Teachers’ Union to Open Lesson-Sharing Web Site

Teachers seeking lesson plans on anything from fractions and multiplication tables to Shakespeare or the Civil War can take to the Internet for a boundless array of work sheets, reading lists and classroom tips, available free or for a fee.

Now the American Federation of Teachers is forming a partnership with TSL Education, the British publisher of the weekly Times Educational Supplement, to create a Web site where teachers can share curriculum materials with one another.

In a somewhat belated entry to a market overflowing with online educational advice, the teachers’ union believes that its site, to be called sharemylesson.com, will become a go-to destination because of the union’s imprimatur.

“We are taking the trust that people have about us and transforming it to trust about the site itself,” said Randi Weingarten, the union president.

Teachers will be able to upload anything from a simple work sheet to an entire semester unit, as well as PowerPoint presentations and videos. Other teachers can then rate the resources, and the site’s algorithm will rank the most popular and well-reviewed lessons.

At a time when public school teachers face cuts in financing and are being asked to carry out new national curriculum standards in English and math, Ms. Weingarten said teachers were desperate for specific lesson plans that had been tested by others in the classroom.

Read More:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/19/us/teachers-union-to-open-lesson-sharing-web-site.html?hpw