The Value of TpT Membership.
Teaching didn’t click with me as a creative profession. When I became a public school teacher, I stopped all my hobbies because I had so little time to myself due to stress and the new adjustments to a teaching profession.
I stopped reading, drawing, sport. I ended spending time on what used to give me so much energy. I thought once I become efficient and productive in my teaching career, I will provide time to the things I’m passionate about. But time flew, efficiency was a hard thing to catch; stress and overwhelm were always present.
When I transitioned into elementary education, I found myself having to create resources for my classroom that I lacked as a first-year elementary school teacher. I dove into Pinterest search, and many great ideas for inspiration were coming from the Teachers Pay Teachers platform.
A skeptic and minimalist at heart, I didn’t intend to shop at TpT because purchasing resources seemed an indulgence rather than a necessity to me. So I started creating my own.
I did quite a good job as I thought, bringing some of my creativity into my workspace and a learning space for my students. However, not everything was in my power. Some resources that I find lack of were outside of my zone of genius, so I went back to TpT.
I made some purchases and after a while of using someone else’s resources in my work, I finally understood the purpose of TpT!
It’s not a money-draining machine or place to waste money on work stuff as I thought before. Using TpT was that ELEMENT of EFFICIENCY I has always been striving for.
An exchange place of teachers’ products, TpT offers an opportunity to “trade” skills and knowledge with the benefit for all the parties. Creators get paid. Customers buy time and eliminate the headache of creating something that others have more expertise in.
And this is what efficiency is: outsourcing something you lack to give yourself more of free time or the time to create something you are good at.
Once I cracked this idea, I started exploring the opportunity to build my presence on TpT to offer what I have in abundance. I did some search, and after a week or two, I started building my TpT store incorporating all the tips and tricks I learned from other TpT sellers.
And here what I need to say. If you are a teacher and skeptical about tpt, then you need to give it a try for two big reasons.
Tpt can save you time on creating something that has already been done for you. Instead, spend this time you saved on rest, family, learning, or just a relaxing Netflix night.
TpT is a platform to express your creativity as well. You can offer your expertise and uniqueness through products to other teachers and make some extra cash.
The biggest gain for me on TpT was getting the outlet for creativity. And this is what has missed in my life for such a long time.
So if you are thinking of giving it a try, I recommend listening to these exceptional series of videos by Laura Santos at CORE INSPIRATION.
They are short, on point, give you everything you need to start your TpT journey. After that, the choice is yours.
There are many resources out there to continue learning and growing.
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Don’t forget to take care of yourself!
