The Hottest Post Ever That Everybody's Commenting On: Should Teachers Sell or Share?

I recently shared the hottest post ever that everyone was reading on The Innovative Educator which garnered more than 17,000 views in one week.  That post shared secrets to success for getting your principal to say yes from former @NYCSchools Principal Jason Levy (@Levy_Jason).

This week's hottest post, makes it to the top for the number of comments generated in a week. The post asks the question which served as a hot topic at the recent #ISTE2016 conference:

"Should teachers sell to teachers or share freely?"

I share the views on both sides from prominent educators then asked readers to decide. Of the 90+ comments, most were from those who engaged in thoughtful discourse. Some decided to attack the author rather than the issue. Ultimately it was a strong conversation. Even a member of the United States Office of Ed Tech chimed in on Twitter, though he jumped out of the conversation when pushed for some hard answers on his viewpoint.

You can see that conversation here and below:

When I wrote the piece, I was not sure how I felt about the topic.

After the thoughtful and lively discourse on my face off question: "Should teachers share or sell?"
the conclusion I came to was this:

If I am creating material as part of my job, a speaking engagement, or event that I am compensated for, I share the materials I create freely. If I am doing something outside the hours of my job or paid activity, I may create something (such as a book or curriculum materials) for which I request compensation. Ideally, that compensation would not come from fellow teachers but rather from a school, district, grant, or corporation. In the best case scenario, that material would then be provided free to teachers. An example of that is a project I managed where teachers came together after work hours to create social media guidelines, activity books, infographics, and curricular materials. The teachers were compensated from grant funding. The materials are available for free to educators, students, and families at Schools.nyc.gov/socialmedia.

You can check out the post and comments here. If you want to share your thoughts on the issue please jump in on that post or start fresh here.