NC Third Grade Educators

I have had training in OER before.  My awakening(now you know and can't unknow) happened last year.  But it is a good reminder. In the past, I have sharec anything and everything under the idea that I am a teacher and as long as it is for education it is ok.

I do understand now that we must be careful with what we share and post for everyone. Even the lesson plans I helped write for my district belong to them ans cannot be directy uploaded.

I found the OER platform and how to use it confusing last year.  In round 2, it is much more clear as I am building on prior knowledge and experience.

I had VERY limited knowldge of copyright and intellectual property before the webinar. I would follow basic instructions but never really thought about it. My process has change because now I take it more seriously. I also will begin to add copyright and intellectual property standards on the things I create and share.

I have had some PD and course work regarding copyright, but I still find it confusing. I am familiar with Creative Commons but don't always remember to use it for presentations and work I create. I have found one of my past presentations on the web, used by 2 different people who I do not know. One copied and pasted my work into there own slide deck, another just used all my text in their own presentation. I have also been contacted by a person out of the blue and asked if they could use my work. These experiences have definitely made me more aware of the importance of using the CC lisence.

I know that teachers disregard copyrights often. Some of this is systemic- while being pressured to have high student growth, we're asked to find or supplement with our own resources often.  Coupled with being underpaid, having little extra time to create resources ourselves. Many copyright enfrigments would be solved if appropriate resources, time, and wages were provided. 

I try to cite information and get most of my images from websites such as unsplash, etc.. I always share freely anything original I've created. However, I have had teachers take what I've shared and sell it as their own on TpT. I've always been wary of TpT and resources that haven't gone through a peer-review process. 

A question I have is, what are the rules for adapting text (with proper citations) for lower lexiles? Such as using websites like rewordify and text compactor? 

I did not have any previous experience with copyright and intellectual property prior to the webinar.  I generally share resources with teachers with whom I work.  I have not ever "posted" a resource for others to use on a site such as OER.  I did immediately share what I learned in the webinar with a co-teacher, and I encouraged her to put a "code" her work, as she is constantly creating!  There have been instances this year in which her work was "passed" around to grade levels without permission or credit.

I was taught about copyright and intellectual property as it related to using the lessons of others, but not about labeling my own content. This was a helpful learning process to protect my own work.