Teachers Pay Teachers

This isn't really a technology-in-the-classroom post; this is more of a teacher-resource post. But I have to talk about it because I think it is amazingly awesome! Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT for short) is, hands down, the best educational resource I've ever found. A mentor teacher introduced this website to me in 2009 and I have been using it steadily ever since. Seriously, I cannot say enough good things about Teachers Pay Teachers!

TpT

Teachers Pay Teachers is an online forum for teachers to sell and purchase classroom materials. These may be "real" materials (shipped to you), but most appear as digital documents that are usable as soon as they're downloaded. A ton of the downloadable material is free, but there are some documents you need to pay for. You can be choosy with what you spend money on (I certainly am!) and still get quality materials. There are exams and worksheets, of course, but there are also more creative documents, as well. I found several "character facebook page" assignments, literature BINGO assignments, in-class courtroom trial assignments..you name it! So it's not just "Turn to page 20 and decipher the meaning of line 19" kind of junk.

Another feature I love: you can become a seller in mere minutes. I used to be only a buyer (that account is free). But after I started teaching 8th grade ELAR, I realized that I made ALL of my own projects and worksheets, so why not post them and try to help out other teachers while simultaneously making myself a little ca$h? So I converted my buyer account to a basic seller account (also free) and began posting products. Teachers Pay Teachers takes about a 40% cut from your earnings on a basic seller account, but even with that being deducted, I've still made as much as $80 in a quarter! (Teachers Pay Teachers pays you 4 times per year unless you make an astronomical amount...then you get a check once your earnings hit x amount of dollars.) You can upgrade your seller account ($60 a year isn't bad!) in seconds and then take home around 90% of the earnings, so it's customizable in a way that I enjoy. Why don't you check out my personal TpT page to get acclimated with the site?


One more feature that is pretty nice: Lesson Plans On Demand (LPOD). Teachers post lesson plans (or unit plans) that they need quickly but aren't willing to create or track down themselves. If the lesson/subject suites you, you could create a LPOD for someone and make a pretty penny! If you find yourself in the middle of a planning pickle during the year, you can benefit from LPOD, too!  

If you make your own classroom materials, definitely post your stuff on Teachers Pay Teachers and make a little money off of it! (I mean, if you're going to make your stuff anyway, why not make some moo-lah, too?!)

If you're a person who is constantly looking for more materials (PowerPoints are available here, too!), sign up for a buyer account.

If you decide to sign up, I encourage you to use my referral link! http://tiny.cc/z02yp It helps me out a little. :)

You will not regret using this website!!