As teachers, we have been writing and refining lesson plans and classroom activities on a myriad of subjects for many years. We get ideas and activities from colleagues, and in return provide the same to them. The Internet allows us to expand our group of "colleagues" to include educators around the world. How can we get our lesson plans, ideas, and activities published on the Web for the world to see and use?
Guidelines for Online Lesson Plans
There are several Web sites where you can post your lesson plans online; each one has different guidelines and criteria for publication (see "Submit Your Lesson Plans" below). Teachnet.com (www.teachnet.com), to give one example, requires all submissions to include the lesson plan title, grade level, objective, resources required, teacher preparation, procedures, real-world applications, and additional Web resources relating to the lesson.
How Will People Find My Lesson Plans?
Sites that list lesson plans usually have a search function. For example, a teacher conducting a unit on colonial America might search the site for a keyword as broad as "colonial America" or as narrow as the name of a specific person or place, such as "Benedict Arnold." All lessons containing that keyword would be presented to the searcher for consideration.
Sites that do not use a search utility have a menu system. For example, to zero in on a lesson about Benedict Arnold, a teacher might search first for "social studies," then within social studies might choose "history," then within history could choose "colonial America" and would finally find a lesson on Benedict Arnold.
Where Can I Have Other Writing Published Online?
Lesson plans are not all you can publish on the Web. Do you have an article or success story you would like to share? There is a place to publish it. For example, Technology & Learning is always looking for articles, columns, success stories, and Web recommendations related to the use of technology to support education for its Web site. Go to www.techlearning.com and click the "Become a techlearning.com author" link for more information.
The Teachers.Net Gazette (teachers.net/gazette) accepts for consideration "brief articles (approximately 350_2,500 words) on topics of interest to educators."
Submit Your Lesson Plans
Some lesson plan sites broadly include any and all subject areas; others limit themselves to specific areas and ages. Here is a sampling.
AskERIC Lesson Plans (www.askeric.org/Virtual/Lessons) Click the "Send" link and complete the form. Lessons submitted to AskERIC are reviewed before they are posted.
Teachnet.com (www.teachnet.com) Go to the site's lesson plan area, click a subject area, click "Submit Lesson Plan to this Category," and complete the form.
LessonPlanPages.com (www.lessonplanspage.com) Click the "Add Lessons" link and complete the form. (Note: When I went to this site, it automatically opened up four pop-up windows.)
Teachers.net (teachers.net) Click "Lesson Plans" in the left navigation bar, then click "Submit A Lesson" and complete the form.
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