Why become a member of the Curriculum Cooperative ('CCo-op")?

1. Our community is organized as a not-for-profit cooperative of K-12 teachers and educators focused on teaching students higher-order thinking. We cooperate on sharing our lessons with each other through the Curriculum Library, where submitting one hour of lessons earns a download credit for 10 hours of lesson. Those of us who regularly use the CCo-op Library generally purchase a site license. We also sell our lessons retail to other members, but most of the retail sales are to non-members who have not submitted their own lessons. As a not-for-profit cooperative we return any profits to our members.


2. Members upload their lessons to the CCo-op Library to share them with other teachers, either on a barter basis, retail sales, or through site licenses. Sharing your own lessons gains you access to a wealth of lessons created by others as well as to a market for your own. Together we can build the large and flexible educational resource needed to effectively teach higher order thinking. 


3. Our classroom-ready lessons focus on Higher Order Thinking. We share our best lessons by cataloging them with a system derived from learning theory on critical thinking and problem solving. The Curriculum Library is crafted so you can specify the kind and level of higher-order thinking you are teaching for each lesson. You can find classroom materials using the comprehensive cataloging developed by and for K-12 teachers: seven major categories of choice with over 800 options. Generalizations, enduring understandings, essential questions … they’re all here in an organized, easy to follow structure.


4. We help one another with on-line mentoring and improvements to all aspects of the Curriculum Cooperative. On first becoming a member, you will be assigned an on-line mentor who teaches a similar grade and subject. Your mentor will help you with using the CCo-op Library cataloging system for maximum effect in your classroom. You will be encouraged to become a mentor yourself as you gain experience with using the Cooperative and fashioning lessons focused on critical thinking, flexible problem solving and considered decision making.


5. Contribute to discussion forums focused on particular topics, skills or concepts to improve the impact of all our lessons on our students’ problem solving, critical thinking and considered decision making. As a cooperative, these discussion forums are the CCo-op’s source of growth and change as well as governance. This site is truly owned and operated by its members.


6. Members retain their copyrights on submitted lessons, which they may sell at retail or receive royalties when their lessons are used in school districts with site licenses.