Tell us about yourself.
I graduated from college in the 60’s; so, you know I have
been teaching for a very long time, but I still love it! I have been blessed
with many diverse teaching situations from teaching the visually impaired for
three years to working with the hearing impaired. I have experience in every grade level either
as peer coach, student teacher advisor, resource instructor, or teacher
I now teach remedial math at our local community college,
and I find that most of my students are mathphobics. I teach math to a group of students whose
greatest fear is the word “MATH”. This
year, much to my surprise, I was awarded The Outstanding Instructor Award for Math
by the college.
I have been married to the same wonderful man for 44 years. He is a science
teacher, and since I teach math (pi), I use the alias of Scipi on TPT. As of this year, together, we have taught for
75 years, and neither of us can imagine doing anything else.
What do you like best about teaching?
In whatever classroom I teach, I always post this sentence
by George Polya. “It is better to solve one problem five ways than to solve five
problems the same way.” I believe in
teaching many math strategies using a hands-on and interactive approach, even
on the college level. That includes singing, doing cheers, using manipulatives,
drawing pictures, playing games, etc. My
goal as a teacher is to cure one mathphobic at a time!
Describe your favorite TpT product.
My favorite product is A
Simple Math Dictionary. It uses easy
and clear definitions as well as formulas and examples so that students can learn
and understand new math words without difficulty or cumbersome language. Most definitions include diagrams and/or
illustrations for the visual learner.
Over 300 common math terms are organized alphabetically for quick
reference. When students are uncertain of a word’s meaning, this simple and
straightforward dictionary is a good starting place. I copy it and use it with
my college students every year since I find the glossaries in their math books
inadequate.
What advice would you give to someone who may want to become a
seller at Teachers Pay Teachers?
I
would suggest creating quality products that are simple and easy to use is what
teachers are looking for. This takes
time, lots of time. Also I would
recommend frequently checking the Sellers’ Forum for advice from veteran
teachers and TPT Sellers.
What have you done or hope to do with your TpT earnings?
After
sharing a portion with our church, my earnings are the “extra” that is set
aside to update our home which was built in the 70’s. So far we have redone one of our bathrooms,
updated the family room, laid new carpet throughout (good-bye ugly brown),
replaced the windows and landscaped. Our next big project is the kitchen.
What do you like best about being a member of The Best of
Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative?
It
is a group of dedicated TPT sellers who are also excellent teachers. We have a common goal of improving our
teaching as well as the resources in our stores.
