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Teachers are underappreciated and underpaid.
We say it every year.
However, with COVID hitting this year and the true weight of seeing us be pushed to the max, working well over the 40-hour limit, adding 10 new things to the endless list of must-dos, being blamed for all of societies failures of children, and then having no idea what to prepare for as the school year approached-- we found that we were only loved and appreciated by the public and education department for a very slim amount of time.
Many of us realized our opinions are not truly valued, we are expendable and replaceable, and most of all-- we are not going to see a liveable salary in this lifetime. I literally saw such talented, passionate, and loving educators walk out of the field this year. I can say, had I been in the financial situation to do so, I may have done the same.
It's what put the flames on my ass to start monetizing my teaching content-- a few extra coins to add some cushion to my savings.
From the beginning of COVID until now, one thing that has remained a constant in the social media threads and comment sections are non-educators saying. "Well nobody made you become a teacher!"
I know, I know. Yes, I also the comments all over social media that take it a step further to say,“You know how much you make before entering the profession!”
Sure, okay, you caught us and called us all out.
We know what we will get paid before we enter the teaching profession.
I can say at 17 when I was dual-enrolled at the local technical college and pregnant with my oldest daughter, anything above minimum wage sounded awesome.
I live in South Carolina, I got my first job when I was 15. I made minimum wage at a grocery store, BiLo to be exact, and made $5.25 an hour.
I’ll be 30 this year, so nearly 15 years later in the same state, the minimum wage is only $7.25.
So as a teen, or as a young adult since I stuck with the vision of teaching until I graduated and went back and got a Master’s degree, a salaried position with benefits sounded like I was going to hit it big and be straight ballin’ after graduation.
I started at 34K and was just thrilled to be making a set amount of money, using my degree, and teaching kids. I had no idea how bad $34,000 annually was.
I entered the classroom in 2014, making under $1,000 per pay period, and was like, welp, okay. Let me get this money!
Now, from 2014 to 2020, I have obtained a Master’s, countless hours of professional development, received my professional teaching certification (because I started in an alternate program since my degree is in English Literature, not Education), and worked as an adjunct professor at the local technical college and my teaching salary is under 46K.
Dreaming of a salaried position as a senior in high school and raising a family burdened with teacher salary are definitely two different entities.
So yes, I am saying while we are aware of the salary before we enter the profession, we have no idea as teens and young adults what that means in the long haul.
It has made me pick up so many other jobs inside and outside of the school setting. From 2015 to now I have juggled so many positions:
School-related positions for hourly pay or stipends include:
2014 to 2018 After school tutoring
2014 to 2018 Homebound teaching (medical)
2014 to 2018 Homebound teaching (behavior and incarcerated)
2014-2015 Step Team/Dance Coach
2015-2017 Athletic Study Hall Coordinator for Sports (collecting grader reports, entering data into spreadsheets, emailing admin, athletic director, teachers, and coaches reports and tutoring schedules for athletes, holding the tutoring sessions for those underachieving athletes, tracking their progress so they could keep playing in games)
2020 Department Head
2020 State Certified Evaluator
Non-School related positions include:
2017 Bartending (at this wine bar I actually loved)
2018 to Present Website building
2015 to Present Blogging and Content writing
2019 to Present Brand Partnerships
2020 Educational Online Course/Module/MOOPIL writing for Texas A&M
August 2020 to Present Monetizing my teaching content
If you look at the positions I've held and dates, can you notice something that happened as the years went on?
The dates run from 2014 to 2020, so I am always doing side work. I was feeling teacher burnout because I was at work all the time. But I needed the money to survive-- literally, so I felt I had no choice.
As my years of experience increased, I realized that I loved the classroom, but needed to make money on the side that put me in charge of my schedule. I made an attempt to move from working after hours at school to things I could do at home.
I didn’t realize it for years, but teaching was sucking the life out of me.
It’s easy to not notice all the years passing in a blink because you're so engulfed in the profession and all it demands from us. This especially true if you are a do-er like me.
But after the years went on, it’s like I woke up one day to a slap all up in the face.
I missed my kids.
Missed being at home.
Missed sitting on my own couch.
Missed wearing pajamas, drinking wine, and not be held responsible for things that did not fall under my million contracted responsibilities as a teacher.
And now, all these years later, I am realizing that between the after-school tutoring, the blogging, the brand partnerships, or the content writing my passion is truly teaching and creating content.
Think of how your classroom can be impacted by spending time creating meaningful, engaging, and modern assignments for your students. Students turn in rates increase, students retain the content, score higher on assessments, realize you care, and won’t assign frivolous busy work like mounds of IXL, USATestPrep, or Khan Academy.
Are those things great sometimes, yes! In moderation, they most certainly are. But not as the base of student learning.
I don’t want to learn like that. I dang sure don’t want my children to learn like that.
So say, okay, I am going to do this whole content thing. Invest my time in really making some dope assignments for kids.
Imagine how many teachers don’t have the technical skills? Don’t have a creative side and could care less about aesthetics, fonts, or color palettes?
Okay-- maybe some do have the tech skills and creativity thing covered, but they don’t have the time or desire to use their time to do these things. We all have lives with different demands and desires. Maybe, then after you spend all your time busting your butt for the perfect assignments that you monetize that content and sell it to those teachers who need the materials for their classroom.
It’s like a trifecta-- you’re blessing your students, other teachers, and those other teachers are then blessing their students with your greatness too.
The point of all of this?
If I can make over 10K in under 90 days selling my teaching content, you can too.
I was so mindblown at the simplicity of the process, considering I've spent time in the blogging, content writing, web design, and marketing field, but not ever connecting the two with my main profession of teaching. It's what lead me to create The Kinda Sorta Teacher Monetization for Educators course where I teach all of my fellow educators how I have monetized and hit $10,000 in my first 90 days.
Sure, it isn’t as simple as posting a TikTok video and saying “link in bio.”
There are certainly layers of strategies that come into place, which is why I thank the good Lord that I figured out in 2015 that I wanted to make money online and began reading articles, listening to podcasts, watching YouTube videos, and investing in business coaches that specialize in branding and niche, marketing, funnels, ads, social media, and monetization.
The one thing all this research and experts couldn’t help me figure out is how a teacher could still teach, serve their students, and brand and monetize themselves as a teacher-- with something directly related to teaching that wouldn't require more work than we can bite off while still teaching full time.
And that’s what I’ve finally figured out and cannot wait to share with you all over the remainder of 2020 so you can do the same thing in 2021.
“We are all in this together!” No, but really, we teachers are-- I’m not sure about politicians, principals, parents, or the public. But we teachers literally are in the trenches together and deserve to be financially fulfilled.
Will that money come from our school district or the state? LOL, girl no.
Will we keep teaching anyway? Yes. So here is at least planting the seed that you can stop working after hours, second jobs, and make money creating educational content for your students and getting blessed abundantly in your bank account for helping other teachers at the same time.
I want others to have that financial sense of security-- and the content put out there not only helps teachers have engaging and twenty-first-century lessons to implement in their classroom, but students Nationwide are completing tasks that I put together and enjoying them. That reach is an insanely proud feeling.
That is the definition of being in this together, y’all.
My first 15 participants were filled and locked within 12 hours for the month of November after just posting to TikTok-- I didn't even send an email out.
To get notified when the course launches the public, click here to drop me your info and get on the list to be the first group to get notified. Slots are limited, as I want to be accessible to those with questions.
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Love, Hugs, and Lots of Kisses,
XoXo
Cheers,
Ty Tiger | Kinda Sorta Teacher
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