers. Not only should secondary teachers not feel guilty for going online
and buying the brilliant curriculum designed by those who have come before, school
administrations ought to consider budgeting for just this. My school was happy
to buy dull, canned books of vocabulary activities for my students. They were
happy to fund a packet of Macbeth worksheets designed by a big name publishing
house. They didn’t mind if I used the poetry slam materials designed by other
teachers and shared with me at national conferences. How is TPT any different?
Besides, of course, that it is WAY better.
As open markets so often do, TPT has inspired teachers to
create more and better curriculum than ever before. On TPT, teachers can find
not just thorough, attractive lesson plans, but the associated rubrics, models,
bulletin board headers, and parent info that only teachers realize other
teachers need. Want your teachers to help students
create interactive notebooks but they don’t know how? No problem. Want to improve classroom dynamics in classrooms but have no idea where to begin? TPT can help. Wishing
your English department could make grammar more fun? You’re not the only one! Teachers
with new classes won’t have to stay up all night for the first month trying to
get ahead, and teachers who are finding material stagnant after ten years can
find fresh ideas and inspiration. Administrators, rejoice!
Not only should administrations encourage teachers to shop
for TPT resources to supplement their original curriculum, they shouldn’t be
afraid to let their teachers become sellers. My ability to design thorough and
relevant curriculum has only improved since I began to share my materials
through the site. I look forward to returning to the classroom with hundreds of
pages of ready-made activities in hand. Plus, after networking with other TPT
sellers on Twitter and Facebook, I have an even more extensive repertoire of
pedagogy knowledge. Members of the community are constantly sharing ideas and
articles as well as products via these channels.
So, administrators, tell your teachers about TPT. Give them fifty
dollars to spend there and see what happens. You’ll be amazed at what they can
find for less than the price of a single textbook. And teachers, don’t be
afraid to approach your administration and ask. If they don’t know what you’re
talking about, give them this letter. Or make your own case; I’m sure you’ve
got a similar story to share. Millions of teachers are engaged in the TPT
community, and we are proud to be part of it. It’s a new frontier in education,
and it’s a good one.
Sincerely,
Betsy Potash (Spark Creativity on TPT)
No comments