Professional Courtesy

Hi, everyone!

I am writing this because this has been an issue that has been discussed by many educators. Professional courtesy! Yes, teachers are thieves and we steal (borrow) the ideas of fellow teachers all the time. But it is common courtesy to give credit to those you got the idea from. It is not professional to take the ideas of others and make them out to be your own. These educators put a lot of time and effort  into their work and it is unethical for any teacher to take their hard work and not give credit. Especially if you post their ideas used in your classroom on social media.

Another area that needs to be addressed is the Teachers Pay Teachers licensing. These sellers work very hard to create these amazing units and pieces of work. They spend countless hours looking for the perfect clip art, designing the activities and finding the correct font they want to use. When you purchase these products, it is with the understanding that you and you alone are using the product. There is an option to purchase additional licenses for products. It is wrong and unfair to the many sellers on TPT for the purchaser to buy a product and then make a copy for their entire grade level without purchasing additional licenses. For example, a seller has created a nonfiction close read bundle. It is evident that this took quite a bit of time and energy. The bundle is on sale for 279.00. If a fellow teacher purchases this unit and then makes a copy for their entire grade level then the seller loses over a $1000 in sales. This is uncalled for!

Yes, all teachers borrow ideas from others and yes all teachers will share in a heart beat but that does not mean what you borrowed or were given is yours to take credit for.

So the next time, you go to post something, please remember that credit needs to be given not taken and the next time you purchase from TPT, please keep in mind the seller and all of their hard work and purchase those additional licenses! TPT is meant to help teachers both sellers and purchasers and copying products without additional licenses is not helping all teachers involved!