Welcome! I know a business needs a permanent home (since social media tends to behave more eratically), and a website/blog is the next step in my journey as a Teachers Pay Teachers author. I was hesitant to start an Instagram account or a blog because I just overthink what others think of me. Hence the title of this post, Insecure Teacherpreneur! It’s cute and it rhymes, but it’s probably not the best tagline for selling products! Yet, here we are.

I’m Clare! I’m a middle school social studies teacher, and 8th graders are my absolute favorite. I absolutely love kids who are overflowing with sarcasm and think they’re grown. I’ve taught in New Orleans, Houston, and Atlanta. I currently reside in Atlanta, and I hope to be hired as a social studies academic coach at my most recent middle school. I have an Ed.S. in Social Studies Curriculum and Instruction, and I’d really like to use it to help other teachers!

Then there’s the Teachers Pay Teachers store. That has been quite the journey. Like most TpT authors, I thought my own work was quality enough to make a little extra money from it, and I uploaded my first product in the Fall of 2018. I didn’t pay my store much attention (and of course, this meant I made absolutely no money) until the Fall of 2019 when I was home and pregnant. I was finishing my degree and took a year off of teaching (more on that in another post). I found Becca Davis’ YouTube channel, and quickly went to work making more products, better cover photos, and other marketing changes. But most importantly, I had time to devote to the sotre! And being a middle school social studies author means each product took at least a week. I was learning the TPT ropes AND trying to make high quality history lessons. Time was exactly what I needed.

Then I had a baby, and as you can imagine, TPT fell way down my list of proirities.

But I noticed that my best products still sold really well even while I was doing other things. So last summer (2020), I made a committment to my store. I also found Alexandra Baxter (Terrific Selling Tactics) and took in all the information I could. (I DID NOT realize Pinterest was so important!) Now that I finally have a handle on the basics and I am making “side hustle money,” I can focus on new parts of this business like having long-form content (this blog) and maybe a social media presence (@history_with_mrs_g)!

I feel weird! I feel insecure about putting thoughts out there about teaching, history curriculum, TPT adventures…because there are so many people out there who already do this so well. Do I fit into the space? I think I do, and this blog will take you on that journey with me!

And if you’re a social studies teacher who landed here in hopes of finding products and didn’t need my life story, that’s here too 🙂