4 Ways to Get Paid to Write Lesson Plans (from Home!)

So are you a teacher looking for a way to supplement your income?

Or are you a retired teacher looking for a way to earn a few extra dollars?

Or maybe you’re a college student studying to become a teacher looking for a way to help pay for school?

If so, you’re in luck!

While there are many ways to make money teaching online, selling lesson plans is one of the easiest ones. And there are many lesson plan writing jobs from home where you can sell your old lesson plans or pick up a side gig writing lesson plans online as an independent contractor.

And it seems to be getting more popular. In fact, Selling old lesson plans is a booming business. An article in USA Today last year cited a 2016 study by the RAND Corporation that stated 99% of elementary school teachers and 96% of secondary school teachers use materials they found online. The article goes on to say Pinterest saw a 59% increase in searches for lesson plans from 2018 to 2019.

How to Make Money Selling Lesson Plans

Here are a couple of websites where you can sell your old lesson plans or other teaching-related materials.

1. EdGalaxy

• Where to sign up: https://www.edgalaxy.com/sell-us-your-lesson-plans

EdGalaxy.com bills itself as the place to get “cool stuff for nerdy teachers.”

Basically they offer to buy your original education-related materials such as lesson plans, posters, tests, templates, multimedia, you name it.

And looking through the website you’ll see every type of educational aid covering every academic subject you can think of.

They offer $10 per plan or item published, paid via PayPal within 24 hours.

And the site’s administrator says in no uncertain terms they will not publish or make available anything they have not already paid for.

$10 may not sound like much, and the site acknowledges this.

But they say if you upload 10, 20, or 30 old school syllabus or materials you can easily make a couple hundred dollars in less than 30 minutes.

If you look at it that way, it’s a pretty easy way to make some extra cash in a pretty short amount of time.

And you could be helping out a fellow teacher in the process.

2. Teachers Pay Teachers

• Where to sign up: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Signup

Teachers Pay Teachers is like a marketplace where educators can both buy and sell educational materials.

The site believes teachers are able to better educate their students when they incorporate ideas from other teachers.

And Teachers Pay Teachers is probably most popular and most well-known website for selling lesson plans out there.

In fact, the site claims two out of three teachers in the US have used a resource from Teachers Pay Teachers.

According to an article by Business Insider, Teachers Pay Teachers has 80,000 contributors who have collectively earned $100 million.

And Teachers Pay Teachers (or TPT for short) certainly has a large following on Pinterest.

In order to sell curriculum and other materials on the site, you must create either a Basic Seller Or Premium Seller account.

The Basic Seller account is free, while the Premium Seller Account has a $59.95 annual fee.

Premium account members get a higher payout rate, plus the ability to upload larger resources plus post videos.

The site also charges a commission of 15% for the premium membership, and 40% for the basic membership.

Sellers will be paid via PayPal, and you will have to fill out a W-9 tax form.

And be prepared to report this as income when tax time rolls around.

3. TeacherSherpa

• Where to sign up: https://askasherpa.teachersherpa.com/royalties/

TeacherSherpa is similar to EdGalaxy in that it’s like a marketplace to buy or share educational materials and lesson plans.

But instead of being paid per submission like with EdGalaxy or Teachers Pay Teachers, with TeacherSherpa the contributor earns royalties each time their contributions are downloaded.

Royalties range from $0.25 for the first 1500 downloads, to $0.50 for downloads 1501-3000, and $1.00 for every download over 3000.

Payments will be made monthly via PayPal with no minimum payout.

While the payouts look small, the site claims the materials on their site get downloaded more often since they are not sold.

And with over 100,000 members, there’s the opportunity for a lot of downloads!

They also say the materials are copyright protected and can only be used by other members of the website.

But they do say contributors must attest the uploaded materials do not infringe on the copyrights of others.

And don’t worry about any exclusivity or non-compete clauses.

TeacherSherpa says it’s 100% okay to sell your materials on a site like Techers Pay Teachers as well.

4. Study.com

• Where to sign up: https://study.com/pages/Contractors.html

Study.com is a very different website from the others previously mentioned.

It’s not a site where teachers buy, sell, or share their study plans.

It’s a website designed to help people all across the career and educational spectrum get assistance with homework, test prep, career development, and so on.

And they offer many opportunities for teachers or subject matter experts to create course outline for students all over the globe.

But in order to do this you don’t create an account or upload any documents.

Instead you apply for a position as a contract employee to write study plans for a wide variety of topics.

Their job listings page lists a wide variety of positions ranging from Accounting Expert, Construction & Safety Lesson Writer, Literature Expert Q&A, and much more.

And the process to land one of these contract positions is basically just like applying for any other job through a company website.

You click on a contractor position, read the description, and click on the “Apply Now” button.

But you absolutely have to be knowledgeable in the area you’re applying.

They’ll ask very specific questions that will weed out the unqualified.

They offer payments twice a month via PayPal, plus the independence and flexibility to work at your convenience online.

But in order to get paid a reviewer must approve the work you have submitted.

And don’t expect to get rich working for Study.com.

While the site Gighustlers says the site is worth looking into, there are some drawbacks regarding income and payment. Gighustlers says two common complaints are low pay (around minimum wage) and inconsistent reviews resulting in work not being approved.

So keep in that in mind before you apply.

A Few Tips on Writing Lesson Plans for Profit

Writing lessons on the side can be a great side hustle. Use these tips to make your work easier and more organized.

Read your contract before submitting your lesson plans

It’s always a good idea to check with your employer before you start a second job or even a side gig to bring in a few extra bucks.

You absolutely want to avoid any conflicts of interest or violating anything in your employment contract.

Some school districts strictly forbid their teachers from selling their lesson plans.

And some lawyers say materials teachers make while working for a school district are in fact property of that school district, not the teacher and therefore cannot be sold.

So check and double check your contract and other employment materials before you begin selling you lesson plans or take on a contractor position writing lesson plans.

You don’t want to face some kind of punishment from your boss or lose your job altogether for violating something in your contract.

And keep detailed records for tax time

With tax season in full swing, be mindful of any money you make selling lesson plans through any of these sites.

It could be considered to be income taxable by the IRS.

Some of these sites may consider you to be independent contractors and have you fill out tax forms like a W-9 or a 1099.

If you filled out any of these forms, it’s a safe bet you will have to report this as income when filing your return for that year.

If you’re not sure, be sure to ask a CPA or another tax expert before filing your return.

You don’t want to face a fine or an audit from the IRS due to unreported income.

Start Getting Paid for Your Study Plans

As you see, there are several ways for you to share your knowledge and ideas with your fellow teachers.

And make some much-needed extra income as well!

So go forth and share your knowledge and expertise, and bring in some much needed cash!

Have you ever gotten paid to write lesson plans? Let us know your experience in the comments below.