The Union, our local daily paper, ran an article on Wednesday by AP Education Writer Ben Feller entitled “Teachers can now sell their work online”. That’s right, an Ebay-style forum for teachers to share teaching curriculum. The site is called TeachersPayTeachers.com.

The article first piqued my interest because my sister teaches 5th grade (though right now she’s in Spain on summer break!) Reading along I was thinking that it would be a good resource for her to check out. She spends a lot of time working on lesson plans and this could help her out, yes?

Then I got to the info about the founder, Paul Edelman. For me, that’s when the story got really interesting. 33-year-old former teacher turns entrepreneur… now that’s my kind of story! He believes he’s found a niche and he’s putting his financial situation on the line to back up that belief. The market and world being what it is, dedication and belief alone won’t guarantee success. Remains to be seen if the service will catch on with teachers.

The price is right, each lesson plan or worksheet is in the neighborhood of $1 - $5. Sellers pay an annual fee of $29.99. For a teacher, it seems like affordable enough to go for it, but high enough that you’re going to take the time to post good stuff to recoup your cash and then some.

In our newspaper world dedicated to death and destruction, I’m always thrilled to read about someone following their dreams and making a positive contribution to the world.
I look forward to hearing what my sister thinks about it–when she gets back from Spain.