My name
is Joy Billeaud, and I am teaching 5th grade Science in China
Spring, Texas. I have been teaching for
22 years, and have taught everything from pre-school to high school PE and
girls’ athletics. I have never had a
position that I did not love, but now that I am no longer coaching my favorite spot
would have to be teaching in a self-contained 4th grade
classroom!
What I
like best about teaching is the feeling I get when a student grasps a concept
that they had previously eluded them. In
fourth grade this concept is often long division. They have to remember all the steps, all the
multiplication facts, and all their subtraction facts. When they’ve gotten through to the quotient
and then check their work, a smile creeps across their face that says, “I can
do this!” That smile makes the previous
hours of struggling all worthwhile!
My
favorite TpT product is my Texas Cattle Drive. It includes reading, writing,
math, geography and language translations! Students will decide on a location
for their own cattle ranch, then decide where they will drive their cattle to
market. They hire and pay trail hands, cooks, and trail bosses according to how
many miles and days they travel. (tons of math work!) They will draw a card
each day to see what happens with their herd. They will journal their daily
drive including all sorts of things they may encounter, such as: bad weather,
disease, cattle thieves, and even Native American tribes along the way. My students love this activity, and have even
worried about what will happen to their cattle over the weekends!
New
Sellers at TpT should go directly to the forums and learn everything they can from
experienced sellers. I had products
listed for almost 18 months before ever finding the forum. I didn’t know what Pinterest was, and had no idea
that marketing was involved. You can
imagine how well my products were selling – not at all!!
Most of my TpT earnings will go directly into my retirement
fund – my Texas Teacher Retirement System is not going to keep me happy in my
golden years! The rest will be spent
traveling with my children. We’re going
to Universal Studios in two weeks to see Harry Potter!
TBOTEMC
has taught me more about marketing my products than I could have ever imagined
possible. I love the new ideas that are
shared through this collaborative group, and I feel like I am on the ‘ground
floor’ of new and innovative marketing
strategies.
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