C | 2011/11/07

When my district claims my work, the message I hear is that I am better off using whatever existing resources are out there and expending my energy and creativity creating lessons unrelated to my schools curriculum -which I will gladly share for free- because at least that way I can keep my name on it. I am a sharer. I always have been and always will be. But just because I'll share my cupcake -or give you the whole thing if you say please- doesn't make it any less mine. I hear all of the people who are saying that they like the cooperation and exchange of ideas that comes with not selling lessons. But we're a global community of teachers and my district will use their claim on my copyright to prevent me from sharing with you. Right now, I feel like I'm at a birthday party and some mean kid just grabbed my cupcake, licked it and said "mine now!"

Alex | 2010/09/13

I wonder what the law says about a teacher creating a lesson plan for sale, and then using it in the classroom. It's a possible loophole.

Ms. Jane | 2010/05/29

One might be able to form an LLC, if you are doing private tutoring, and use your creations under that umbrella, if you so choose to sell your plans. You probably wouldn't be able to use your plans in the classroom then, but you would be able to sell them. Also, since it is under self-employment, it might be a possibility. Then, if you did want to use them in your classroom, you could always buy them for the district from the LLC. Sounds silly, but I'm sure that it is done in accounting all the time. Just a thought. Well, until they get rid of the U.S. Constitution and we do not officially become an oligarchy I guess we won't have anything to worry about. (sorry, just being a facetious.)

AM | 2010/03/08

AM

AZ teacher | 2010/02/01

not only the NEA does nothing to protect teachers from school district and states bullying them. But they mislead their members making them believe they would.

Micheal Palmer | 2010/01/24

I just spent nearly an hour typing and retyping a response to this post only to have it rejecting with the message: "Your comment was not added, profanity was detected." There was no profanity in my comment, but I give up. It's not worth the time to keep trying.

Fred J. | 2010/01/24

There are fancy ideas and then there is reality. I became a high school science teacher because of a passion for both science and for working with adolescents. But that decision at age 22 came long before I had my own family and the financial obligations that came with it. I am still the passionate, dedicated and very effective teacher I have always been - except even more skilled and informed with experience. However, without the potential to earn additional income, I must consider leaving this profession. There are a few ways that teachers can secure additional income that remain within the domain of their educational careers. Private tutoring is one method. Here we have another idea - selling lesson plans and materials. I suppose that writing a textbook or other work on education might fall under a different category. Why should my district seek to limit my endeavors here? Would they prefer that I obtain a real estate license and practice a completely different career in the evenings after school?

Chez | 2010/01/24

My lesson plans are registered copyrighted materials with videos to accompany them. The educational system has a patent pending. The best thing to do is follow the law as it is written and become active in updating the 1976 Copyright law. Currently I provide the use of my materials to my district (A district that is totally supportive of my endeavors.), my colleagues, and to those who agree to a non-disclosure as well as my students. Truly most people do not understand the amount of time most teachers work on their lessons outside of the contract hours. They do so with joy and thoughtful hearts. Our goal is to improve the learning of all. Thank you.

Celeste | 2010/01/24

As the article states, teachers don't make a lot of money, and we all are, indeed, overworked. I download and use many ideas and lesson plans from online--but not the ones that I would have to pay for. As an underpaid teacher, I don't have money for that. Also, being a skeptic, I doubt the quality and relevance of lesson plans I cannot review before purchasing. I personally would not mind sharing individual lesson plans for free, either online or directly with colleagues; what I would mind is if my district packaged and sold my work for its own profit without remuneration to me, the creator.

Russel | 2010/01/24

I curious if university professors also fall under the same rules. Do all the royalties of the textbooks they write go to their employer? Just wondering.

Lillian | 2010/01/23

I understand the copyright law; I may not agree with it but I see its purpose. Work for hire pertains to work created both on and off contract as well as requested through contract (or developed to make your work easier) belongs to the employer. It isn't just teachers, it is business too. Teachers are not being picked on here; this is with all business. I was a teacher for 18 years. I had developed lots of new ideas (both on and off contract) as well as multiple curricular ideas and shared it district-wide; my district packaged it up and sold it to other districts for their profit. I learned my lesson; I have since left the classroom and started consulting. I now have my own books published and from the other end - I am very upset that teachers feel they can scan significant parts of my books (which is my copyright of course) and post it online to share, most times without even a reference. I think teachers have a lot of liberty given through educational copyright anyway but work for hire (on or off contract belongs to the company - ask apple or IBM about that) and copyright of published educational materials belongs to the author. Teachers shouldn't have additional special liberties that other business people do not have. I know this is not the party line but if teachers think bigger they will understand it; I understand wanting to own your work, but well fact is, you don't own the exact written activity as written as they are part of the job ? if you did not have this current job you would not have created that lesson/unit, etc. (oh, and your ideas, even your activities are still yours as long as you change them at least 20%). Considering lots of teachers I have worked with don't even bother to look at what they can or cannot duplicate, and many do not respect the copyright laws of others (i.e. one teacher buys the book and copies the whole thing for their team ? or school) to begin with, even if the law isn't changed, teachers will do what they want and feel they are within their rights to do so ? even if it isn?t. Teachers should consider just changing things by 20% so they own it and do what they want with it outright.

Patty | 2010/01/23

ok the profanity detector is a bit harsh, since I didn't use any in my first comment! Anyway! Let me get this right, the state and school boards can not honor our 190 day contracts by furloughing us almost all of our teacher workdays and professional learning days. However we are also not allowed to sell the lesson plans that we are forced to do on our own time from our homes due to these furlough days? How unfair is that? Let me add that I have never sold any of my lesson plans, nor do I have any plans to, because I already write all of the reading lesson plans for all of the teachers in my district for my grade, I think it would be unfair to attempt to sell what I already give for free. Thats just me though.

Maddie Reed | 2010/01/23

As a proud public educator, I gladly (freely) share my lesson ideas with my coworkers. I learn from my colleagues daily, and borrow from their ideas all of the time. However, when I develop a full lesson plan from beginning to end, create materials to accompany the lesson, and use it to sucessfully engage students in learning, it is definitely my work. It is my creation. It is my skills, expertise, and time that went into the development of that lesson plan. It should be my right to dispense that plan anyway I choose, whether by giving it away, publishing it in a professional journal, or selling it in book form. When I present a program of skills development in front of my peers, I am never paid for the presentation. That is part of the contract I have with my employer, my school system. That said, when I present/teach colleagues outside of my system,on my own time, I should have the right to be paid for my expertise, paid for my time, and paid for any materials that I provide, created by me, for those peers. The copyright laws need an exclusion clause for educators. You are correct, no one owns us. No one owns my mind, skills, or creative spirit. Let me use it to enhance the shockingly insufficient salary I receive for the daily use of that mind, those skills, and that creative spirit.

Chris | 2010/01/23

Wow Smithy, thanks for the spelling, vocabulary and grammar lesson. I hardly find charging a dollar or two expensive for teachers. I have no problem buying books or resources from professionals if it will make my life easier and help make my classroom content more interesting. I am so sick of how society expects us to just give our intellectual property away. We already give enough of ourselves. I find it interesting that some teachers have no problem spending $5 on a cup of coffee from Starbucks but have trouble spending two dollars for a well thought out lesson that will spice up their classroom and make their life easy. I refuse to feel guilty because I am not giving away my lessons. The sale of my lessons will never cover the cost of my time, my education and my software purchases.

Joanne Lavender | 2010/01/23

The one thing to keep in mind is that any material you create that is NOT created on district time (and we do get paid for teacher days; we are not on salary)or on district materials (including computers or on-line access) or using district formats belong to YOU, and not the district. NEA had better wake up to the reality that districts are beginning to act as if they own us. They don't. We don't give up our constitutional rights because we sign a contract with them. We don't forgo due process; we don't forgo the ability to take on a second job...the list goes on. One more thing, NEA. Start looking at teacher abuse by parents, districts, and RTTT/NCLB. We aren't dogs on the end of a leash. We are professional educators and we are treated--and paid--as if we are chattel. I am not a serf. And I will NOT allow anyone to treat me as such.

MaryMD | 2010/01/23

As a special education teacher of children with multiple disabilities, I have spent thousands of dollars of my own money and thousands of hours of my own time developing curriculum, materials, and lesson plans. I do this because it's what is best for my students and the district does not provide a curriculum for me. My district doesn't provide the materials I need. People who are not in the teaching world, and teachers who work in posh suburbs have no idea what it's like for urban and rural teachers to provide a quality experience for their students. I'm so thankful that there are free resources and websites where teachers can share their ideas and lesson plans for free. I also utilize websites that require me to pay a membership fee to view complete lesson plans. Personally, I don't like paying the fees, however I do find quality ideas from them and the time savings alone is worth it. As far as intellectual property, I don't see how it would be possible to tease out when and where and with what resources teacher's created lessons that they are selling; in college, at previous employers, in the summer, on their own equipment? etc. If one creates a product on their own time with their own resources, they own the product and have the right's to sell it. That is capitalism. Obviously, the language in the Copyright Act of 1976 needs to be amended and unions should definitely have this point negotiated in their contracts. Honestly, teachers who are selling their lessons plans are hardly recouping the cost to create them in the first place.

Guy | 2010/01/23

Coming to teaching 4 years ago from 25 years in architecture, I have no problem with giving ownership to my employer of something I created while being paid to do so. However, I spend about 50% as much time as I am contracted for outside my contracted hours working on stuff for school. That stuff is mine. I am using no significant employer resources to create it. As for sharing with others, as I own it, it's my choice to share or not. If I hadn't made some substantial money in architecture, I couldn't afford to be teaching now, given I have sent two children to private colleges. An individual's financial circumstances are salient here, and I don't think we have the moral right to judge if sales or refusing to share private property is morally right or wrong, particularly in light of the compensation levels afforded most teachers.

Andre' | 2010/01/23

Since it's legaleez that we are supposed to be talking, with the 1976 Act and all, then the answer is: find out how much of a lesson plan has to be different in wording/ sample questioning in order to be considered a new plan (not one used in your classroom), change that percentage of the plan, then sell it if that's what floats your boat and you so need the money you are willing to give up more of your time.

Smithy | 2010/01/22

Okay, I know this is irrelevant to the subject under consideration, but, as educators, can we please be more careful with our spelling and word usage? It's "complement," not "compliment," when we are talking about something that completes something else, and when we are selling something, it is "peddling," not "pedaling," when we speak of selling something. As for the subject at hand, I have always believed that the collegial sharing of ideas was intrinsic to the teaching profession; I thought that accessing each others' creativity was part of our professional courtesy toward one another.

Chris | 2010/01/22

I guess if we were paid a living salary we wouldn't have to compliment our salaries with the few pennies we might make selling our lessons. I don't see how a district can possibly claim a teachers lessons when and if that teacher spends their free time and resources to create lessons. I have spent years paying big bucks to pay for a Master's Degree, which my district is hardly compensating me. I have purchased expensive software to create my lessons, using my personal computer. I have saved the district a lot of money by not asking them to buy resources and handouts for my students. I should be charging my district for my lessons that they would normally purchase for a teacher who doesn?t create their own curriculum. I am charging a couple of dollars for some of my outstanding lessons. It doesn?t even come close to covering my time and the money I have spent on education and resources. I have made very little money from the sale of my products. If teachers use my resources they save time and money by not having to create the lesson. I find it insulting that anyone would have trouble with a teacher trying to make a little money for their creativity and expertise. Why don?t they criticize the educational consultants for making a killing from consulting educators? Instead, they are critical if a teacher sells his/her lessons when they think they should be free.

Chuck | 2010/01/22

I have to laugh at the notion that sharing lessons somehow cheapens the profession. We need to do more sharing. A lot more. It's the presentation of the lesson that gives it intrinsic value. The best lesson in the hands of a mediocre teacher is not likely to be heard, much less remembered. Besides, most of us don't go looking for other people's lessons anyway. We're looking for fresh ideas, creative approaches, new technology. My district installed smart board technology in every classroom, and the list of teacher created materials and lessons is growing by leaps and bounds. Still, I've never downloaded anything I could use in my classroom 'as is' - not even close. I've gotten some great ideas, though.

Karen M. | 2010/01/22

I just spent time writing a well thought out response of 2 paragraphs. It was very professional, intelligent and courteous. I made some great points. These points happened to be against the teacher as "property" of the school district. However, after clicking "Submit," I was greeted with the following message: "Your comment was not added, profanity was detected." Now you'll never have the opportunity to enjoy what I worked so hard to share. Perhaps I should have copywritten or saved my work before publishing it??? :::sigh::: Case in point. Gotta go write some lesson plans now.

Rose Laub | 2010/01/22

Perhaps teachers wanting to sell lesson plans could develop plans that they are not currently using. If this was on their own time, and not developed to use as part of their job, surely it wouldn't belong to the district?

Martin | 2010/01/22

Teachers design and come up with the ways to reach their students, so yes I say the lessons belong to them, but here is the catch what if you created your lessons long before you began to teach for a school? Who owns the lessons then? Districts and the federal and state government forget that many times teachers have to invest not only time but also money to make a good lesson plan work, something that they are not reembursed for by their employer. The last time I checked a teaching contract did not say that the district owns us for 181 days 24/7.

Tiffany | 2010/01/22

Education is here to help people grow. I believe teachers working together, sharing information is what makes education successful. I do not think teachers should make a profit from lesson plans, nor should another teacher have to pay for information or a way to teach information. I think it is nice to be able to use others ideas in my own way, it keeps my job fresh and the students interested.

bwb | 2010/01/22

How about all the so called "Experts" who come into our schools, observe what teachers are doing, taking what they like, repackagining it and sell it back to the same school? When I taught in VA this happened in my school. My wife, a math teacher, had her math program that she designed stolen by a professor from Willism and Mary. Later this same professor was pedaling her materials around the state as his own. He charged thousands of dollars to help schools "reorganize" their math instruction in the middle schools. What he gave them was the same exact program my wife had developed.

Karen | 2010/01/22

I wonder what happens after you retire? If you take your materials with you, do they become yours? What if the district is unaware of materials made or you claim not to have made or used them for the district?

Clyde Tigner | 2010/01/22

I will try this again. I beleive teachers should be allowed to have copyright of materials they create. The law needs to be changed. On the other hand I agree with Wojcicki and add that ethics demands we be willing to share without cost to our professional colleagues in our own school districts. We do not charge a student in our school for tutoring outside school hours. Why would we charge a teacher in our district for sharing lesson plans with them?