Excellent vid, Megan! I like how you spoke about the issue of freely sharing versus charging. My high school students tell me I should sell my resources because they recognize the quality and time required to create the activities. I wish those who criticize could understand that.
Isn't it funny when your students realize how much time you put into something? I just did a Dear Evan Hansen unit with my students and they were surprised it was all me! Lol
Who are the teachers you mentioned on TPT? Maybe I heard wrong because when I tried to find them I couldn't. Thanks for all your content. I love your ethical stance on everything and your baby is adorable. My daughter is 2 and it's so fun to watch her grow. I think you're so well-spoken. ♥️
We LOVE TpT too! Teachers definitely deserve to get paid for their expertise and the extra work required to produce these resources. I hope school districts will make it easier for teachers to buy resources there without spending their own personal money. Fascinating history. Thanks for sharing!
TpT for Schools allows a district or campus to purchase for a team of teachers so that teachers aren't spending their own money, as well as making sure that teachers are complying with copyright.
I appreciate that you took the time to explain the FACTS of TPT. Pretty much everything that you've said happened in my district too, with the exception of NEVER getting resources for middle school and upper grade levels unless you're teaching Math or Reading. It amazes me that some people expect teachers to have time to create resources, readings, labs, activities, and worksheets without any assistance to time to create! Some systems have actually banned TPT items in the classroom while still not giving resources! SMH..... Ok, off my soapbox. I've been thinking about starting my own "side hustle" on TPT. Can you make a video with advice/tips?
This was fascinating! I'm a second year middle school history teacher and I've found so many literacy and primary source activities online. Once, I literally was about to create my own dbq, searched on tpt and for 3.50 saved at least 3 hours of work. I actually really love creating curriculum and that would be the only admin job I could see myself doing. This summer I was inspired to create my own tpt store to help teachers use Hamilton songs to teach history content. Having a little extra money isn't bad, but really I'm helping teachers access a resource that gets students engaged. That's what makes me excited.
I get excited when I find tpt resources that work for middle school history and as someone who does not yet have the expertise to create these amazing resources I am excited to give to the people who are able to create these things.
Amazing explanation, Megan. Thank you so much for taking the time to make this. Teachers are amazing professionals and are THE experts in the field of education. I’m happy to have a place where I can support fellow professionals while also enhancing the learning in my classroom.
Great video! I knew some of this, but you gave such a concise history! I taught from 2008-2016, creating resources because there was no curriculum for what I needed for the standards. I never realized the direct correlation between the standards and tpt. Keep the videos coming about tpt!
Oh and I think it needs mentioning that even when we finally did start to get curriculum that it was dry and boring and totally uninspiring. I use TPT to supplement our awful curriculum with things that students can actually enjoy. They learn so much more when they are having fun with their learning.
straberri1979 omg! So true! Most teachers I know hate the textbooks I create products for, but I’ve come to love some of the stories and articles after figuring out how to make them more engaging and palatable for kids. HMH Collections is a bear.
i feel like you made a video a while back similar to this. But i love hearing you talk more about it anyway! i started in 2016 and still feel like i don't fully understand the ccss . wish we had PD that went thru all the grades and how each year builds on each other
As a 3rd year, I don’t have a lot that I think works well and tpt has saved so much of what I’ve done. When I started my first teaching job I found that the history textbooks were from 2008. At that point they were heavily out of date and had too much bias and not enough multiple perspectives. TPT resources have helped expand the rigor, perspectives and just simply been a lifesaver. Thank you for speaking on the reason teachers should be paid for their resources and thank you for your mention of the fact that districts can and should be the ones paying for these things, especially in places that are no longer buying actual textbooks.
You say the timeline between new standards being adopted and new textbooks being purchased in the past tense. There are still schools using No Child Left Behind era textbooks though. I teach at the middle school that I was a student many years ago. I teach with the exact same textbooks as a teacher that was checked out to me as a student. The librarian at my school has a son my age who attended my school at the same time--we were in some of the same classes together. She has the exact book that was checked out to him over 15 years ago--it has his name written inside. For context, I teach in a well-funded destination district. Needless to say, I am in the "build your own curriculum" camp because those textbooks bored me to tears as the student of a Language Arts teacher who loved reading.
@@toocoolformiddleschoolblog I completely agree with everything you said. Especially for all the teachers who have only NCLB-era textbooks available to them. I think for some of the same reasons Open Educational Resources are increasing in popularity as well.
In the school I taught at last year, I had textbooks with classmates names in them from when I was in school there. Some schools stopped buying textbooks altogether. Having access to non textbook materials saved me and gave me something to teach these students.
So so fascinating. I am a high school English teacher in New Zealand. We have a national curriculum but it sounds like your common core standards. Teachers are expected to create their own resources etc- occasionally use textbooks but not really. TPT is getting more popular though- I use it to get new ideas and resources for my units. ☺ Thanks for sharing!
I started teaching just a year or so after you did. And ended up working for a rather poor district in northern West Virginia. Because of the rotating schedule they had as to when different subjects were allowed to purchase their textbooks, it was a good three or four years before my students had textbooks that matched their standards. I taught Junior English. This is the test. The one on which the entire High School I worked in was judged. I taught 88.3% of the 11th grade. Lots of stress. No support.
That’s funny that teachers wanted to know where their curriculum and textbooks would come from. I teach an elective class with a state certification test and we don’t have ANY curriculum or statewide resources. We come up with it all from SCRATCH. Oh, and there aren’t barely and TPT resources for us either!
And then there were the elementary teachers that had to redo every subject. I decided to modify bit by bit. Like you said I’m not a curriculum designer. I’m still in the process of changing over. It’s a long process with no curriculum. I use tpt a lot but I’m also trying to cut back on spending my personal money for my classroom. Oh teaching...
Great video. I never considered some of the points you made but you are right. I am currently in my credential program and will be going through the new EdTPA process for certification in January and February. EdTPA is process that I believe will change the teacher profession as well.
Hi Megan, Thanks for sharing with us. I love tpt store..that online store has alot of useful resources for almost all content area. Happy Thanksgiving to you & your family!
What I have found (math) is that the resources people are producing are mostly procedural. The deep conceptual mathematic understanding materials are much more limited. The resources usually only hit one of the three legs of rigor. Despite that, I still buy like crazy. I think it’s just cheaper “retail therapy”. The kiddos still need opportunities to practice. If some sellers of math materials make their products visually and or kinesthetically paired, or use manipulative items , this helps so much with differentiation. I am rambling now... I have also found that many math teachers rather like to teach old school and will buy from producers the materials more suited to pre common core. It’s definitely a love hate relationship with math teachers and the ccss. I experience pushback frequently from parents and students.
As an argentinian History/primary teacher student I found this extremely interesting, since our system is very different. I would ask/add if the fact that the teaching profession is horribly paid (and mostly female) do not have an impact, since the globalization of the poor affects women first, at least in Latinamerica.
Great video! I have followed you for a while, now and I just love your approach to education. I wholeheartedly agree you, as long as quality assurance is put into place. I'm not sure if there are measures to prevent plagiarism. I also wonder if mechanisms are in place to ensure that the preview of materials are reflective of what consumers get when they purchase. I really think that we should continue to embrace the gig economy and recognize that teachers are a huge force in the transformation of education. I can feel the textbook companies shaking in their boots!
Dhay Meonne That’s a good point about plagiarism! In general I wish there was a little bit more sourcing and citation provided. I try to do that with my stuff!
Hmmmm....interesting! People just "do what they gotta do" and get their hustle on! Yeah, TPT has really taken off. It saves so much time and I can find exactly what I'm looking for. I like that I can buy what I need if I want something specific to support and enhance my program and it's only a couple of dollars. Those dollars add up though...I spend a lot on there! Haha! I don't mind paying though...teachers have spent so much time creating resources and it saves me a ton of time trying to make it myself (and mine wouldn't be nearly as good). I'm definitely a fan! 😀👍🏾
Hi Megan, what was the name of the first tpt resource you mentioned - to me it sounds like you're saying dot cop teachings, but I can't find anything. Thanks! Btw, great video!
straberri1979 Thank you! As a teacherspayteachers seller, hearing this means so much to me because each product I make takes from beginning to end about 24 hours, and that is just for 1 story. I have to sell a lot of that one product to recoup for the time that went into it. Also, I’m a full time teacher and this is beginning to become not just a side hustle for me, but a full time one ad I build my brand and products.So, thank you so much!
When I say full time side hustle, I mean I’m keeping the teaching job until retirement (I’m only 6 years away) and doing TPT full time when I get home. So I spend 6-8 hours on TPT related stuff when I get home from school every night. It’s paying off though, finally.
I appreciate this!
17:46 PREACH 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 19:08 YASSSSS
Great video. I never knew how or why TpT started. TpT is a great resource!
Excellent vid, Megan! I like how you spoke about the issue of freely sharing versus charging. My high school students tell me I should sell my resources because they recognize the quality and time required to create the activities. I wish those who criticize could understand that.
Isn't it funny when your students realize how much time you put into something? I just did a Dear Evan Hansen unit with my students and they were surprised it was all me! Lol
Definitely share that great stuff on TPT!
Who are the teachers you mentioned on TPT? Maybe I heard wrong because when I tried to find them I couldn't. Thanks for all your content. I love your ethical stance on everything and your baby is adorable. My daughter is 2 and it's so fun to watch her grow. I think you're so well-spoken. ♥️
I should have listed them! Doc Cop Teaching and Read It Write It Learn It
Thank you! I was typing "dot" instead.
We LOVE TpT too! Teachers definitely deserve to get paid for their expertise and the extra work required to produce these resources. I hope school districts will make it easier for teachers to buy resources there without spending their own personal money. Fascinating history. Thanks for sharing!
TeachersConnect 💕
TpT for Schools allows a district or campus to purchase for a team of teachers so that teachers aren't spending their own money, as well as making sure that teachers are complying with copyright.
I appreciate that you took the time to explain the FACTS of TPT. Pretty much everything that you've said happened in my district too, with the exception of NEVER getting resources for middle school and upper grade levels unless you're teaching Math or Reading. It amazes me that some people expect teachers to have time to create resources, readings, labs, activities, and worksheets without any assistance to time to create! Some systems have actually banned TPT items in the classroom while still not giving resources!
SMH..... Ok, off my soapbox. I've been thinking about starting my own "side hustle" on TPT. Can you make a video with advice/tips?
Quite a few people have videos on this already! I've watched theirs to help me! lol
@@toocoolformiddleschoolblog awesomeness! I'll take a look!
Banning tpt resources can show how disconnected some systems have become.
This was fascinating! I'm a second year middle school history teacher and I've found so many literacy and primary source activities online. Once, I literally was about to create my own dbq, searched on tpt and for 3.50 saved at least 3 hours of work. I actually really love creating curriculum and that would be the only admin job I could see myself doing. This summer I was inspired to create my own tpt store to help teachers use Hamilton songs to teach history content. Having a little extra money isn't bad, but really I'm helping teachers access a resource that gets students engaged. That's what makes me excited.
I love anything Hamilton related!
I get excited when I find tpt resources that work for middle school history and as someone who does not yet have the expertise to create these amazing resources I am excited to give to the people who are able to create these things.
Amazing explanation, Megan. Thank you so much for taking the time to make this. Teachers are amazing professionals and are THE experts in the field of education. I’m happy to have a place where I can support fellow professionals while also enhancing the learning in my classroom.
Great video! I knew some of this, but you gave such a concise history! I taught from 2008-2016, creating resources because there was no curriculum for what I needed for the standards. I never realized the direct correlation between the standards and tpt. Keep the videos coming about tpt!
Oh and I think it needs mentioning that even when we finally did start to get curriculum that it was dry and boring and totally uninspiring. I use TPT to supplement our awful curriculum with things that students can actually enjoy. They learn so much more when they are having fun with their learning.
straberri1979 omg! So true! Most teachers I know hate the textbooks I create products for, but I’ve come to love some of the stories and articles after figuring out how to make them more engaging and palatable for kids. HMH Collections is a bear.
Extremely outdated textbooks that are dry and awful is something people across the country can understand. Fortunately we do have tpt now, thankfully.
i feel like you made a video a while back similar to this. But i love hearing you talk more about it anyway! i started in 2016 and still feel like i don't fully understand the ccss . wish we had PD that went thru all the grades and how each year builds on each other
I talked about it on IG once and finally got around to putting it in RUclips form! lol
As a 3rd year, I don’t have a lot that I think works well and tpt has saved so much of what I’ve done. When I started my first teaching job I found that the history textbooks were from 2008. At that point they were heavily out of date and had too much bias and not enough multiple perspectives. TPT resources have helped expand the rigor, perspectives and just simply been a lifesaver. Thank you for speaking on the reason teachers should be paid for their resources and thank you for your mention of the fact that districts can and should be the ones paying for these things, especially in places that are no longer buying actual textbooks.
You say the timeline between new standards being adopted and new textbooks being purchased in the past tense. There are still schools using No Child Left Behind era textbooks though. I teach at the middle school that I was a student many years ago. I teach with the exact same textbooks as a teacher that was checked out to me as a student. The librarian at my school has a son my age who attended my school at the same time--we were in some of the same classes together. She has the exact book that was checked out to him over 15 years ago--it has his name written inside. For context, I teach in a well-funded destination district. Needless to say, I am in the "build your own curriculum" camp because those textbooks bored me to tears as the student of a Language Arts teacher who loved reading.
Jillian Dimitriou oh for sure! 5 years is like very best case scenario
@@toocoolformiddleschoolblog I completely agree with everything you said. Especially for all the teachers who have only NCLB-era textbooks available to them. I think for some of the same reasons Open Educational Resources are increasing in popularity as well.
In the school I taught at last year, I had textbooks with classmates names in them from when I was in school there. Some schools stopped buying textbooks altogether. Having access to non textbook materials saved me and gave me something to teach these students.
Please do a history of common core video!
So so fascinating. I am a high school English teacher in New Zealand. We have a national curriculum but it sounds like your common core standards. Teachers are expected to create their own resources etc- occasionally use textbooks but not really. TPT is getting more popular though- I use it to get new ideas and resources for my units. ☺ Thanks for sharing!
I started teaching just a year or so after you did. And ended up working for a rather poor district in northern West Virginia. Because of the rotating schedule they had as to when different subjects were allowed to purchase their textbooks, it was a good three or four years before my students had textbooks that matched their standards. I taught Junior English. This is the test. The one on which the entire High School I worked in was judged. I taught 88.3% of the 11th grade. Lots of stress. No support.
Needless to say, I would have been lost without teacherspayteachers.
Jenna Lyn So true! That happened to me several years ago.
That’s funny that teachers wanted to know where their curriculum and textbooks would come from. I teach an elective class with a state certification test and we don’t have ANY curriculum or statewide resources. We come up with it all from SCRATCH. Oh, and there aren’t barely and TPT resources for us either!
Emily Carter what elective do you teach?
hello megan, great vid!
And then there were the elementary teachers that had to redo every subject. I decided to modify bit by bit. Like you said I’m not a curriculum designer. I’m still in the process of changing over. It’s a long process with no curriculum. I use tpt a lot but I’m also trying to cut back on spending my personal money for my classroom. Oh teaching...
Great video. I never considered some of the points you made but you are right. I am currently in my credential program and will be going through the new EdTPA process for certification in January and February. EdTPA is process that I believe will change the teacher profession as well.
Hi Megan,
Thanks for sharing with us. I love tpt store..that online store has alot of useful resources for almost all content area. Happy Thanksgiving to you & your family!
I remember all of that when Common Core came out and that is when I started buying from TPT and then making products.
❤
What I have found (math) is that the resources people are producing are mostly procedural. The deep conceptual mathematic understanding materials are much more limited. The resources usually only hit one of the three legs of rigor. Despite that, I still buy like crazy. I think it’s just cheaper “retail therapy”. The kiddos still need opportunities to practice. If some sellers of math materials make their products visually and or kinesthetically paired, or use manipulative items , this helps so much with differentiation. I am rambling now...
I have also found that many math teachers rather like to teach old school and will buy from producers the materials more suited to pre common core. It’s definitely a love hate relationship with math teachers and the ccss. I experience pushback frequently from parents and students.
As an argentinian History/primary teacher student I found this extremely interesting, since our system is very different. I would ask/add if the fact that the teaching profession is horribly paid (and mostly female) do not have an impact, since the globalization of the poor affects women first, at least in Latinamerica.
I couldn't catch the highly-recommeded PhD resource on TPT. Something like dotcomteachings? Can you please link it....THNAK YOU!!
Sal Ritz Doc Cop Teaching not sure if my answer’s too late ☺️
Great video! I have followed you for a while, now and I just love your approach to education. I wholeheartedly agree you, as long as quality assurance is put into place. I'm not sure if there are measures to prevent plagiarism. I also wonder if mechanisms are in place to ensure that the preview of materials are reflective of what consumers get when they purchase. I really think that we should continue to embrace the gig economy and recognize that teachers are a huge force in the transformation of education. I can feel the textbook companies shaking in their boots!
Dhay Meonne That’s a good point about plagiarism! In general I wish there was a little bit more sourcing and citation provided. I try to do that with my stuff!
My district banned TPT 🙄
Jilly Hall so petty!
Hmmmm....interesting! People just "do what they gotta do" and get their hustle on! Yeah, TPT has really taken off. It saves so much time and I can find exactly what I'm looking for. I like that I can buy what I need if I want something specific to support and enhance my program and it's only a couple of dollars. Those dollars add up though...I spend a lot on there! Haha! I don't mind paying though...teachers have spent so much time creating resources and it saves me a ton of time trying to make it myself (and mine wouldn't be nearly as good). I'm definitely a fan! 😀👍🏾
Hi Megan, what was the name of the first tpt resource you mentioned - to me it sounds like you're saying dot cop teachings, but I can't find anything. Thanks! Btw, great video!
R B Doc Cop Teaching 🤗 She has HS ELA resources
Your TPT store link is broken. Can you edit it?
Lisa Cheng oh oops! Yes, and if you just search too cool for middle school it comes up
fyi- the link that you provided in the description to TPT doesn't work!
Yes!!! PAY the teachers!!! (You can tell this is resonating with me: this is my third comment, sorry!!!!)
straberri1979 Thank you! As a teacherspayteachers seller, hearing this means so much to me because each product I make takes from beginning to end about 24 hours, and that is just for 1 story. I have to sell a lot of that one product to recoup for the time that went into it. Also, I’m a full time teacher and this is beginning to become not just a side hustle for me, but a full time one ad I build my brand and products.So, thank you so much!
When I say full time side hustle, I mean I’m keeping the teaching job until retirement (I’m only 6 years away) and doing TPT full time when I get home. So I spend 6-8 hours on TPT related stuff when I get home from school every night. It’s paying off though, finally.