Lesson 5: Teachers Pay Teachers
All of us spend time trying to find the best thing to make our
classrooms perfect. Teachers Pay
Teachers is a great site to search and find things - TPT's mission is to empower teachers by
bringing together those who create curricula with those who are seeking fresh
new approaches in the classroom.
The neat thing about
Teachers pay teachers is also that you can post your original creative ideas
and make some money when you reach thousands of people everyday. The internet is full of activities, but this
is a great place to search easily and at no cost. Many of the items are free or very low
cost.
We all know that the
best lessons come from people who are teachers and actually use their material
in their own classrooms, Teachers Pay Teachers is just that…a collection of
lessons that have been successful. You
will also find some books from commercial publishers that can be downloaded as
e-books (they cost more). Think about
the time that you spend creating something – perhaps you can find it already made or you can be the next sensation on Teachers
Pay Teacher.
Remedial:
Read the handbook put out by Teachers Pay teachers
Enrichment:
Many teachers are making money trying this. Read this article about one successful teacher.
Check out this site for some graphics. The creator says you can use her graphics on
things you make and post on Teachers Pay Teachers if you give her credit
somewhere.
Assignment:
For this segment, log in and make an account at Teachers Pay
Teachers. Spend a little time perusing
the materials available. Then answer
these questions about this site:
What teacher do
you think you will “follow” on Teachers pay teachers? Why? Evaluate the materials that they make; is it the content, or the
appearance that attracts you? Were you
able to find some flip charts to use?
Can you see using this tool in your classroom? How?
Challenge:
Post one of your lessons for people to purchase.
Jennifer B.I have looked at TPT's and found a lot of resources that I think would be good to use for writing in my classroom. There are flipcharts as well as powerpoints that I can use for information and presentations for my class.
ReplyDeleteI chose Kelly Roberts a teacher in Florida to follow because I liked her content on her site for writing materials and also for the way they appeared. Nothing too fancy but enough so I got the idea of what she was sharing.
I would use her things to begin my lessons for expository writing because she has an outline and good beginning examples to help students understand what expository writing is and how we approach it when we write. This would save time so that I don't have to make my own flipcharts and I would have something right in front of my ready to go.
TPT's is a great place to go for ideas - especially if you need them quickly. Most of the things that are there are cute.... put together nicely - clip art, font, etc... I think we do so much of the same things that sometimes we are just looking for a "cleaner" or more "polished" look.
ReplyDeleteI subscribe to their weekly emails and use a lot of the "free downloads". I've purchased a few - like the extra class subscription that Foster would be using - but not a whole unit. I'm not really following anyone either... except who Foster uses (I can't remember the name right now). Unfortunately - I am not going to sign up to "follow" anyone personally. I'm following a lot of people using other platforms (Twitter, Blogger, Pinterest, FaceBook) that I can't seem to keep it at a comfortable level of time vs. actually "using" it.
I would, however, like to work on a unit for 2nd grade math that I could publish and possible "sell", but that will have to be an ongoing work in progress.
I follow several people on TPT. Lory Evan’s has some great Math resources. I am also a fan of clip art for classroom use and scrapbooking so I have a few that I follow (ZipADeDooDah Desgins, Creative Clip Arts). When you follow someone they can send messages out so I often get a message ahead of time that the seller is having a sale soon. When purchasing items to use for classroom use I am very conscious about making sure the seller gets credit. Since I make a lot of stuff for my classroom I know that some stuff takes time to create and I want to be fair to the seller. Most sellers have an option to purchase additional licenses for other to use their items. This is cheaper to do than each member of your team buying the item on their own. (this is what Theresa was mentioning in her post. I bought something she liked it so I went in and added an additional license for a fraction of the cost than Theresa purchasing on her own and then she could use the same file) I have looked into being a seller and haven’t taken that next step….until now. I just upgraded to a basic seller account and I’m getting ready to post a couple of things today. Go check it out…leave me positive feedback (and if there is a suggestion you have for me please let me know!) http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Stacye-Foster
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Karen H. Oh my I wish I had this when I first started teaching. Just skimming through the stuff gave me tons of ideas! I noticed that it doesn't cost much to purchase. I like the ideas of purchasing together to get more for your money. I can't wait to see what Stacey puts up...I'd love to see some RCE teachers get funds from this. This is a great way to share ideas!
ReplyDeleteKaren H. Oh my I wish I had this when I first started teaching. Just skimming through the stuff gave me tons of ideas! I noticed that it doesn't cost much to purchase. I like the ideas of purchasing together to get more for your money. I can't wait to see what Stacey puts up...I'd love to see some RCE teachers get funds from this. This is a great way to share ideas!
ReplyDeleteI love the concept of Teachers Pay Teachers. It's about time the poor teachers get some moola for all their amazing ideas. I have to say I would have used this like a maniac if I was a new teacher or at a new grade level. I feel like my units are pretty established in third grade. And although I love to spice things up with changes year after year, I don't see me using this site as a resource. It feels like Pinterest at a cost to me. I prefer Pinterest where I can sort things the way I want things sorted. I like having a collection of ideas that I've already chosen vs. this site where you have to hunt specifically for what you want. My head is always swarming with way too many ideas already when it comes to subjects and how to teach them. I really don't need more. I also love-love-love making all this cutesy stuff myself. It's weird. I know. But I like taking ideas and turning them into a suitable document for others. If I choose to use this site, it would be to sell my ideas rather than obtain more.
ReplyDeleteI joined, selected English as my subject, 5th grade, and chose informational text. Very surprising, but useful, would be the government unit that came up. With the 10th grade US History STAAR test being so difficult, this would be a better way to teach government while teaching reading. There are really some clever ideas on this site.
ReplyDeleteI am not likely to use a lot of what I see, simply because I am too cheap to pay for them. Many things I see on here I get for free on Pinterest. It is quite impressive though and a place I will go when I am stumped on how to reach a group of students.
Amy White
ReplyDeleteI was already a member of this site and used it once last year. I searched for texas math 5th grade and "5th grade math review quizzes" came up. I used this last year as a review of various topics. It was premade STAAR type questions and the content was just what I was looking for. I also typed in elementary math and "Mr Elementary Math" is another resource that came up. I followed him and he has various sources available that cover a multitude of topics. I was able to find some flipcharts that would be useful. I prefer to purchase one that has a good rating so I just don't purchase something that is not useful. I have already used this resource as a tool in my classroom. It provides additional resources for all units of study.
Lisa Davis
ReplyDeleteThis is a great site! There are some great ideas there. I've downloaded a few. My favorite so far is the biopoems made easy PDF. It gives lots of different ways to use biopoems that I hadn't ever thought of before. There's another one on math vocabulary. This is going to be a big push for us this year, so I was glad to have those posters. All of this was FREE! That's the best price! I don't know who I will follow yet. I think I'll need more time to explore and find materials to use before I commit to any one person on the site. It isn't the cute nature that attracts me, but the content of the materials presented. The site is very easy to navigate and that is a real plus. This site will be good to use when we begin new units of study. At least that's where I'm starting with it. I did find some flipcharts, but they cost money and don't look to be any more spectacular than what we already have available to us through our curriculum. This was a fun site to visit. Thanks Karen.
Kate Evetts
ReplyDeleteI am loving this site. I realize that some of my colleagues aren’t as enthusiastic about it as I am, but that is because they are creative and can think creatively and find time to make fun activities where I don’t seem to be able to do this as easily. I found some great ideas already that I can either make my own or download and use their version. One was a Mystery Letter. I think I like the concepts more that how things appear. I was able to read enough of the lesson to make it my own in helping students with inferring. There was one person who advertises having a blog and I think I might try reading this when needed. What I like about this is I can search a concept and there are all sorts of activities or posters to go along with it. I was afraid I would forget some of the ideas that I have liked and was happy to discover that you can pin it on Pinterest. I love how all of these sites are friendly with each other. I know that there are some good flipcharts, but we have so many at this point that I am not worried about that. However, knowing that it includes these is refreshing to know I have another spot to search.
I know when I struggle to decide how to teach a concept I have this site to refer to as needed. I love that these are ideas from teachers who know what other teachers are looking for.
Debbie Moore- I liked TPT. I found some great books/materials to use this year. I decided to order 3 items. The teacher/author I liked best was "Cap'n Pete's Place". His games are for large groups and have a "pirate" theme which I think the students will enjoy. At the same time they will be moderately to vigorously active while playing the games. I didn't get to read all of the games in the book but enough that I decided to buy the book. I can see this site being very useful during the year. I like the fact that teachers can share their best ideas and also sell them for extra money. I plan to use this as a source to look back on throughout the year.
ReplyDeleteBecky W.
ReplyDeleteI registered for TPT last year, but haven't really looked though it since then. But after revisiting and spending some more time on the site, I found some materials/flipcharts that I downloaded for language arts that I can share with my team. I also started following them on Pinterest, so I am also able to see what is new (since I check that everyday). Also, I registered to get their weekly emails of free downloads, so I am sure I will come across some more.
Kerry L
ReplyDeleteTPT What a great way to connect our educators. New teachers can get ideas and inspiration from more experienced teachers quickly and easily. Most of the prices seemed very reasonable.
TPT is fantastic! I found several great resources. I found great vocabulary cards, and even a whole manual on how to do math journals with students. It is great for when you need a quick resource and don't want to run out to the teacher store to find a book for a particular concept. It is somewhat time consuming because you can easily get sidetracked because there are so many good things. The prices for the most part are reasonable. Good site!
ReplyDelete