oIn September, I was curious about AI and jumped onto Youtube to see which platform was recommended for artists. I then stumbled across a Paul Marles video showing viewers how to use Midjourney and Canva to create coloring books to sell on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP.) Being quite spontaneous, I jumped right in and starting making coloring books that day. Two months later, I've made 23 coloring books and have them all posted on KDP where they are making a small amount of money most days.

It's been quite the ride so I'd like to share what I've learned in hopes of making your journey on KDP easier. (For those who have been asking, KDP is different than becoming a seller on Amazon and selling products. KDP allows users to create content that Amazon publishes upon an order.)

First things first, fair warning that your cut of the royalties is quite small. For my each of my Space Series books, I include 40 images on 8.5 x 8.5 white paper. For these specs, the printing cost is $2.84 a copy. Currently, each book is posted on Amazon for $7.99, and for each sale, I receive only $1.95 as my portion of the profit (25% of the listed price.) 

Secondly, setting up a base of clients to get ratings, reviews, and a better spot in the listing is tricky. You have to find as much of a niche as you can while making sure there is still a market. And then it seems you have to dabble a bit in advertising. I started by just asking my friends and family to purchase and leave reviews and ratings. While there were many generous purchases made by my caring community, very few left the ratings/reviews that were the vital part. So I tried an Amazon Ad since they offered a $100 promo. It was a bit of headache to actually get the credit applied to my account, but in the end, I spent around $8 of my own money to make around $55 in profits, so that was a helpful exercise. However, despite far more purchases I'm still lacking in reviews and ratings. 

Thirdly, if you'll be using AI to generate some of your coloring images, it's more difficult than you think. I'll be writing another blog on that soon! My best tips are to find what prompts work for you in as few words as possible so that AI can focus on the unique element of the prompt. For example, writing "no shading" doesn't seem to work yet so you might as well leave that out of the prompt. Toy around with the differences for you with "black and white" vs "no color" vs "vector image" etc. The element that tripped me up was missing "AI Oopsies" and only realizing after I received my own copies of the coloring books that there were horses with 5 legs and dogs with 5 paws or birds with 1 leg. AI is learning and growing and will probably be able to do these things soon enough, but for now you have to be vigilant in your visual checks of the images. And if possible, avoid hands. Dear goodness the hands [rubs forehead stressfully!]

So my first three months have been a mixture of experiences, but I would say I'm still keen to keep learning and creating. So far, I've only netted $131 in royalties. Keep in mind that I've spent around $80 for Midjourney and advertising. My hope is that this endeavor is a slow burn as making $50 over 3 months of hard work is obviously not worth the time put in as of yet.

So here's to the journey and tinkering with what works!

I spent 13 consecutive years of my career as a full time teacher or tutor. Then I had a child, and now my career isn't the focus in this season of life.  Yet, I still am keen for ways to stay creative and active. I still crave intellectual stimulation. And I still want to be a financial contributor in my household. But how to do that in a world where childcare rates seem absurdly high and part-time job rates seem confusingly low? 

Quality remote jobs have thousands of applicants. Tutoring online does not bring in enough money (through all of the companies I've interviewed with/researched.) The internet is full of videos about ways to create passive income for yourself that promise figures that are, frankly, unrealistic. 

As a stay-at-home parent, I'm currently making small but consistent amounts of money through the following outlets:

• working at a local school dorm kitchen for special events (or as a sub)
• teaching exercise classes at a local YMCA
• tutoring private art lessons
• selling coloring books online (as well as art lessons) on Amazon, TeachersPayTeachers, and Etsy

One difficulty is in building up my base in all of these endeavors. For the kitchen gig, it hasn't brought any further opportunities around town. For the YMCA, it takes a while to build up a class following which would allow me to teach more classes. For tutoring, I'd love to build up my tutoring clientele, but am currently struggling to do so. I've put up flyers on all the local community boards, ran an ad in the newspaper, and put my. name on a list of tutors at the local school. And I have one student. And I was a teacher here last year! And finally, for online books and art lessons, there's just a lot of competition! Even trying to find niches, use the right keywords/SEO, and experimenting with paid advertising hasn't gotten me too far yet. Hopefully this last endeavor is a slow burn. 

While this blog post isn't especially helpful or clever, I post it to share the realities of what finding side gigs is like in the US in 2023. I will keep you all updated should I find increased success and can share the love. 

My reading selection this last year is quite varied! It's an interesting practice to look back over a year's reading selection and look for the patterns that formed consciously or unconsciously. I did intentionally reach for women writers and writers from diverse backgrounds. I toyed around with writing a novel this year, so I read mostly fiction, specifically dystopian series, as a study of sorts. I started 2022 as a part-time tutor, living in the Caribbean with lots of gym/beach time for reading so I made a goal of reading 52 books this year and overshot by about 20 books! I probably won't read this many books in a single year again until retirement. As always, let me know if you want to chat about any of these reads as some of them really left a mark and I would love to discuss your experience of the text!

1. The Glass Face by Frances Hardinge
-Blessings on the curiosity of more imaginative people than I! The use of Faces to remark upon society in the middle of a tunnely new world. So fun.
2. The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge
-As always after these period pieces, so glad to not be in petticoats, not have to be separated out as the gentler sex, not be dismissed in matters of intelligence. Of course, there are still elements of this, but I would much rather be a woman today than one a few hundred years ago (or even 100 years ago.)
3. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
-Such delicious imagination for visuals. Plot and imagination were just fine, but it was the visuals that caught me for this one.
4. Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and the West
-Completely new images, names, and ideas for God. Almost felt heretical in its novelty and freedom.
5. Lamb by Christopher Moore
-so perfectly satirical that it actually delivered some deeper reflections on my traditional understanding of the Christian religion
6. Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
-Kristin Hannah writes wounded women well. Dear Lord, the suffering. Takeaway, as often, is the power of story.
7. Evolve Your Brain by Joe Dispenza
-Repetitive, but the last 200 pages are fascinating
8. Raybearer and Redemptor by Jordan Ifueko
-Wakanda meets Harry Potter, yes please! You gotta love to see a brown girl as a well-written protagonist making amazing, revolutionary moves. 
9. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Kline
-Very cute, Frederik Backman-vibes. 
10. Send For Me by Lauren Fox
-lovely writing style, interesting to see the effects of WWII from a distance of time and space
11. A Room Called Earth by Madeleine Ryan
-so very interesting! Neurodiverse writer...the perspective and shared thoughts are fascinating and lovely. There is some cursing and sex for those of you who avoid that, but if you don't - I highly suggest for a wonderful trip into someone else's brain
12. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
-I seem to like epics where the protagonist has to both question their sanity and also leave an old way of living behind. Excited to read that Mr. Gaiman plans to write another novel in this same setting, as the complexities of the world he created would be lovely to hear more about and return to at some point in the future
13. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
-I found this so heavy and so sad. That being said, a few sentences and a few images have stuck with me since the weeks reading it. It is sometimes helpful to see fictional sorrow.
14. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern 
-Layers upon layers upon layers. You certainly have to suspend your disbelief with this one. But I like the imagery, symbolism, and secret society aspects.
15. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
-I seem to like stories that flip a normal set of values upside down. What do you value most when you've been granted a form of immortality? And how do you outsmart a greater force than yourself while staying within your values?
16. Piranesi
-I found this to be as gloomy as the scenery you stay in for most of the short read. The bit of mystery being unravelled was interesting enough that I kept at it. Not sure if I would recommend it. Though it is unique and well-written, it just made me feel very heavy. 
17. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
-I've not read many Russian folk tales, so it was interesting to learn of some of the myths. As often in these books I've been choosing, I'm left with the question of how to get beyond fear? So many of these characters aren't afraid where/when/how others are. 
18. Like a Mother by Angela Garbs
-Quick little thing with lots of eye-opening facts. (Louis XIV, what?!)
19. How to Be You by Jeffrey Marsh
-Quick, positive, interesting take on some psych ideas I've become very familiar with. I specifically wanted to read a transgender author and learn more, but this is less of a memoir and more of a self help selection. 
20. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
-As always, the continuing takeaway is I'm so glad to live in modern times. Also, this was the most specific picture of a mother mourning her son that I've ever read. Wept through a few of the beautiful and striking scenes. 
21-24. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
- Yum. So fun and sharp for YA!
25. Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
-I went back for more "fictional sorrow" as I wrote after the first book's reading. And the first review still holds true. You get a bit more idea into how Olive came to be Olive - and more space to see how to approach Olive-like people in reality. 
26-27. Flame in the Mist/Smoke in the Sun by Renée Ahdieh
-Little bits of Japanese culture all through here mixed in with the mystical adventure. It was a fun ride with enough small twists and mysteries that kept me page-turning. Love a strong female protagonist.
28-29. The Wrath and the Dawn/The Rose and the Dagger by Renée Ahdieh
-Little bits of Arabic culture, but otherwise, same review as previous series! Fun, light read.
30-32. Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson
-The perfect series to read while (still) waiting for the 3rd Kingkiller Chronicles book to come out
33. The Midnight Library by Brian Haig
-Interesting. Not mind-blowing, but quirkily and lightly interesting. Little mind nuggets now a-stewing. Recommend for anyone in a rough season or at a fork in the road. 
34. The Humans by Brian Haig
-This has made me chuckle aloud quite a few times - was not expecting that! Alien narrator perspective is where it's at. 
35. The Buried Giant by Kazuo 
-Not for me, personally. I found this piece to be plodding, heavy, slow, and burdened. I kept waiting for the mist to clear. It left me with a few half-thoughts to mull on, but that's about it.
36. The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
-Lovely collection! These "reviews" both made me chuckle and made me think hard on some elements of our culture. Glorious quotes, wonderful topics to mull over, fun facts, and an honesty and interconnectedness that ties it all together.
37- 39. The Legend Series by Marie Lu (Legend, Prodigy, Champion)
40-41. Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
42. The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
43. Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad
44. (Oops, book #2) Kingdom of Copper by SA Chakraborty
45. What Should Be Wild by Julia Fine
46. Witchmark by C.L. Polk
47. A Girl is a Body of Water by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
48. Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
49. Expecting Better by Emily Oster
50-56. The Queen's Thief Series (Books 1-6) by Megan Whalen Turner
57. Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
58. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
59-60 Children of Blood and Bone & Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi
61. Normal Family by Chrysta Bilton
62. The Feather Thief by Kirk W. Johnson
63. House of Rust by Khadija Abdalla Bajaber
64. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
65. We Were Liars by E Lockhart 
66. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
67. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
68-73. Harry Potter Series, Books 1-6 by J.K. Rowling
74. Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr​

The phrase "scope and sequence" either makes me want to start daydreaming about literally anything else OR makes me super impassioned about creating efficient, research-based, sequential curriculum. 

Being an international school teacher, I've both written and taught dozens of curricula at this point. Each time I get to a new school and am handed whatever the last teacher left behind plus the school's general structure/educational philosophy I end up wondering if there isn't a more efficient way?

Most of my experience has been that, in general, teachers before me do not leave helpful documents about their lesson and unit plans. Or if they do, there isn't much sense of scope and sequence. Or if there is, there isn't scope and sequence developed for smooth transition with the levels above and below. 

I think the most efficient system would be to start with the widest most general view to "build the skeleton" and then work in more and more detail, leaving the classroom teacher with autonomy to make choices from within that framework. But this skeleton is sadly lacking at most schools I've worked at. Why is that? It can be as simple as what content needs to be taught in each grade or as complex as what skills/characteristics need to be mastered in each grade.

I have a personal teaching objective. It is that students leave my classroom with better critical thinking, divergent thinking, and SEL practices. I also hope that they have become more adept at asking better questions. These aims can be accomplished within any framework, so I easily adapt myself to each school I staff on. And yet, it would be really lovely to be able to apply my objectives within an organized, school-wide scope and sequence!

What is your experience with this? Have you ever worked at a school that has been able to ask the big questions of their curriculum and both get it in writing and get it in action?

I am well aware that climate change and global warming are mostly caused by much larger institutions than an individual, a household, or even a neighborhood. But I also know that it feels good to make small changes in my daily life and feel more connected to the nature around me by inspecting and changes my manner of consumption. If you're looking to add some small products into your life that have less chemicals and a real sense of grounding, these are some of my personal suggestions.

PRODUCTS TO USE ON THE GO!

• Keep bamboo utensils and metal straws in your bag or car to have on hand. Back before COVID made us into social recluses, I used these weekly. Also bring a glass to use for drinks/smoothies and container to use for take-out.
• Use fabric bags or even produce bags while grocery shopping (Colony Company is great!)
• Invest in beeswax wraps or reusable bags. (Itzy Ritzy, Green City Living, Full Circle Home, Eco Ditty, Lunchskins are all lovely)

PRODUCTS FOR LIFE

• Check to see if there are recycled alternatives to your regular products...recycled paper goods, all natural kitchen sponges, bamboo toothbrushes, razors made from yogurt containers...on and on. (Who Gives a Crap TP is a current favorite.)
• For ladies, look into reusable products for your cycles. Lunapads and GladRags are personal favorites for lightdays.
• Even upscale purchases like jewelry and loungewear can be more thoughtfully purchased. Companies like MADE , Know the Origin, TenTree, and Sudara are all fair trade organizations that deliver high quality goods...some even adding extra goodness into the world via planting trees, helping those rescued from human trafficking, or putting money into developing villages.)

WAYS TO DEAL WITH WASTE

• Recycle your household waste responsibly through TerraCycle​

• Compost your food waste (https://ohmyapt.apartmentratings.com/apartment-composting-without-the-smell.html )

• Buy foods and products in tins/cans or glass jars (or plastic ones that you will reuse over and over)

WAYS TO CONSERVE/CONSUME RESPONSIBLY

• Ladies, keep a cup in the shower to use while shaving so you can turn off the water and conserve. You can also brush your teeth in the shower for bonus agua-conservation points. 
• Go thrifting instead of buying new clothes.
• Watch great TED talks or try science-based tools at Clearer Thinking and try transformative living
• Find eco-aware companies who can lead you to better ideas, habits, and products. I've been happy to bump into The Good Trade and Package Free Shop (aka the Trash is for Tossers shop)
• Unsubscribe from unneeded emails (Who knew!?)
• Check out nonprofit media organizations to get the closest thing to unbiased news (Grist)

Here are some poems I wrote for the joy of playing with words and the good of growth: 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 
A ceiling fan is never enjoyed even with eye contact and happy sighs.
Not ever in the same way as
after the hours the power was out,
the days you didn’t have one at all,
and the week it groaned and clicked relentlessly.
 
It’s not as if there is one last joyous moment before the amputation.
No, what is needed is
gratitude like an oracle,
thankfulness with the foresight of the blind,
and the imagining of things as they are not, in order to be best well with things as they are.
 
 
Hold one black paper up to the sky for the smartest rainbows.
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 
When Water Does Not Work
What to do with the paintbrushes covered in oils?
And the accidentally-purchased dry clean clothes?
And if the baptism doesn’t take?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 
It is fitting to trace my life as she cradles her beloved’s.
It is finishing to cherish my moments
with the same persistence of need and fox-tail of longing
to, to somehow complete the beauty by looking, caging, sharing, noticing, capturing, pointing.
She caught at it. The paths she walked have prints of her heels catching.
My paths show smooth steps: the orange dirt bears signs of pacing.
Moments are immortalized in gratitude.
Life is made full in praise.
 
And
the lace of the waves is such that you couldn’t and wouldn’t set needle to it,
each swirl of cloud or cream resists record.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 
My most beloved cognitive error:
a mouth full of strawberries, life was always sweet.
Ecclesiastical knowledge
windows upon windows:
something to it.
Have grace when you turn your back on the breeze
to hold hands with the wind.

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I don’t read much poetry because I don’t understand it.
I only write some to try my hand at
the Hemmingway truth.
 
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If god isn’t real and prayers land on the ceiling (1)
 
If god isn’t real and prayers land on the ceiling,
well what can we say is worthwhile and weighty?
If pastors are just pasters of posters of propaganda on all those old poles patched
with scraps of corners and rusty stapled marks of other flyers,
what will stand solid staying top-side-still in the sifter?
 
 
If god isn’t real and prayers land on the ceiling (2)
 
If god isn’t real and prayers land on the ceiling,
my quiet heart yet offers worthy pebbles:
stone that does not break and gem that does not ignore.
The worn-old quilt of henna hands, blue white beads, and doorway scrolls
is soft and keeps life.
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 
We climbed the nooked stairs up to the terraced top.
There in the corner were two boys with smiles and guitars.
Coming out of their chests were long pieces of red yarn.
As they played a neighborhood tune, the large party to their left picked up a piece
and held it loosely as they sang along for good times.
The rest of the strings remained on the floor.
I picked one up and plugged it to my heart.
Oh the connection was good: tin cans formed
and the vibrations began to flow like a looping hand, back and forth.
My red strand was a quiet, small, brave thing to do.
but what (joy)!
Why were the other lines left on the unfeeling ground?
I picked up more and fixed them in.
The smiles increased, the warmth glowed, the music took off with the night.
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 
mothers sigh for sitting on counters and kitchen floors
wives, for long drives and the freedom to be careless with their selves
 
and the others sigh for sighs of wanting a body reclaimed
they wait to wish for time alone
eager for the struggles of a future un-had
yet enjoying the always-ripening-and-spoiling avocadoes that sit
undisturbed on their cool, clean counters
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 
Running, mostly walking in the sudden thick wetness.
Swollen hair in tubes, snake tails in mud,
fibers expanded, held around the wine bottle that is life and sweat running through
and also forming up
all sky, all ground, connected in permanent rain structures.
The form molded in white plastic and flip-upside-down-able,
puddles to clouds: modern columns, mist to surface: lined points to spin around
This world sensibly keeps the clouds’ lighting to ease the hollow plastic into Comfort and Depth.
 
But really, it’s a large red rain jacket on warm skin and bare feet slipping by the front door.
 
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From where they swim in the depths below
to points where wings segment the wind,
all these creatures high and low
know we each, together, have sinned.
Yet let us not forget to tell
of trails light and bolstered, even unpinned.
And may we remember just as well
How goodness can be twinned:
 
Eyes must open       to receive sight
Touch the earth       to know heaven
 
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I left home to taste what was good, and to test for good what was home.
I changed zipcode and standards, clothing and cultures.
I swallowed ice cream for breakfast, forbidden bottles for lunch.
Even so – even the distance and difference being full – I hadn’t left.
Home is where the mind is; mine still bound by such only ways.
Eventually, I suppose I did leave.
Because now I know I have no interest in my spot at the lunch table.
But what if the odds are bizarrely in my favor and
home is where the heart actually is?
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 
the rubbish parade marches the town every day
useless news-crumbles roll down rusted cement alleys
empty gray-sand wet-spotted streets
 
the rubbish parade is all flash and bright
uniforms: great glowingly eggy sunset-cream with blood stripes
boots: all crisp, deep knockware (as if that were necessary)
 
the rubbish parade marches right, and right, and right, and right
a caravan of gleaming trash in wagons, saturated recycles on trays
the alone-one audience of a girl doesn’t even like them
 
she says she doesn’t care to watch as her cheers bounce askew off the tinways
there she is
see her as they pass by?
there she is.
 
every time.
well, most times
one time she was muted by glory-brightness
on a different street, of course
she has seen other streets you know
better streets
streets with pink slender ones filing by and
others with wide-eyed brown boys dancing through
but there she is, right there, do you see her?
she’s there and they’re there
the rubbish parade dins on
and her wooing is the flat eye-shine; the reflected stale march
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The meals she liked best had to be forced,
though the poison was gulped in seconds (and thirds.)
One portion of posture practice with mind-numbing nothingness,
but that Blessed Woman ate no food when the mouse was around!
What a waste of non-empty that would be.
 
She sharpened herself by measuring back to back with the giant. It’s not all rot and spoil.
God help the pleasure-seeking vortex of a girl.
 
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Fredrick Backman, Colum McCann, Amor Towles, and Kristin Hannah were my favorite authors this year. 2021 was the year of stories that shook me and moved me. In retrospect, it seems I've been specifically opening myself up to stories of suffering (while then specifically reaching for lighter, more heart-warming tales for balance.) Curious to see what 2022 holds for my literature selections! If you've read any of the books below and want to chat about your experience, please reach out. Blessings on your own books and the resulting explorations and musings they bring.

1. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
-reading from the perspective of someone you could label as autistic
-realizing how long lasting trauma from childhood is (verbal abuse/false beliefs)
-be grateful for your health in your friends and family
2. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
-being close to nature and learning to take note of specifics
-we are both animal and soul
3. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
-living with large secrets sounds exhausting and awful
-racism is part of this country's narrative and needs to be examined 
4. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
-the depth and complexity of each human life, each of our stories, how we interact
5. The Mothers by Brit Bennett
- some interesting new pictures of motherhood and unpregnancy
6. Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman
- people. The ever-amazing importance of people, connections, friendships.
7. The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi (sexually graphic*)
- the terrible burden of secrets, the need to accept people fully as they are whether in small things like idiosyncrasies or large things like gender and sexual identity (also that I miss Africa)
8. If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha
- how much I hate social systems based on class (but aren't they all in one form or another?) and why are people shaving their bones to look different? How has plastic surgery become so refined and accessible that it's hard to tell what public personalities have had done - beauty standards being unrealistic?
9. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
- would highly recommend to anyone, but with a warning for how intense this narrative is and how these images, these people, these thoughts will stay with you. A rush and sweeping of deep gratitude for my life, a new understanding about the specific facts of suffering and immigration.
10. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
-how important people are; shared memories are for relationships. The beauty of math.
11. my grandmother asked me to tell you she's sorry by Fredrik Backman
-the power of a good story. Honestly, makes me want to raise kids on a uber complex system of fairy tales based on faith but without all the church bits
12-13. Sorcerer to the Crown and The True Queen by Zen Cho
- the power of women, and trusting your intuition and making brave, difficult choices
14. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
-the intensity of our feelings and perspectives and how they keep our vision small
15-16. Parable of the Seed and Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler
-how insanely good we have it now and the kinds/levels of suffering that could realistically head our way if we don't start problem-solving as a race. Not sure what to think of the Earthseed bits on God as Change.
17. Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney
-DO NOT RECOMMEND...best takeaway would just be that we all our so entrenched in our views of the world that it's a continual surprise to see a shared situation from another person's perspective
18. Calypso by David Sedaris 
19. A Promised Land by Barack Obama
20. Memorial by Bryan Washington (explicit - don't recommend)
21. The Biggest Bluff by Maria Konnikova
22. Anxious People by Frederik Backman
23. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
24. Sacre Bleu by Christopher Moore
25. Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry
26.Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert 
27. A Gentleman in Moscow Amor Towles
28. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
29-31. Scythe Trilogy by Neal Shusterman
32. Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
33. The Pull of The Stars by Donoghue
34. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
35. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
36. Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
37. The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
38. The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

This blog post is dedicated to my experience with Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT.) I created my "store" a few years ago when I made an art-specific reflection sheet for students because I couldn't find anything I liked when I searched the internet for a similar form.
I didn't know anything about how TpT works but figured I would reside in a little corner of the market as I had a different style of both the look of my resources and the resources themselves than anything I'd seen online. But then after figuring out all of the account bits and uploading bits, I found out my unique Self-Reflection Sheet had to be uploaded as my Free Download. Being busy teaching, that took the wind out of my sails. So I uploaded it and left my TpT account sitting for a few years. 

Cue 2020 and the move to virtual learning. Again, searching the internet for resources I needed in my classroom left me empty-handed. So I started making them. And realized it might be a good time to give TpT another try. I spent a few days watching Youtube videos from prominent TpT store owners and figured out how to upload my snazzy new Online Resources and waited for the money to come rolling in. Which didn't happen. 

I knew to expect a slow start since I didn't have many products and wasn't willing to pay for advertising. But I didn't expect it to be that slow. I sold two or three products in as many months which was discouraging. And then seeing the cut I got after TpT took their share was disheartening.
I almost quit on it again. 
But after a few more sales came in I decided to make a few more products and give it one last go.
Here are some stats and thoughts for those of you wondering if you should start up:

• I paid the $60 yearly membership to earn more of a cut. A free account will get you 45-49% of your profits back. A paid membership, gives you 80% of your profits back. Meaning a $5 product only gives you around $2.45 on the free account, and $4.00 with the membership. 
  
• My best sellers are my unit plans. I have a 12 lesson Digital Photography Unit priced at $6 that is my highest seller. After that is a 4 lesson Optical Illusion Unit at $3.50 and an Elements of Art Drawing Unit for $4.
• I have tried my best to keep the descriptions and thumbnails consistent. I have linked some of my products in other product descriptions. I tried to make a few pins on Pinterest, but don't really know my way around that platform. I made a video preview but then was told by the TpT Help Desk that video previews are not yet allowed for Online Resources. I have not yet paid for advertisement though I'd love the help to get the shop up and running (more followers and ratings help get your shop featured in searches, I believe.) 
• I've currently made $91.19, leaving me with $31.19 of profit as the first $60 just goes back to covering my membership. It does seem like a risk to pay for advertising when I'm not sure how fruitful it will be. I am unwilling to create a blog, Youtube channel, or email newsletter. I don't want TpT to become another side gig. I would just like my high-quality products to bring in a bit of pocket change each month. 
• I only put up products that I make and use in my personal teaching. I am a few lessons away from completing another 12 lesson unit that I'm excited to post, so maybe I'll advertise then. So far, I've just posted some of my free resources in the Art Teacher Facebook groups I'm in.

Some questions for those of you out there using TpT with any success:
1. Do you pay for advertising?
2. Do you make products that you don't use in your classroom?
3. How much time does an average product take for you?
4. Are there small tricks or tips that you would be willing to share?
5. Over the years, has it been worth it to pay the membership each year? Does material that is popular now tend to stay popular (or once a material starts selling, does it usually keep selling?)

Would love to hear any feedback or questions from other teachers!
The things we do to supplement our salaries :)
Blessings,
​j​

Teaching online has come (and stayed) for many of us, forcing adaptation. I've found that best practice continues to shift as the learning community goes through the different phases of living with our new digital platform. Some strategies that I've been finding to create more learner engagement are below. What are strategies you've found to be helpful? If you're still teaching online, are you noticing that you're having to find new ways to teach as students are very fatigued with this system?

The Meet-within-the-Meet: I have been shocked at how students in even a small class will suddenly break their silence if provided a way to talk without anyone else listening. I will often have 4 or 5 students left in class with questions and they won't speak up until I make a second meet and tell them they can jump in there. And then they will one-by-one ask their questions!

Creating Google Slides to go with each lesson for students to use again independently, for those with internet issues, and for those with different learning needs (whether visual learners, ELL students, or even those with processing issues.)

Encouraging students to use the chat function rather than unmuting as they seem far more likely to type than to talk. 

Allowing students to keep their videos off. Internet issues are real. As are the many reasons you might not want teachers and peers seeing you in your bedroom at 8:00 am. I do sometimes ask for videos to be turned on for the start of class or for a discussion, but most of the time I let students decide for themselves. 

On a similar note, allowing students to sign off before class is over. Students' self-management doesn't change much whether they're on a muted, video-less Meet or not. (I've had students accidentally show me that they're playing games, watching movies, or texting during class!) Rather, creating an environment where students a. feel comfortable to ask questions/get feedback b. have a variety of ways to do that and c. are given time to work on their art during the day seems to be the winning combination - caveat of course is, for me, with these students, in this school community.

Asking everyone to answer simple conversation questions like "What was your last meal?" or "What's a good show you've watched recently?" or "Do you normally remember your dreams? And if yes, any you want to share?"

For small, speciality classes I've created a schedule where one week a month we do one-on-one workshops to make sure students are getting personal attention and can go in depth about their course elements. This only works for my IB Visual Arts classes, but it works very well. We either do 20 minute or 30 minute sessions!

For art, rather than having each assignment be a new project, some assignments are small, simple, skills. This creates a "breather" for students and allows those who are newer to the subject or specific skill to practice before trying a piece. Normally, this would just be part of my art class as an opening or a warm-up, but in attempts not to overwhelm students, I'm making it a separate digital assignment. 

Checking in with students, by either asking or noticing how many students are behind on turning in work. "Assume good intentions," and slow the pace down if the majority of students need a break. To do this, I will either create a fun, but simple mini-lesson or will give them a bonus day to finish a more complicated assignment. Student feedback has been positive, though there are a few who want more art and more projects. Perhaps I can start offering 10 minute one-one-one workshops for those students during those classes...hmm!?
​

I've been teaching online for about the last calendar year now.
Back in the spring of 2020, I was teaching asynchronous elementary art lessons, leaving individual feedback for each of my hundreds of students. This year, I am teaching synchronous lessons online to middle school, high school, and IB art students. (This year I'm also teaching from a different time zone as the borders to my new school's country are closed.)

Students and teachers alike are experiencing screen fatigue. But I'm not here to vent about the obvious negatives to online teaching. I am grateful to have kept work during the pandemic and to have been safe from exposure. 
I suppose I'm writing to find a larger perspective and ways to balance.

You see, not only am I teaching to a screen, but most of the rest of my day's activities are all screen-based too:

• most all of my communication to friends and family 
• keeping up with modern events and the daily news
• personal entertainment through streaming shows/films/video clips
• keeping up my "art teacher presence" on Twitter, Instagram, and this website
• even reading recipes, researching biking/hiking trails, and research PD opportunities

So much of my time is spent online! And I intentionally try not to be a person who is glued to their phone. Creating balance here is important to me. I've been giving myself visual breaks (the 20-20-20 rule: look away every 20 minutes for 20 seconds to 20 ft away) and trying to correct my posture so I'm not hunching my shoulders and over-extending my neck. And I've been trying to push myself into more hands-on activities like writing "snail mail," playing board games, and going for walks between classes. But even so, my moth-self is plenty happy with all these digital flames I continue to hover around. 

Beyond things like staying away from scrolling Buzzfeed or Instagram (I know, I know), do any of you have suggestions for building new, small habits that help balance out our COVID-forced screen time? 

Also, since the students are tired of being online so much I've tried to create lessons that they can complete with minimal screen time (though they are welcome to complete pieces as digital art if they wish.) It's difficult though to find balance there: walking students through new topics in a way that they can complete the assignment independently and off-screen. During the independent work portions of the lesson, I've started encouraging them to complete their art outside or while listening to music/audiobook/podcast. But then I feel like a bad teacher to be sending them off! I stay on the Google Meet link for our entire class period and encourage them to jump back on the moment they have questions, as they've learned to do. 
How have you found ways to get your students learning off-screen? Are your students complaining of screen time or are they accustomed to it?