Seriously, we have to stop using teachers pay teachers

Let me start here: this isn’t personal.

Or maybe it is—a little bit—but just not in the way you might think.

It’s not personal in the sense that I think the people who sell on Teachers Pay Teachers are doing anything insidious. It’s not personal in the sense that I believe every single resource on Teachers Pay Teachers is bad. And it’s not personal in the sense that I want anyone who sells on Teachers Pay Teachers to suffer as a result of our profession collectively moving away from Teachers Pay Teachers.

But it is personal, in a way, because the quality of our teaching—and the resources we use to teach kids—matters to me. I care deeply about our profession; I care about the quality of teaching. Over the next four years, our profession is likely to be under even more fire than in the past. We need to ensure that the quality of our teaching is high, and that we are sure the resources we are offering students are evidence-based, leading to sustained gains in student achievement.

The reality is that the majority of the resources on Teachers Pay Teachers do not meet this criteria—and in some cases, reinforce or exacerbate poor teaching in our schools. Here’s why:

THey’re Activity-Based, Not Learning-Based

There’s a significant difference between teaching that’s grounded in completing activities, versus teaching that’s grounded in learning. The former emphasizes work completion of a predetermined product, while the latter is grounded in building conceptual understanding and instilling a sense of agency in learners. When students create flipbooks or fill in blanks on a worksheet from Teachers Pay Teachers, they are going through the motions of learning—not actually learning. Success is measured not by what meaning they’ve made out of the lesson, but instead the degree to which they have complied with the directions the activity has offered them.

Learning shouldn’t be about filling in blanks or complying to create the same product as your neighbor. Learning should be rich with inquiry and wrought with agency. Instead of giving kids fill-in-the-blank worksheets or flipbooks, consider having students write in open-ended journals, much like the picture below.

There’s no need to buy worksheets when you use open-ended reading journals.

In this open-ended journal, a child writes about Tuck Everlasting, using a writing structure to elaborate on their ideas freely.

Teachers need not buy a worksheet on Teachers Pay Teachers to engage students in rich thinking related to grade-level standards. Instead, they need to be engaged through a responsive pedagogy that incorporates cognitive writing (Goodwin & Rouleau, 2023).

Image Credit: My Kids Can’t Write

They’re Mindless

Activity-based teaching is often mindless teaching. Think of mindlessness as the opposite of mindfulness. When our teaching is mindful, our objectives are clear, the success criteria is available to students, and as a result, we are able to respond to students needs as they construct meaning alongside us.

Guiding students through completing a worksheet or craft from Teachers Pay Teachers is not leading us towards the latter; it’s often not about clear objectives, reflection in relation to success criteria, and responsive teaching. Instead, these resources create the illusion of learning, guiding students to complete tasks that are more indicative of their ability to mimic the teacher than actually construct meaning.

Student work samples should, instead, show the meaning that kids are making from learning experiences in our classrooms. This isn’t going to be achieved through a worksheet from Teachers Pay Teachers; this is going to be achieved through mindful teaching that gets kids reflecting on their learning—and using those reflections to grow.

Math journaling is more reflective and mindful than fill-in-the-blank worksheets.

In this math journal, a child reflects: Aubrey’s method showed me there is multiple ways to do this. She is referring to another child’s strategy to solve the problem. While this is indicative of mindful learning, it also illustrates that students are constructing meaning in community with one another, learning from each other’s methods.

A worksheet from TPT won’t get us here. Responsive and mindful teaching will.

Image Credit: My Kids Can’t Write

they’re not evidence-based

Quality control is a problem on Teachers Pay Teachers—and everyone knows it. Not only are inexperienced teachers creating resources without the proper training, in some cases, teachers are publishing resources that are grounded in flawed or outdated pedagogies.

You might be thinking that these flawed resources simply won’t sell if they’re not high-quality, but unfortunately, high-quality is not what sells in this market. Instead, resources that create the illusion of learning through compliance-driven tasks are often what sell best. Why? Because they’re easier to implement. What’s harder? Teaching flexibly and responsively, using open-ended tasks and learner-driven reflections.

Journaling about science gets kids thinking on their own, making inferences grounded in observations.

In this math journal, a child tries to create a theory for why flamingos get their color. Instead of filling in blanks that guide students toward one theory, students use sentence frames such as “I notice…” or “I think…” to document observations and inferences.

This is mindful and reflective. What’s more, this practice of writing about learning is evidence-based, grounded benefits of cognitive writing across all subjects.

Image Credit: My Kids Can’t Write

It Should Be Working By Now

Teachers Pay Teachers was supposed to revolutionize the teaching profession, putting well-deserved compensation into the hands of practicing teachers. But this goal has not been realized, and instead, it’s become a microcosm for American capitalism, with a small percentage of teachers actually creating financially viable and sustainable ventures, most of whom leave the classroom to create these resources full time.

If this was going to actually revolutionize teaching and provide teachers with the wages they deserve, it would have worked by now. After all, it’s been over a decade since Teachers Pay Teachers began. The fact of the matter is the presence of TPT hasn’t revolutionized education, it hasn’t solved the problem of compensation, and it hasn’t improved teaching outcomes.

If it was going to do that, then it would have happened already. To truly revolutionize our profession, we need legislation that pays teachers more for the full-time jobs they already work—and we need high-quality teaching. Suffice it to say, this isn’t going to come from printables on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Pre-order your copy of My Kids Can’t Write: How to Advance Achievement through Cross-Curricular Writing.