Teacher’s Brain

Author: teachersbrain

Educator

How to Sell on Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT)

Teacher's Pay Teachers, Teaching Tips

Teacher friends are always asking me how to start selling on TpT.  I love helping others!  I look forward to helping the people who have already took the step to become a seller (Teacher Author), and helping others who want to create some time-saving resources for teachers.  To be honest, it is not easy.  I started part-time, just working on the weekends.  Now, I resigned from teaching and work TpT full time.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE every minute of this job, but it is time-consuming.  Like anything, the more you focus on something, the more successful you will be at it.

How to be a TpT Author

First, let me have you ask yourself a couple questions to see if it is right for you.

  1. Do you have an educational background?
  2. Do you enjoy creating teaching material?
  3. Do you have a computer?
  4. Do you have time to spend creating materials?
  5. Have you worked in PowerPoint before?

If you answered yes, then there is a pretty good chance that you will enjoy working with TpT! Now, what do you need to do to get started?

Step 1: Join Teachers Pay Teachers.  You can use this Referral LINK to join as a seller for FREE. Once you get comfortable, and know it is the right fit for you, I highly suggest you upgrade to the premium account, so you get a better payout.  Think of a great name for your store.  You can use your own personal name like a lot of sellers, or you can create one that keeps your brand separated from your person.  Once you decide on a store name, check first to make sure no one else has your name by typing it in the TpT search bar.  This will be the way people remember you, so spend some time to really decide on something you will be happy with in the long run. You logo should be clear and not too wordy. Think of the colors you want for branding.

Step 2: Use PowerPoint to create your first resource.  The first one is a free resource, so make it nice so everyone knows what they can expect from you in future resources, but don’t go over 10 pages.  My first one was only 1 page, and it is really not a good representation of my type of products I offer now after all of my growth, but it makes me happy to see where I started. I also updated it with PowerPoint because the original was made in Word. SMH

TIPS FOR YOUR PRODUCT:

  • Create a cover
  • Put a copyright on each page
  • Have a border around each page
  • Find images and fonts on TpT to use in your product, (there are some free ones who just want you to link them in the credits, and you can use Pixabay for commercial use images for free)
  • Don’t break copyright law by copying others, be original
  • Use great search titles! TpT has a search bar that pops the top 5 searched titles for each letter you type in the bar. USE IT to make sure your title is what buyers are using to find your product.
  • Make a great preview (maybe the product in action)
  • Make sure the description is  VERY clear
  • Invest in your business with training, purchasing great fonts and images

Step 3: Once you are happy with your first product, upload it. Repeat this with another product, and this time put a price on it! Now it gets exciting! TpT has resources for you to find how to properly price items.  Make sure you look around the web site to become familiar with all it has to offer. TpT University and the forums are great places to find information.

Step 4: Download the TpT app to your phone, so you can hear the CHA CHING sound that plays when you get a sale.  It is motivating!

Feel free to visit my store Teacher’s Brain to look around to see how I write a description, make covers, and previews.  There is a lot more to learn, but this should get you started.  Do a search on YouTube for tips on how to make covers in PowerPoint.  That is how I got started.  After a few months, I  was able to create resources that I was really confident about making for teachers.  If you need a course that will really get you to focus, try The Focused Teacherpreneur Course with Shelly Rees.  It has been a game changer for me, and worth every penny.

Teacher-Seller Courses I offer:

Vital Tools for Teacher Sellers

TpT Seller Mini Course for Pinterest SEO

TpT Seller Mini Course for How to Price Resources

Good Luck!

St. Patrick’s Day Classroom Ideas for Kids

Reading, St. Patrick's Day Ideas, Teacher's Pay Teachers

I was recently asked what I do for St. Patrick’s Day with students.  I am a huge fan of  engaging students through various holidays! St. Patrick’s Day has always been an exciting day with the students joining me in looking for a little trickster leprechaun on campus!

weather unit rainbow

I made a small pair of pants out of green fabric.  I would mess up the room when the kids where at lunch, sprinkle some glitter around the room (even in the toilets), and hang the pants on a cracked open window.  The students would look for the trickster everywhere.  When they would find the pants, we would laugh about how there was a little leprechaun running around without pants.  He would always leave a gold coin on the desk for the students.  Now, how does this fun tie into education?  First, we would read a book about a tricky leprechaun.  I also have a fantastic activity called The Paper Leprechaun where the kids have to make their own paper leprechaun using fine motor skills after listening to a poem, and the pot of gold goes missing.  They write out a personality for the paper leprechaun and then write about how to catch one!  For a home project, the students would make leprechaun traps working on problem solving skills at home with their parents.  These would be shared with the class during the week.  I would sometimes display them in the media center.  During centers, students made rainbow art. Each student would get to make their own LUCKY Shamrock Hat to wear for the day.

paper leprechaun cover      Leprchaun cover

For math, we would sort, count, graph, and eat Lucky Charm cereal. Who doesn’t like a little snack while learning!Lucky Charms Math long

Play some Irish traditional music while the kids are working using Pandora, YouTube, or Amazon.

ST. Patricks day headband

Need some great books to share with your students? Look below…

Read Across America Ideas

Craft Ideas, Dr. Seuss, Teacher's Pay Teachers

Dr. Seuss is the perfect author to inspire students of all ages to read.  As teachers, we love to share his work during Read Across America Week and to celebrate his birthday with March activities.

Here are some great ideas to help you inspire your students with reading themed activities.

Red fish

One Fish , Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish is a classic delightful book that helps students with colors and counting skills.  Have students make their own colored fish to display in the room.

Oh The Places

Read Oh, The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss.  Then, have students make their own hot air balloon craft.  They can even write about where they would go.  I like to use tissue paper or wallpaper squares to decorate the balloon.

s7

Wacky Wednesday is a fun way to spend a Wednesday during Read Across America with Dr. Seuss.  While the students are at lunch or recess, make your classroom “wacky” by changing the clock, hanging things like shoes from the ceiling, putting socks inside the tissue box or turning a desk upside down.  Then, have students see how many “wacky” items they can find out of place.  They can play rhyming games this day or make a “wacky” animal using different animal body parts.

s6              s5

How about these cute Halloween printable glasses?  You can easily turn them into something creative during the week for students to wear during reading time.  Tell them that the glasses are magical and help them to focus on the story you are reading.

Invite a guest in who dresses up like one of the characters from Dr. Seuss’ books to read to the class. Make sure to have a CRAZY SOCK day also to go with the Fox in Socks books.  I also like to ask students to send in their favorite Seuss books to share with each other during reading time.  I have them find rhyming words in the books.   They love it!

s4         s2

Ask parents to send in a special treat for a day like these yummy Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes.  Make task cards with Seuss colors like this WHAT CAN I DO WHEN I’M DONE for Early Finishers.

s1

Of course, no Read Across America celebration would be complete without making Green Eggs and Ham with your students. (Check for allergies first.)  I had my students make these hats out of paper plates.  No matter what, have fun with your students this week.  This is a great week for students to explore new words, use their imaginations, and feel inspired to read a good book!

 

Sources for Printables: http://bit.ly/2HLe8s3