Well, I’ve officially been on TpT for 6 months!  I found out about TpT back in the summer of 2012, but didn’t consider becoming a seller for a few reasons:
1) It seemed like it was mostly for elementary school students (now known to be not true) 2) I couldn’t stop thinking “no one would buy my activities and projects (now known to be not true)
3) secondary teachers are “supposed” to make their own stuff (now known to be not true)

After getting displaced and not having a paycheck I started thinking about TpT again.  I kept thinking about it, my husband kept suggesting I do it, I kept thinking about it, and I kept thinking about it some more.  I finally decided to take the leap when our daughter was almost 1 and I was itching to have some professional fulfillment again.  It took me less than a minute to come up with my store name because I wanted my target audience to know exactly what I was offering them.

Click here for over 300 history and geography activities!

Right away I was addicted (like really, by day 3 I was consumed by TpT in a good way–at least during my daughter’s naps and when she went to bed).  It is amazing and fulfilling to know that students around the world are using your unique activity, that they are hopefully enjoying history just a bit more because of your activities, and that they are learning about topics more in depth than the textbook provides because another teacher browsed your store.  I also love the professional challenge of creating new projects and that I get to keep learning in terms of both history topics and education practices.

Almost more than anything, I love the community on TpT (if any of you are reading this, THANK YOU for helping me get to this point!).  Every teacher and TpT staff member I have met (virtually or in person) is SO friendly and SO supportive.  I love that we share personal stories and whether good or bad we are there for each other.  We help each other overcome technology problems and discuss things like how to best incorporate current events into the classroom.  We proofread and brainstorm for and with each other, we celebrate each other’s success and offer encouragement and advice when one of us is stuck or frustrated.

Since it is a worldwide company, we are able to compare education systems, standards, and practices around the world and genuinely be united in our quest to provide all of our students with the best education possible.  I am grateful to TpT for a gazillion things already, but one of the biggest is for reminding me that even though I’m not in a traditional classroom right now, I’m still a teacher and I still have a lot to offer.  I can’t wait to see what the rest of my TpT journey has in store for me.

If you’ve spent even a second thinking about signing up on TpT….YOU SHOULD!!!  Don’t wait!!!!  Don’t think there aren’t buyers out there for you because there are!!!  I wish I had started years ago.  If it works for you and your students it WILL work for others, they just need to find your store.