Brainwashing For Teachers or What Not To Do in Summer.
Flip furniture!
Drive Uber and Lift!
Offer cleaning home services!
Run a delivery service!
Make meals for others!
Weed of mow lawns!
Become a real estate agent!
Do a medical study!
Become a drone pilot!
Open up an Etsy shop!
Be a pet sitter!
Be a nanny!
“You are out of your mind! …” My eyes are running through the list of odd jobs offered as a side hustle for teachers to make extra money in summer.
“If I could, I would punch you in the face, whoever wrote this post!”- I laughed at my own dismay.
I’m a teacher who can afford to stay home in summer because I teach in one of the highest-paying districts in NJ. Well, I would have never stumbled on that ridiculous post if I hadn’t looked for extra earnings.
I confess, making extra money with my free time – IS – my intention. But not in a way suggested by the site claiming to be targeting teachers!
When did writing online become a matter of spitting ideas for fun? Oh, wait…long ago.
As much as I serve the Internet world for inspiration, I cringe at the thought of stuff one can find. Trust me, I googled “Why I quit teaching” posts, “How I made my first six figures as a teacher,” “How to make your classroom perfect for students,” “How to be good at school observations,” and more.
I feel like I want to know the ideas from the whole spectrum of teacher life to model, design, or rebuild my own teacher life.
And no, that’s not the money, that’s the mentality and the lifestyle that come with teaching as a profession that don’t fit ideally into my perception of a happy existence.
More than financial stability do I desire to be who I really am, be in more control of my day, time; stop planning in my head and enjoy the life as it is, and as it might be if I happen to follow my true passions.
I’ve been many things in these 2 years. And yes, I did it with the idea to shift from teaching, or maybe just complement my teacher salary.
I don’t regret to have had an assumption of making big money fast. What’s wrong with having more money? I loved all my attempts to build something in a short time.
Yes, I wasn’t patient and consistent throughout. I tried to teach on Udemy, have my Etsy shop, sell stickers, sell courses online, and just fell short of becoming a Vipkid instructor. All these enterprises felt promising. I had fun I should admit.
The whole thing about any beginnings is you will need consistency. And consistency is hard when you don’t feel it. Have all my beginnings been a wrong choice? Not at all. Udemy still gives me $15-20 a month. This was my biggest entrepreneurial hope. Etsy picked up some view pages. I quit the course about making a course 3 months into it. Why? I didn’t feel it 100%. I felt like I was trying to be someone else. It felt bothersome. It felt like a job.
From the number of ventures that I started the one that lasts longer is my blog. I write because I love it. Indeed, I also write now more openly.
I will most likely have no blog posts about my latest creations on TpT (no lies, I wish I had). I will not post about my colorful classroom and the tips of how to teach second-graders by using math games. It doesn’t feel like me.
But I see myself being more honest about the reality of teaching, some of its great perks and some major headaches. Exploring fears, uncomfortable areas, failures, and wins seems to be a more natural way to connect to like-minded teachers or the teachers who are still learning to sail their boat like I am.
I’ve also read dozens of books about money mindset, entrepreneurship, success routines, how-to, and self-help books. I loved all of them. I wanted, and I still want to be a success story.
“She is the first millionaire teacher!” “You don’t need to struggle if you are a teacher: read this story!”
My mind wanders through the unknown territory of who I wish I were and what could happen in my life. That seems inspiring.
I google success stories and breakthroughs multiple times a week. I sign up for free courses that pop up on Instagram and ask you to get a more expensive $1,200 version that promises freedom from the 9-5 race. Guess what…I don’t suffer from 9-5 life, but I would appreciate some passive income rolling into my bank account every month.
I would unfollow and block you if you were to tell me that’s the biggest illusion. Just stop it right here! Don’t ask me to stop trying. I will do it anyway.
If you are like me, what’s essential for us is to try not to be like someone wants us to be. Not an Uber driver, babysitter, medical study mouse, drone pilot, or delusional summer business owner.
I want you to stop listening to this ridiculous advice they give teachers about side hustling because on the other side of the spectrum there are posts about “Why I quit teaching and never coming back” which can take you into the total depression oblivion.
Like me, you probably want to be left alone and not to be pushed into different directions about what you need to do with your life to be a good teacher.
I’m sure there are miserable and happy doctors, lawyers, real estate agents. Why should you and I fit into a happy/unhappy teacher cookie cutter?
Why can’t we be what we want to be with no pressure of “you have failed the kids and your colleagues.” I’m immune to this school scam. I’m sailing by boat into the direction I have chosen.
“Consistency” – I wrote on my laptop screensaver.
Consistency so far has brought me more gains than losses. My blog with 2 visitors a month (myself and my sister) grew into a 1000 visitors a month blog, which gives me chills. Thank you, the invisible reader!
I do appreciate you! I promise to be brutally honest about this teaching career of mine, and I promise to narrate about any ventures I fail in or succeed at. At the end, when failure is quite consistent, it’s definitely a sign to change the direction.
And I am ready for that.
Have a happy day! Keep creating!
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