Teacher Tips Archives - So Blessed to Be a Teacher

Side Hustle Success?

Woman celebrating with text Teacher side hustles: what's working and what's not in 2025

(Disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links, and if you click through and make a purchase, I will receive compensation at no additional cost to you.)

Let’s face it – most teachers just can’t thrive financially on their teaching salary alone.

Throughout my teaching career, I have always experimented with side hustles with varying levels of success. Truth be told, I have tried lots of different side jobs, and I am nowhere close to reaching the sweet spot where I am earning enough supplementary income to make all my dreams come true. But if you are looking for ideas from another teacher out there in the real world trying to make ends meet, here’s a roundup of my current side hustles…and how they are treating me!

Amazon KDP

To be fair, this is just a brand new little itty baby project and I don’t have much experience to report. I recently came across a couple of YouTube videos by folks who are making money by publishing books, planners, and journals through Amazon KDP, and since I love designing things with Canva, I figured I’d give it a go.

As of this moment when I am publishing this post, I have designed several simple lined journals and a home-school communication book, and so far have made…zero sales.

Do I have 1,000 other ideas of products I’d like to make and publish through Amazon KDP? YES!

Do I wonder if I can really justify putting the time in, not knowing if I’ll ever make a sale? Sadly, yes.

That said, designing with Canva is something I enjoy anyway, and there are many hobbies out there that I could get into that have 0% chance of ever generating income. So, I plan to keep trying with this idea, although I think for the most part it will be a “when-I-have-time-while-watching-TV-with-the-fam” kind of side gig. The YouTubers who are making good money on KDP did warn that the market is saturated for simple products like journals, so I wasn’t really expecting much right out of the gate when making basic products, especially since I’m starting in 2025. (Further updates to come if things get better! And, if you just so happen to be in the market for a cute journal as you start the upcoming school year…please check mine out!)

Affiliate Marketing

YouTube is also teeming with videos about all the money you can make with affiliate marketing…and maybe that’s true for some people! I’m here to admit to you…I’m not one of those people.

If you are not familiar with affiliate marketing, it is when someone (like me!) makes links available to someone else (like you!) through a blog or social media. When that someone else clicks one of these links and makes a purchase, the original someone gets a small commission.

I am an Amazon affiliate, and I have also signed up though CJ.com to partner with several other companies such as KiwiCo, FatBrain Toys, Michaels Stores, Unbeatablesale.com, Trinity Road Websites, Ignatius Press, and Discount School Supply.

What kinds of things do I do to promote my affiliate marketing links? There are tons of strategies out there, but as for me, I basically stick to four things. First, I’ve got a few little affiliate banners here and there around my blog – in my sidebars and occasionally in the middle or end of my posts. Second, from time to time, I put a link up to in my Instagram stories to something cool from one of the companies I advertise for. Next, I make and post some cute Pinterest pins for products I love. And, finally, I write a blog post now and again that has a few affiliate links, especially when I’m sharing my favorite books (like this post and this post, for instance).

Would I say this side hustle is difficult and time-consuming? Not really. Each of the different affiliate marketing strategies I use is pretty simple, and I don’t spend a ton of time on them.

Would I say this side hustle is lucrative? Also, not really. As a matter of fact, if you take into consideration what I pay for blog hosting, I’m in the red. What I make in total affiliate marketing revenue is definitely less than what I pay to keep this blog going, and the blog is necessary for two of the ways I engage in affiliate marketing.

Will I continue to pursue affiliate marketing? Sure, why not?!

Similar to my experience with designing for Amazon KDP, I do kind of enjoy spending time on affiliate marketing, and it’s the type of thing I can do while I am multitasking. Those of you who have a greater social media following, a YouTube channel, or more time to devote to a blog may even find yourselves hitting a home run with it. But as a once-in-a-while side hustle for a busy teacher mom, I wouldn’t expect this to bring you a windfall, especially if you would be setting up and paying for a blog just for this purpose.

(Look! Here comes some affiliate marketing!)

Shop Fat Brain Toys - A Smarter Way to Play!

Boom™ Learning

I have been making and selling Boom Cards for several years now, and I have to admit that I’m hooked. There is something very satisfying about designing and publishing a deck of Boom Cards, and the best part is that if you are a teacher, you can probably use many of your creations as valuable teaching tools for your own students.

Is this side-hustle a good money maker? TBH, not really. For me, the income I make on a regular basis is minimal, especially given that at the time of publishing this post, it costs $69.99 USD/year for a publisher’s subscription. I’m usually shy about sharing earnings reports, but just this once, I’ll be brave and share a few stats. Last year in 2024, I made $152.71 USD through Boom Card sales on the Boom platform, so taking the subscription cost into account, I netted $82.72 USD for the whole year (plus whatever I made on Boom Cards through my TpT store…because I do sell a few Boom Cards on TpT as well…but that usually isn’t much.)

Will I continue to sell on Boom Learning? Absolutely! Since I use the Boom Cards I make for my own students, it is definitely worth it to make some income on the side, even if it’s just a little. The way I look at it, how many things do you spend money on for your students every year that bring you back no income? So I’ll take the $82 bucks that I get back from my subscription to Boom. I also love how listing your cards on Boom Learning does not require many extra steps after you have already designed the cards, so there’s really no reason not to put your cards out there and see if they can help other teachers and students while bringing in a little passive income.

If you have never tried Boom Learning and would like to give it a go, feel free to use my referral link here for a discount on that yearly subscription I mentioned (Disclosure: I may earn a referral prize if you use my discount).

TpT

Of my “online” side hustles, TpT is definitely the one that has brought me the most financial success.

But…

I’ve been posting resources to my TpT store for eight years now, and my income from it is STILL very unreliable. Especially lately.

But…

Like Boom Learning, TpT is really a sort of a two-for-one deal because most of the things I make to sell on TpT can be used with my own students as well. I have made countless activities that have doubled as part of my next lesson plan and a source of a little teeny bit of income. I just have to be realistic and look at the long game, because OVER TIME, it does add up.

For example, (…taking a deep breath as I’m about to disclose more personal information to the internet community…) the combined lifetime income I have earned for the first three paid products I ever listed in my TpT store all those years ago is $1,711.41, at the time of this blog post. And each of those resources initially came about because I wanted to make something to use as part of a lesson with my own students. It’s not millions – but it’s not nothing.

Is this side hustle lucrative? I’m going to say yes on this one, as long as you are patient and realistic. My example above shows that even a small seller like me can make money that could positively impact your finances – at least a little.

Tutoring

The last side gig that I want to talk about today is actually the one that has brought me the most money…and the most joy. I have been blessed to have the opportunity to tutor students for the last three years or so, and it has been wonderful.

And do I make money from this side hustle? I am happy to report, yes! What I love about tutoring from a financial perspective is that you get paid for the hours you work with a quick turn around time. You have an agreed-upon rate, you do the work, and you receive the payment. You get to decide how much and when you want to work, just like the other side hustles I mentioned, but you aren’t waiting years to see that income trickle in.

I also really just love it.

It’s everything I like about teaching, but ONE student at a time. You get to build a rapport with that student and help with his or her unique needs WITHOUT all the distractions that can get in the way in the classroom. For me, every tutoring session goes by REALLY fast – because time flies when you are having fun!

Teacher Side Hustle Takeaways

Of the my five current sources of income in addition to my salary, tutoring is by far the one that I recommend if you are looking to earn some extra income right away.

But if you are a teacher and you are already making lessons for your students, TpT and Boom Learning can also be worthwhile marketplaces that help you piggyback on what you are already doing and make some passive income that can continue to serve you year after year.

Do you have another side hustle that has proven effective for you? Let me know in the comments…as you can see, I love trying out new ways to supplement my teacher income!

Free, Cheap, and Worth-the-Money STEAM Products for Your School Library or Classroom

(Disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links, and if you click through and make a purchase, I will receive compensation at no additional cost to you.)

With summer vacation here at last, I’ve been able to step back from the chaos of every day, pause, and evaluate. We have finished up a “more normal” school year, so to speak, where my students actually got to visit the library and touch books and share materials. Having gone without a lot of my STEAM stuff during the 2020-2021 school year, I think my students were at their happiest this past year when they were finally designing, constructing, and building!

Here are some of their favorite hands-on things…that they can finally put their hands on again!

Free & Almost Free

If you are new to integrating STEAM into your school library or classroom, it is important to know that it does not have to be expensive. There are thousands of really cool STEAM challenges that students can complete with upcycled materials or items that can be purchased for less than $5.

My students’ favorite things to build with that are free or super cheap include:

Paper towel / Toilet paper tubes
Craft sticks
Clothespins
String / Yarn
Coffee filters
Cardboard boxes
Paper plates
Plastic cups
Plastic spoons
Paper from the recycling bin
Index cards
Straws
Bobby pins
Pipe cleaners / Chenille stems
Play-doh
Pom poms

STEAM Products That Deliver Bang for Your Buck

Although the free and super inexpensive stuff is a great place to start, there are tons of fantastic products out there that may be a great fit for your library or classroom if you are willing to make a just little bit more of an investment. With shrinking budgets, I know how important it can be to make sure your students are going to enjoy and benefit from the products you purchase. I have bought a number of STEAM related products for my library over the last few years, and I believe these to be some of my best purchases in terms of value (and at the time of this post, each of these are less than $50).

Code and Go Mouse

Learning Resources Code & Go Robot Mouse Activity Set, 83 Pieces, Ages 4+, Screen-Free Early Coding Toy for Kids, Interactive STEM Coding Pet

My students absolutely love this guy. The Code and Go Robot Mouse helps students to learn basic coding skills without adding screen time to their day. Children also benefit from designing and building tracks for the mouse. If I were to pick one STEAM product that I have purchased that has been most beneficial to my students, this would be it! (I use this with kindergarten and up.)

Straws and Connectors

Roylco Straws and Connectors Building Kit – Pack of 230 – Assorted Colors

These are just so versatile. Kids use their imaginations to build so many different structures with these straws. I purchased the Roylco brand and my students have enjoyed using them, but there are tons of options on the market – you just want slightly flexible straws and something to hold them together and you’ll get hours of creative building. (I use these with preschool and up.)

Plus Plus Blocks

PLUS PLUS – Baseplate Duo & 240 Piece Basic Tube Set – Construction Building STEM Toy, Interlocking Mini Puzzle Blocks for Kids

These blocks were new to my library this year and such a great addition to our materials. Students can build small structures or intricate designs in 2D or 3D, and they are perfect for individual use or collaboration. My students asked for these over and over. (I use these with preschool and up.)

LASER MAZE

Think Fun Laser Maze (Class 1) Brain Game and STEM Toy for Boys and Girls Age 8 and Up – Award Winning and Mind Challenging Game for Kids (44001014)

I have some huge fans of the Laser Maze in my library. The goal of this game is to set up a series of mirrors so that a laser beam bounces off of them in a certain pattern. Students can also experiment and set up the mirrors in their own design. One downside is that this is essentially a one-player activity, so I have purchased two of them and use them in a center for two children at a time. (I use them with 2nd Grade and up.)

GeoMag CONFETTI Set

This was another new product I tried for the first time this year, and it was definitely a winner! These magnetic rods and balls are wonderful for building shapes and exploring the properties of magnets. (I use these with preschool and up.)

BrainBuilder Blocks

MindWare KEVA Brain Builders Set of 2: Original KEVA Brain Builders and KEVA Brain Builders Junior – Great Addition to STEM Building Toys and Classroom Games – 40 Planks & 70 Puzzles Total

This is a very simple product but one that makes it easy to see the wheels turning in my students’ minds. I have both the BrainBuilders and BrainBuilders Jr. and I usually just put both sets out at once. The pieces are simple wooden KEVA planks with cards that show different items you can build. The students have to figure out how to assemble the blocks to make them look like the picture. They are always so proud of themselves when they succeed! (I use these with preschool and up.)

ECOBEAMS

Miniland ECO Beams Building Set

These no-frills beams are great for little kids who would like to build large structures. Connecting these together takes a little bit of getting used to, but is great for fine motor skills. I have a couple of sets of these that I use all together so that students can build towers as big as they are! (I use these with preschool and up.)

Ready? Full STEAM Ahead!

By gathering these free, low-cost, or value-priced STEAM materials over the summer, you can integrate STEAM into your library or classroom as you begin the upcoming school year!

What are your favorite free, low-cost, or “worth-the-money” STEAM products? Share your favorites in the comments!

Fiction vs. Nonfiction Freebie!

Approximately 99.9340394% of primary teachers and elementary librarians spend at least a little time going over the difference between fiction and nonfiction. A similar percentage of children LOVE robots.

So I decided to switch up one of my usual lessons in my “fiction vs. nonfiction” unit this year in kindergarten library class and go with a robot theme. Our read aloud for one of the days was part of a nonfiction book about robots, and one of the accompanying activities was a robot-themed coloring page that compares fiction and nonfiction.

It was a hit!

And here’s that printable…for you…for FREE!

Free Printable!_Download

Enjoy! For more resources for your library littles, please visit my TpT store!

Disclosure: The banner below is an affiliate link. If you click through and make a purchase, I will receive compensation at no additional cost to you.

Five YouTube Videos to Help You Crush 2021

I don’t know about you, but I’m REALLY looking forward to a fresh start in 2021. With a New Year RIGHT around the corner and a couple extra hours of free time on my hands (thank you, Christmas break!), I decided it was time to hit up YouTube and try to get inspired to make my New Year the BEST YEAR EVER!

(Or at least better than 2020. But preferably the best year ever!)

I was looking for motivational videos to give me some productivity tips, get myself goal-focused, and just overall inspire me to be my best self and hit the ground running as we start the year.

But Then…There Was Inspiration Overload

It turns out there are A LOT of videos to choose from. As I sat on my couch and YouTubed it up, I must admit found it a little ironic that I was spending a decent amount of time watching YouTube videos…in an effort to learn how to get more done, to stop wasting time, and make the most of my life.

But they DO say you have to spend money to make money, SO I rationalized you might have to spend time to make time.

Or at least I had to spend time – but now if YOU are looking to get some tips and inspiration to start your year…without feeling that couch potato guilt…here is a short list of some of my favorites from the search.

I picked out videos that are short with actionable steps and/or a strong, inspiring message. Now you can cut to the chase and get a strong dose of positive New Year’s vibes in about 40 minutes with these five inspirational YouTube videos!

Derivative of an image by Valentin J-W from Pixabay

Most Likely to Stop You From Hitting Snooze: Mel Robbins: Why hitting “snooze” ruins your brain

I ended up watching a couple of helpful videos by Mel Robbins in my YouTube binge, but here’s a quick one to get this party started. Robbins talks about the brain science about why we need to wake up when our alarm goes off the first time, and introduces her “5-4-3-2-1” technique for getting out of bed. (I’ve only tried it once, but so far so good! Check out some of her other videos too to find out more about her 5 second rule and other ways it can be applied).

Most Likely to Help You Make the Most of Your Mornings: 10 Morning Habits Geniuses Use To Jump Start Their Brain | Jim Kwik

This short video packs a punch and got me excited about making more of an effort to solidify a healthy morning routine in 2021.

Most Likely to Build a Couple of Extra Hours into Your Week: How To Multiply Your Time | Rory Vaden

In this TEDx Talk, Rory Vaden makes some interesting points about prioritizing our tasks. For me, the reminders to automate and delegate tasks were big.

Most Likely to Get You to Look for Half-Full Glasses: Getting stuck in the negatives (and how to get unstuck) | Alison Ledgerwood

In her TEDx Talk, Alison Ledgerwood shares her interesting research about negativity and positivity. It turns out there’s a reason that a negative comment can do so much damage. My takeaway was to watch my negativity this year and try harder to focus on positivity and gratitude, whether I’m talking to a student, a family member, a colleague, or even myself.

Most Likely to Light a Little Fire in Your Teacher Heart as We Start 2021: Motivational Speaker for Teachers | Professional Development | Jeremy Anderson

Not quite ready to go back from Christmas break? In a short clip of a speech he delivered to 1,400 teachers, Jeremy Anderson hits you in the feels, reminds you about why you became a teacher, gets you pumped and jacked to go back to school after New Year’s.

I hope those vids gave you some thoughts and ideas to get you going in the New Year! Happy 2021 from So Blessed to Be a Teacher. 😁

_{Disclosure: The banner below is an affiliate link. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive compensation at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support of my blog!}

Back to School with a Boom!

It’s probably safe to say there has never been a wackier back-to-school season. With COVID-19 forcing schools to hop back and forth between different possible scenarios for how school will look this year, so much is still up in the air for everyone.

As it stands, it sounds like I will be teaching in-person, but going into the classrooms instead of having students visit me in the library. But who knows when we’ll turn on a dime and enact either the hybrid or virtual learning backup plan?

I recently started exploring Boom Learning℠, and with all the uncertainty surrounding the new school year, I’m excited about the possibilities it provides. If you’ve never used it before, Boom Learning℠ is a platform on which students can complete interactive digital task cards. I’m excited to get my students started with this platform because it seems like it will be super easy to transition from using Boom Cards™ for in-person learning to using them as a part of virtual learning and back and forth as needed.

The Basics of Boom Cards™

Your students must be connected to the internet for Boom Cards™ to work.
They’re interactive task cards, so your students will be clicking on correct answers, dragging and dropping, or typing in responses on each card.
They cover many disciplines – from speech therapy to algebra to library skills.
They are designed by “teacher-authors,” just like the products on TpT.
They are self-checking and provide instant feedback (including a cheery little “Ding” sound when you get an answer correct. Click here to try a deck and enjoy the “Ding” for yourself!).
You as the teacher can view the data it collects when a student completes a deck of Boom Cards™ to gauge mastery.
The membership fees for teachers range from $0 to $35 a year, depending on what features you wish to use and how many students you have.
In addition to your membership fees, you can purchase additional “points” that can be used to buy more Boom decks in addition to the free ones.

Here’s an example of what you might see on a Boom Card™! This is a Boom Card™ I created to allow students to practice ABC order. **Clipart on this card courtesy of MyClipArtStore | http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Myclipartstore** and TQ Colours | https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Tq-Colours

What I Love About Boom Learning℠ So Far

You can open an account for free. I love to try before I buy!
I purchased the Ultimate plan for $35, which didn’t seem bad at all for a year’s subscription to an educational website. With this plan I have access to the entire library of free decks and am able to create as many decks as I want for up to 200 students.
There are a lot of decks available for free, and any that need to be purchased seem like a good investment since they can be used over and over again.
If you use free or for-purchase decks, Boom Cards™ are no-prep.
But, if you want to create a customized deck for your students, Boom provides you with that option as well. (And making decks is really fun!)
In addition to buying decks with points through the Boom Learning℠ website, you can also purchase them on TpT (where I hang out a lot anyway…and where I can use TpT giftcards).

Make Room for Boom

Since you can open a basic account for free, why not give it a go? I think we can all agree that the more tools we have in our teacher toolbox as we head into this school year, the better!

Here are a couple of simple FREE decks I have designed…feel free to give Boom a try with one of these freebie decks!

Click above to try out a FREE deck for the elementary school library!

Click above to try out a FREE deck for practicing addition facts!

You can also check out the whole collection of free and paid Boom decks I’ve designed here:

OR take a peek at them in my TpT store right here…where they are all ON SALE until 11:59 PM ET on August 6, 2020. Wahoo!

Wacky Times! (and a freebie or two or three!)

Hi friends! I hope you are all doing all right during this crazy time. My school was among many that shut down suddenly and unexpectedly on the 13th of March, for a minimum of three weeks, in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, so, like many of you, I’m getting used to a new way of living.

Now, two days before the 13th, aka a million years ago, on Wednesday, March 11th, I was all super excited because my Teachers Pay Teachers store had reached 500 followers. I was planning a little celebration involving a new freebie, a sale, and maybe even a dance party, wahoo! That Wednesday, ideas bopped around happily in the little TpT section of my brain. But by Friday, the TpT part went into a temporary hibernation as I attempted to process the strange, new information that COVID-19 was so serious that my school closed. Oh, and not just mine, but basically all of them, and the entire world. Heh?

So I took a few days to adjust to this new lifestyle, and eventually decided I still want there to be a little celebration in the So Blessed to Be a Teacher world, because celebrations are happy and we all need happy right now. So, I modified my go-forward plan for how to celebrate my 500 followers. Here’s what I came up with.

1. I made the freebie that was bopping around my imagination on March 11. (It turned out cute, if I do say so myself! You can download it here). But it’s a poster to decorate your library, and, well, you probably aren’t there right now. So I decided that when you download it, you guys might feel the level of joy you’d get if you were receiving a free bucket of rock salt in July.

2. I made two MORE little freebies that can be used on Google Classroom. It was my first attempt at designing resources with distance learning in mind. I would love if you could try them out and tell me what you think! (They are available for FREE here and here).

THEN

3. I set up a GIVEAWAY for my 500 Teachers Pay Teachers followers! (Because giveaways are fun no matter what!) One lucky follower of my store will win a $10 gift card to Teachers Pay Teachers. If you follow me on TpT, check your Teachers Pay Teachers inbox for the link to enter the giveaway. (Don’t follow me yet but want to start? Click here to start following me on TpT, and then send me an email or use the contact link above to tell me your follower number, and I’ll send you the link to enter! The winner will be chosen at 12 AM Eastern Time on March 27, 2020.) (**UPDATED 03/27/20: Congratulations to Julieann, the giveaway winner! Be sure to follow my Teachers Pay Teachers store so you will hear about sales, new products, and my next GIVEAWAY!)

AND

4. I set everything in my TpT store to go on sale from March 22, 2020 to March 25, 2020. Even though school is closed for now, sales are always fun, and some teachers actually have a little time browse around on TpT, so I figured, why not? In the spirit of my last blog post, I am going to donate 50% of profits during my sale to Save the Children, this time to help out with all the needs that are arising due to COVID-19, so it’s actually a great time to stock up on resources that you can use when we are past this wacky period of time! (**UPDATED 03/27/20: Thanks so much to those who made purchases during my sale! Your purchases made it possible for me to make a donation to Save the Children! Yeah!)

AND FINALLY

5. The dance party is on, but, COVID-19 distance learning style. Right now, wherever you are, bust a move!

May God bless you guys during this strange-but-true time we are living in. Stay well and keep taking it day by day!

Giving Back in 2020!

Hey guys! Happy 2020! (Well, Happy First So Blessed to Be a Teacher Blog Post of 2020, anyway! I’m a little late on the Happy New Year wishes!)

I try to be realistic(ish) with my New Year’s resolutions, so I did NOT resolve to blog daily. (I know myself better than that!)

But I DID resolve to do something new with my blog this year. So here’s the scoop.

As you can tell by the name of this blog, I feel SO blessed to be a teacher. My work is challenging, fulfilling, and fun. And now, on top of the career I love, through TpT and my blog, I am able to design and share resources with teachers around the world…which is also challenging, fulfilling, and fun!

When I reflect on the abundance of blessings God has given me, I feel like it’s time to give back in a more intentional way this year. So here’s my new plan. Occasionally throughout 2020, I’m going to plan special days in which I donate a percentage of my TpT store proceeds to charity. I’ll let you all know beforehand by writing a blog post the day before and sharing where the money will be going!

I’m starting off this new plan TOMORROW, JANUARY 25, 2020, by donating 50% of my profits from sales that day to Save the Children’s emergency fund in support of the children who were affected by the bushfires in Australia. I’m super excited because, thanks to a #TpTGivesBack initiative, Teachers Pay Teachers is going to match my donation (and the donations of all teacher-authors who participate!) up to a total of $10,000.

So, if you’ve been thinking about checking out my store or have one of my products on your wish list, tomorrow is an awesome time to make a purchase!

Let’s work together to share our blessings and change the world in 2020!

Back-to-School Fun!

I have some exciting and fun facts to share today as we move toward “Back-to-School” time!

Exciting and fun fact #1: It’s August!

Exciting and fun fact #2: It’s my blog’s birthday today! Wahoo! My little bloggie is one year old!

Exciting and fun fact #3: It’s the Teachers Pay Teachers Sitewide Sale! Two days only – the sale will end August 2, 2018, at 11:59 EST, to be quite exact. My store and many others are chock full of deals! Check it out before it’s over! (Update 08/03/2018: Well, the sale is over. But please feel free to visit my TpT store any day!) 🙂

Exciting and fun fact #4: I’m running a back-t0-school giveaway on Instagram! I have teamed up with six other ladies for a gift card giveaway! There will three winners – but hurry! If you want to enter, you need to do so by Friday, August 3, 2018 at 3:00 EST! (Update 08/04/2018: Congratulations to the winners of this giveaway! Please feel free to follow me on Instagram so you don’t miss any future giveaways!) 🙂

I guess that’s enough excitement for one day! See you soon!

A New Life for Used Books

I love working in a school library, but one of the parts of my job I have a tough time with is saying “thanks, but no thanks” to some of the donations that come in. I think most teachers and librarians LOVE books, and even when you’ve already got two copies of one particular Clifford book, it’s hard to say “no” to a third. I mean, it’s a book! It needs a reader, and for a reader to find it, it needs to live in a library, right?

As a result, in my early years at my job, I collected quite a mountain of donations that I thought I would maybe, someday, possibly catalog…but obviously that extra time never presented itself and many of the donated books just sat there, waiting and lonely.

Then, one day, these books got a new chance at life when I heard about a fabulous organization that can turn used books into a library for people who may never have had one before. The African Library Project builds libraries in different African countries and fills them with books collected through book drives held around the United States. By working with this organization, my school was able to build a school library in Ghana.

Image courtesy of the African Library Project

Spreading Literacy, One Book Drive at a Time

According to their website, since Chris Bradshaw began the African Library Project in 2005, they have helped to build 2384 libraries in the countries of Kenya, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Malawi, Swaziland, Botswana, Nigeria, Lesotho, Cameroon, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Ghana (which is where the books from my school now live!). In order to help the African Library Project start an African library, a U.S. school (or organization, sports team, Scout troop, family, or awesome person) must collect at least 1000 books and $500 to ship the books. The U.S. groups and schools are paired with a site in Africa, which is neat because the U.S. groups will know exactly where their donations are going.

When I heard about the ALP and signed up to do a book drive at my school, the mountain of extra donations to my school library became our book drive’s very first donation. In a few weeks’ time, thanks to more book donations from students and volunteers, we had collected way more than the required 1000 books. It was then time to sort through the books to identify books that would be a good fit for our Ghanaian partner school, since the ALP has guidelines about what types of books are best to send. We found 1000 good ones and donated the others to other charities that collect books.

Since I work at a Catholic school where the students wear uniforms, a couple of “dress down days” was all it took to raise the $500 needed for shipping the books. The ALP has a pretty cool and cost-effective way of getting the books to Africa. Each book drive is packed up by the U.S. school or organization and mailed USPS to a warehouse in Louisiana. Then, a whole bunch of book drives from all over the nation are shipped by boat to Africa. It usually takes about $250 to mail 1000 books to Louisiana (when we did our book drive, we hit that figure almost on the nose), and then the ALP asks the folks behind each book drive to send another $250 check directly to the ALP, which, together with the money from other book drives, funds the boat trip to Africa.

Building Awareness and Library Skills While Building a Library

It obviously felt good to know that my lonely donations were going to be loved by children who may not have had an opportunity to love too many books before. But I wanted to make sure that my students benefited from this project, too, so I tried to help raise my students’ awareness and give them a chance to use their research skills during our book drive.

I had my seventh and eighth grade students use library resources to do some research about the country of Ghana, and then they wrote and illustrated picture books to share what they had learned with my younger students. I also spoke to all my classes about libraries around the world, explained that access to books is limited in some parts of the world, and tried to help my students realize how blessed they are that they are learning to read and that they have access to information. (I mean, really!?! How amazing is it that most Americans have access to THOUSANDS of books at their local public library, not to mention all the reading material online! What a blessing that we take for granted so often!)

Overall, my experience with the African Library Project was wonderful, and it was a great feeling to know that my school was a little part of this amazing project that is spreading literacy. Since we ran our book drive in 2013, other teachers in my school have held book drives to support other great organizations, so I haven’t been able to get a second ALP book drive together at school, but it is definitely something I would like to do again! There is something so special about the idea of one school helping another and one library getting another one started.

How awesome is it to think that somewhere in Ghana, that extra copy of a Clifford book that started out in a box in my library is helping to bring the joy of reading to a child?!

For more information or to start your own book drive, please visit the African Library Project’s website.

Copyright Resources for Teachers and Librarians

This image is a derivative of a CC0 image courtesy of StartupStockPhotos on pixabay

The internet is overflowing with information and media. There is just SO much content out there, and much of it is just a few clicks away! As someone who remembers looking at documents on those old microform machines for my own school assignments, I am, frankly, a little jealous of today’s students. (However, I did get to say the word “microfiche” from time to time, and our students don’t, and it’s a pretty fun word to say. So there.)

The downside to so much information that is easy to access and free? It’s easy to access and free, so kids can forget that it does not belong to them. Just because you CAN copy and paste and download words, pictures, songs, and videos from the internet in less than 5 seconds doesn’t mean you should. And if you do, it does not mean they are YOURS.

On the other hand, all those words, pictures, songs, and videos ARE there to be read, seen, heard, and accessed, and some of them, such as those in the public domain, are even available for almost any type of use. As teachers and librarians, we want our kids to find and use information, and although we don’t want them to misuse others’ creations, we certainly don’t want them to be afraid of finding and using media and information. We want to help our students learn to synthesize information and create new content, all while being respectful of others who have also created content.

With the complex nuances of copyright law and the ever-changing nature of technology, helping kids with all that can be a daunting task. But, I figured I’d take a stab at helping you help them!

This image is a derivative of a CC0 image courtesy of rawpixel on pixabay

Below, you’ll find links to some resources you can use to help your students get on the right track when it comes to copyright issues.

Disclaimer: I am NOT an attorney, so I cannot attest to the accuracy and validity of any information that can be found on any of the websites/resources I’ve linked to below! At the time this post was published, these websites and resources provided information that, based on my experience as an educator, may be useful to teachers, librarians, and students.

Copyright and Creative Commons Resources for Educators

Common Sense Education – The Common Sense Education organization has created several fabulous videos and lesson plans that can help you teach your students about copyright, such as this Copyrights and Wrongs lesson – all available for free! That particular lesson was designed for high school students, but it could be adapted for middle schoolers, and there are other lessons for younger students on the site as well. (You do need to create an account to access these lessons, but it’s easy and free, and there is bunch of other cool digital citizenship stuff there too that you might be able to use!)
Copyright Kids – Copyrightkids.org, created by the Copyright Society of the USA, is a kid-friendly site that kids can use to explore basic information about copyright law. In the past, I have asked students to visit the site to learn some background info on copyright and then take the Copyright Challenge. I would love to see the site make some updates, since I haven’t noticed any changes in the 5+ years I have been using it, but overall there seems to be a lot of useful information that kids are able to understand.
Taking the Mystery Out of Copyright – This resource, available on the Library of Congress website, shares great info on copyright geared for children, including an interesting (well…interesting for geeks like me) timeline of the history of copyright.
Copyright Term and Public Domain in the United States – Cornell University – When your students already have a basic understanding of what “public domain” is, this chart by Cornell University’s Copyright Information Center can be used to help students determine whether works are part of the public domain.
CC0 image, courtesy of JaneMarySnyder on Pixabay
Teaching Copyright – TeachingCopyright.org is a project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and it provides teachers with five lesson plans and other resources that you can use to educate your students about copyright.
Creative Commons – Hit up CreativeCommons.org to give your students the basics on Creative Commons right from the source. I enjoy this flow chart available there that breaks down the different types of Creative Commons licenses.
Can I Use That? A Guide to Creative Commons – This resource by Gail Desler clarifies questions you and your students might have about use of images with Creative Commons licenses. It’s very thorough, and as you read it, you’ll find links to many other fantastic resources that will add to your understanding of copyright.
Finding Copyright-Friendly Photos for the Google Images Generation – This article by Kathy Schrock can be found in eSchool News, and it’s an awesome introduction to helping kids find photos to use in their school projects. It has a great overview of Creative Commons and also provides links to some sites that have free images that students can use in their schoolwork. (If you are still looking for more lessons and resources related to Creative Commons and copyright, Kathy Schrock has compiled a monster list of these types of resources on her website, Kathy Schrock’s Guide to Everything.)

I hope all those links will help you get started in the tricky task of teaching kids about copyright!

(By the way, the photos used in this post are thanks to the generous photographers out there who upload their photos with a CC0 mark onto pixabay.com – a website that just so happens to be another great place to visit when discussing copyright and Creative Commons!)