If you’re in education, you’ve probably heard about Teachers Pay Teachers.
It has been under some scrutiny recently, but as a relatively new seller, I would like to address some of the things I’ve heard.
1. Teachers shouldn’t charge other teachers
I wanted to touch on this first because it is one of the main complaints about Teachers Pay Teachers, and it envelopes most of my other points. It’s also an ethical dilemma. Should it be?
The answer is no.
Here’s the real ethical dilemma: expecting teachers to give every aspect of their lives to the profession and work for free.
There is a huge societal expectation of teachers to work 60-80 hour work weeks, be “on-call” 24/7, do a million plus one tasks in a 30 minute planning period (which is their only free time of the day), and so much more… all for around $35,000/year (unless, of course, you’ve been teaching for 15-20 years with a M.Ed. and make around $50-60k).
As professionals, most with Masters Degrees, teachers are constantly left hung out to dry and disrespected. Communicating to teachers that their expertise is not worth anything is just as harmful.
Telling teachers that they shouldn’t charge others for their knowledge and expertise is another way to minimize the profession.
Why are teachers expected to work for free constantly? Honestly?
Would you expect a trusted financial advisor to spend their free time writing budget plans and tips, then give it away for free to others in the field? Maybe some financial advisors do this. But you don’t expect it to be free.
If this is our mindset, shouldn’t large publishers like Pearson and McGraw-Hill give their curriculum away for free?
So, here is my question regarding ethical dilemmas: why do we expect teachers to do this work for free? Why?
2. Low-quality resources on Teachers Pay Teachers
It is true that there is low-quality instructional material on Teachers Pay Teachers from sellers who want to make a quick buck, or who do not put much time/thought into what they’re doing.
It’s also true that Teachers Pay Teachers has many, many high-quality resources.
This is another example of not trusting teachers to create material for their own profession.
Throughout my journey I have met many other sellers. These people care about what they’re making. They know it works, because they are teachers (or were). Many of the products that people sell are these sellers’ babies.
They want their products to help you. They want to be of assistance to you. They want to support you in this hard profession called teaching.
The high-quality resources on Teachers Pay Teachers have had hours and hours put into them, and they’re made by actual teachers.
On Teachers Pay Teachers there are resources that are not as good as the material that my school provides– there are also materials that are far superior than what my school provides.
I am going to do what I can to find what works best for my kiddos. If that happens to be a resource on Teachers Pay Teachers, then sue me.
3. Teaching materials should be individualized
Imagine a job where half of your job duties have to be performed outside of the work day (contract hours).
Where do teachers get this time that is needed to do their jobs? It’s outside of the school day. It’s like having a full time job and another part-time job every day (again, for very little pay).
One of my friends, who is also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller, is getting her M.Ed. in curriculum currently. She said this to me: “I feel like I need to go back now and take off my resources, because teachers should technically be creating curriculum in their classrooms that is specifically for those students.”
I thought about it for a second, but then I realized a very simple truth about teaching:
We are professionals because we take what we have and we adapt it to what our kids need.
If teachers had to remake curriculum every year and every single day for every new kid who steps through the door of their classrooms, they would not have time for anything else. Literally.
Imagine having to remake every day’s lesson every year because you get a new set of kids. This is impossible.
It is absolutely correct that teaching materials should be tailored toward your students.
It is also true that teachers are trained to differentiate and adapt what they have to their kiddos.
With any curriculum, whether it comes from Teachers Pay Teachers or Pearson, teachers are professionals who know how to take their materials and adjust it for their students.
I have bought many things off of Teachers Pay Teachers, and obviously I have used curriculum that the schools provide. Every. single. piece. of material that I have used has been adapted to my teaching style and my students.
Think about task cards, for example: teachers can use these in many different ways, including a “scoot” game, have students answer in groups, as a class, individually, at stations, etc.
I have used 4 different curriculums from big companies, and I have also used Teachers Pay Teachers many times because the materials provided were lacking.
Teachers love their students, but there is a huge problem with teacher burnout, and many young people leave the profession quickly after starting. If all we had to do was teach the kids, that would be a dream! Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work that way.
After a long day of teaching with no breaks, did I want to spend an extra 3 hours creating something to supplement the textbook for the next day? Or did I want to pay $3.00 for something on Teachers Pay Teachers that looked professional and was something another seller put his or her heart and soul into (which I could adapt to my kiddos)?
You can bet your sweet bottom that I paid the $3.00, printed and copied it for the next day, then went home to read a book and watch Netflix.
4. Teachers Pay Teachers sellers just want a quick buck
This one is laughable. “Quick buck.” Ha. Okay, I’m not really laughing, but…
Going back to my first point, you are quite the martyr if you want to put 100 hours into one piece of material and then give it away freely.
But would you do that more than once, if at all? Would you do that three times? 100 times? 1,000 times? This is what successful teacher sellers do.
Teachers Pay Teachers is not a “get-rich-quick” avenue.
It takes most people years of hard work to make money on this site. Most successful sellers I know would wake up very early, work on Teachers Pay Teachers curriculum, teach all day, and then work on those materials until the early morning hours. Then they would repeat (imagine doing that for free).
I am not a big seller, but I cannot tell you how many hours I have put into all of this, including late nights before a day of teaching in a recliner with a baby latched on.
It is not just learning how to make quality curriculum; it is learning how to photograph, learn search engine optimization, marketing, and so much more. At the same time, you must keep a mindset of succeeding, which can be extremely difficult when starting out.
That resource you just spent a month on and then sold for $5.00 has only sold twice. Your marketing doesn’t seem to be working. You’re just so. damn. tired. This is what it’s like!
Teachers Pay Teachers is no quick buck. Most in the profession would be amazed to see everything behind-the-scenes of this wonderful site.
Full disclosure: there is honestly no way I would have created the resources that I have if I wasn’t selling them. Creating these professional, visually-appealing and high-quality resources is time consuming. Add in the marketing and everything else you have to do to get eyes on your products. There is just no way it would be a good idea to do this for free. My products would have never been created if that were the case.
I would have just found something on Teachers Pay Teachers. 🙂
Trust teachers to create curriculum; trust them to be able to adapt lesson plans to their students, and trust them to decipher between the high-quality and low-quality material on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Please, people… trust teachers.
Have anything to add or discuss? Post a comment below!
Cindy says
I love this. Teachers need to be given the respect that is afforded to other professionals. Our time is valuable. We are not nuns who have given up our entire lives to serve. We pay our bills just like everyone else.
Chloe says
Yes, I don’t understand why a profession full of intelligent, capable, and educated people is viewed this way. Our time and expertise IS valuable! We work hard and for many hours. We have lives and bills to pay, like you mentioned. Society in general needs to realize this, and teachers should not shame each other for deeming their hard work worth something.
Linda says
You are SO right about this not being a get rich quick scheme. It is SO MUCH WORK to make it, proofread a millions times to make it perfect (and still find an error) let alone, get it ready to sell, put clear directions, put terms of use and give credit to the clipart and font people, flatten it to honor your clipart terms of use, write descriptions, upload. Not to mention the cost of fonts and clipart…. It takes hundreds of hours of work to just get going. I love doing it, but it is not easy. Thanks for writing a great article!
Chloe says
Everything you mentioned is so true. There is SO MUCH “behind the scenes” work that sellers have to go through. Photography and Pinterest are my two least favorite, but you literally have to learn the ins-and-outs of SEO, social media, marketing, etc. Teachers Pay Teachers is not a “oh I just made a math worksheet for today, maybe I will upload it real quick” sort of deal!
Thanks for commenting!
Sally says
Fan. Tas. Tic. Picture me slowly, deliberately applauding! You have spoken our truth brilliantly! Thank you so much!
Chloe says
Thank you so much! It needed to be said!