Where to begin? What to divulge?

Just kidding. There’s nothing that juicy to share ;).

I’m a former teacher – still subbing and rocking this new context. I resigned from full-time teaching back in May 2023. I absolutely loved teaching and loved my students even more,

but…

I was overwhelmed and struggling to find the joy that once came so naturally to me.

Worse yet – I was starting to feel this affect how I looked at my students and the environment I was creating for them.

I decided to take a step back; to look inward and assess my own functioning. I decided to take time to slow things down and try to better identify the things that were filling me up and the things that were draining me.

To say this has been a complex journey so far is an understatement. Originally I had my sights set on finding employment outside of the world of education, but that process has taken much longer than I had anticipated.

In the meantime I am venturing back into the education world – – which, to be honest – – I wasn’t sure I would be able to do just a couple of months ago.

Cue substitute teaching and Teachers Pay Teachers.

Both of these contexts have provided some familiarity and some wild learning curves! While subbing has allowed me to fall back in love with the aspects of teaching that always lit me up, Teachers Pay Teachers is providing me an outlet for my creative side – check out my store!

I was always one of those teachers that edited, modified, and differentiated whatever was placed in my lap OR I simply created what I needed from scratch! My intention was to create materials that focused highly on:

1. flexibility and functionality
2. centering student voice and/or movement
3. self-reflection and feedback

My goals were that students knew what the purpose of the activity was, they understood how to participate, and that they learned something (not only academically) but about themselves in the process.

I bring all of this to the content I create in my TPT Store. My hope is to find fellow teachers who value these same things. I want to take some of the weight off of their shoulders by creating resources they KNOW will help their students feel seen, while also building academic skills.

Additionally, my blog will be used to create content that provides tips, tricks, and recommendations for the classroom. I will write about things like building relationships, tackling conflict, incorporating movement, building a classroom library, and the list goes on. A classroom is a community – and as educators we need a community of our own!

So, while I may be new here, I am ready to do big things. I am ready to apply my over 10 years of teaching experience

– the great and the challenging –

to continue to support my peers and the ones that make this all worth while:

OUR STUDENTS.