Starting out as a teacher entrepreneur:
It has not been an easy road starting out as a teacher entrepreneur. If you are visiting here and have not read the other posts on my blog, then you may not know that I am an artist, teacher, and mom. These are only a few of the titles I hold as I am starting out as a teacher entrepreneur. Some time ago, I wanted to leave teaching in the public school system, because I just could not deal with the stress of the unruly behaviors and no correction. Yes, I have read, heard, listened, and tried many of the lengthy strategies, but there is just so much an art teacher can do. Early on in my blog website, I list everywhere I have taught. It is very diverse.
I wanted to be a teacher since elementary school.
I wanted to be a teacher since elementary school. Then in middle school I wanted to be an art teacher. Prior to middle school I did not know there were art teachers, because there was not an art teacher in the elementary school. Seemingly, I was born to make art. So when I could put the two together, I had my goal. Then when I started to teach art, I was so happy to share the creative juices. I felt like a celebrity early on in the school buildings. However, in the last 6 to 7 years there has been a shift in how behaviors of students became more aggressive, unruly, and down right disrespectful. These poor behaviors ruined the morale of the atmosphere and myself. Once again, I am aware that I must check my responses and how my mindset plays a roll.
Poor Behaviors
Now I did face these poor behaviors prior to these recent years, but I was younger and less experienced. It was more like a handful across the grades. But in recent years, it is more then a handful and the behaviors are more wacky and wild. There is much more I could say about my experiences in public schools and more reasons for wanting out. However, it would not be helpful or productive to the post at hand.
Options Please?
So about 6-7 years ago, I started to look into my options to get out of teaching in the public school. I started to have doubts that I was a good teacher. Or that I was cut out to teach in today’s atmosphere. How about you, the reader here, have you ever had doubts that you are a good enough teacher or that you are in the right career? Now I am a Christian and I believe with out a doubt that my God had spoken to me over the years about where He had put me over and over again. So I continued to trust that He would lead and guide my path. Yet, I still looked into my options.
Some ideas that I had were wide ranging. A WaWa gas station is in the community. They were hiring managers for $70,000.00 a year. I have been a manager in other retail positions in the past and as a teacher I am a manager. In addition, I would get paid more then my current teaching position at the time. Then my husband stated that I would have to work very odd hours and he offered the idea to be a project manager. In all honesty, I looked into what it would take to be a project manager. Also, I looked at how I could teach online at the college level. I have a masters degree, so why not. Yes, there were many more ideas that I thought about.
But in the end…
But in the end, I have stayed right where I am now. Because God continues to keep me there. He has shown me that I am not the only one dealing with the same concerns and heartache. Heartache of missing what teaching and learning is suppose to look like. As I drove up the hill and around the corner into the school parking lot one day, I had an ill feeling my my gut. But He said, I have you here for a my purposes. Go run the race. I had the thought that I am a good teacher and that everything is in His control in the end. Nothing can be against me if He is for me.
Yet!
God has also directed me down another path. Just this year the pulling toward an online option to leave teaching had been strong. Starting out as a teacher entrepreneur has been a slow process. About two years ago, I started to watch You Tube channels. On these channels were moms who were blogging and selling online courses. As many teachers know, we are always students. So listening and learning are things we enjoy. I listened to these individuals and I took a course from one of them. It was helpful to set up my website, but it did not help me understand how to make money from it.
Then time and life seeped in and I could not focus on being consistent with it. But then I started to. I kept watching these moms on You Tube and how they made their own business working from home. Then I signed up for a membership from the one mom. I quickly realized how they made their money. It was from me signing up for their courses. So in the end it was about making courses and building an audience.
Building a course
Starting out as a teacher entrepreneur has short comings. Thinking that these individuals with their courses would help me become established was a flaw. I went to Teach:able and made a course. The course was based on my Fantasy Trees. This was my first time trying to record videos, make worksheets, and write up the content. It was not bad, but it was time consuming and it totally needed more work. So I tried to sell it through a workshop. The workshop got no one.
While investing time in the membership the owner marketed her other course and I fell for it. It was to build a course and validate it. So I invested more time in making a course. Because I had no audience, it did not validate. Please realize, I stated this over and over again during the course that I have no audience and the course creator seemed to not realize how impacting this would be. Like all sales and marketing, there was a push to start with friends and family, which I experienced in college trying to sell Victor Knives. It is not my thing. Therefore, I did not reach out to family and honestly, I do not have a network of friends. The whole thing was flawed.
Outschool & Teachers Pay Teachers
Just to be clear, I still want to make my own courses online, but it takes time. Meanwhile, I had also been introduced to Outschool and Teachers Pay Teachers during my original days viewing the You Tube videos. So I went to these next when I cancelled the membership and left the validate course behind. Thus far, I have actually earned money from Outschool with my few classes that I have taught. Each class was such a different feel from the public school. The students want to be in the learning and enjoy the topics I like to teach. I can see how rewarding this arrangement could be.
Visit my recent class here:
With Teachers Pay Teachers, I had placed a couple of products in the store like two years ago, but could not find the time to compose more. These resource products take time to make and make them inviting to buy. Yet, at the time of this post, I have deleted past products and loaded a total of 7 in one month. And I sold one product. So I feel this endeavor will be successful. You may check it out here:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Snyders-Sunshine-Art-Studio
Here are some of my resource products too:
Not going to happen quickly…
Mind you none of these recent endeavors are going to build a mass of income quickly. As all of my paths have shown that it takes time. Especially when I have children and a household to maintain and still work in the public school. Time is something I admit that I struggle with. I am sure that teachers can relate. We live by a schedule most days of our lives. Routine and structure seem to be in our body.
Starting out as a teacher entrepreneur has been costly with time and money invested. However, I will trust that God has directed me in this direction for a reason too. Because back in January 2021, I filed to be a business with Snyder’s Sunshine Art Studio, LLC. At that time I felt a pulling from my God to venue forth in the continued race toward the goal. A future of peace and prosperity await. I believe this.
Hopefully, as the reader here today, you took some additional insights away. Maybe you took some encouragement too. Please send a message if you can relate. Check out my Facebook or Linked In page for some inspiration and insights with my endeavors.