Create, Compile and Publish

Some people would have you believe that teaching is a team sport. You may hear things like, "It's okay to share resources; we're all working together to achieve the same goals" or "I hope you have something for that; I couldn't find anything."

It's great to open an exchange of a sort with colleagues who work like you, think like you and care about students like you, but it is NOT great to become a source of lesson plans and activities for teachers who have no intention of finding or creating engaging resources themselves. After all, teaching is not a team sport anymore. We the teachers are not all together working for the betterment of the students, though we want to be and should be. We the teachers are struggling to keep our jobs in spite of a number of menacing opponents, opponents which sometimes include students, parents, administrators, curriculum publishers and (yes) even other teachers.

So teaching is more like a boxing match, and you're on your own, and you might even be on the ropes depending on where you're boxing and how long you've been training.

What does that mean? That means that there are going to be some times when you need to keep your brilliance to yourself, and that is true for a number of reasons.

First, as education changes, activity types and instructional methods change. Common Core brought with it a plethora of opportunities to redefine what engagement is, to restructure delivery, to redesign assessments. Translation: Common Core brought with it an opportunity to CREATE and/or ADAPT new ways to reach students, ways that may not have been seen before in your district, in your region, in your state, in your country.

You don't want to miss this chance to become a part of positive change in curriculum and instruction. I can guarantee you that academic publishers will not. Publishing companies are all over this change-of-mantra in our field, and materials are going to be hot off the presses every quarter. Million-dollar proposals will come flying in left and right for books that have been created to meet the needs of students in the "middle," the pool of generic learners who perform relatively alike. You know how it goes.

You, sir or madam, know exactly how students in your immediate sphere of influence perform. You tailor materials to them everyday. Why aren't you creating, compiling and publishing those materials for your students? Your school? Your district?

Second, as education changes, pay changes. The push for pay-for-performance is not going away, and though I shudder at how they might implement performance pay, I can't help but be excited about the opportunity to use my skills to make money other ways. There are going to be instructors that need you to shed some light on alternative ways to do what they've been doing for decades. In other instances, there will be new teachers who need the words of the wise for guidance and encouragement as they embark on the beginning of their careers. You're the author. Create, compile and publish. Sell. Let's be honest here. You're going to need the money since you're already spending a significant amount of your salary being a teacher, and we're going to need each other's tried and true dictums to survive the oncoming upheaval of the work we love so dearly.

Third, as education changes, you're going to get tired... faster. The pace of teaching is not even what it was when I started, and trust me; I'm a spring chicken. It is easy to wear yourself out keeping up with just standards instruction. You're going to be maintaining pace for standards instruction, social instruction, test preparation, civic enlightenment, disciplinary management and technological advancement among the many other conceptual pools that must be distributed to all students somewhat evenly. So, at the end of the day, you will probably find yourself (if you haven't already) feeling a little empty.

If you begin to create, compile and publish, you will provide yourself with a means of self-replenishment through reflection, which is important. You will also have a constant stream of adaptive resources, which will save you research time on the back end and frustration when you're feeling out of ideas. Most importantly, if you feel like you just need a year off, you'll be able to take it if you've built a faithful readership. A year off doesn't mean you wanna throw in the towel after all; a year off might mean you need a sabbatical, a break, a few minutes to breathe. It doesn't mean you'll never teach again. It could mean that if you'll ever teach again, you need a year off!

You would be surprised at the number of things you are already creating and throwing away (or giving away) if you start to keep track of them. Just give it a try. Buy yourself a few humongous three-ring binders. You buy them for the kids, I know, so you might as well buy them for yourself. In those three-ring binders, begin to organize the materials you create for instructional texts (fiction and non-fiction). Keep printouts and electronic copies; burn a CD every ten files or so if you're forgetful. Then, watch what happens to those binders.

As a teacher, you are not resigned to a life of endless curriculum marathons and poverty. You are a treasure trove of humanity; that's why you're doing what you're doing. Without instruction and understanding, a whole nation perishes. Thus, as teachers perish, so goes the nation. It is important that you know your worth, maintain your health, and create an avenue of success apart from your day job that will allow you to step away when burnout is near.

But you know, you don't have to take my word for it. Just get your binders and your blank CDs, and start keeping stuff. Then come back and tell me what you've found out about how prolific you are in your classroom.

Copyrights and Creativity,

-Ms. Moss