
- building a community
- vast amount of knowledge available
- teachers, teachers, teachers,
- educational companies
- conferences
- sense of pride
I have the privilege to feel personally connected to each of you through our shared commonality, teaching. We get each other. We understand the good, bad and ugly.
The side readers of Penniless Teacher fans do not see is the amazing companies I communicate with on a constant basis. These companies WANT to connect with YOU, the classroom teacher, the end user of their products! These same companies send me products to test, review and giveaway. I mean LOTS of products!
Attending conferences puts a face to Penniless Teacher. Developing relationships with companies of products you use in your classroom everyday is a win, win, win situation. In this win, win, win scenario, I have developed an ENORMOUS problem. My garage is closing in on me. Since I’m no longer in the classroom, I have little to no use for the mounds of products. I know, I can hear you all now…..me, me, me…send it to me! Another problem—shipping is expensive!
Then it hit me….LOCAL!!!! I have a fantastic relationship with the teachers at the school my niece and nephew attend. Hold an event for the teachers, after all, that is what Penniless Teacher is all about…free (or close) for teachers!
Let the brainstorming begin. My sister is actually the person with the relationship with the teachers because she is there every day (and will be the co-president of the PTO next year). We kept that teaching gene in our family, Dad was a teacher and both my sister and I were teachers.
We’re open for suggestions.
What kind of event would you like to attend as a classroom teacher?
I’m hoping I understand the question….I think I would host an event where each of the items was showcased with cards that ask, “how would you use this item?” Teachers would and answer & fill out the card with their name if they think they could/would use it. Then, the names of those teachers would be put into a raffle and drawn later. When announced, it could also be noted how the winning teacher plans to use the product. It would give other teachers ideas AND promote the product. The best part is, the winning teacher would be getting something he or she already has plans to use (instead of a random giveaway where you sometimes get things you won’t use anyway.)