It Hurts to Give

I am the first to admit that I do not tithe the way I should. You are supposed to tithe 10% of your income and the thought of doing that makes me cringe. It would be like 2 car payments if we tithed the amount my husband and I both bring in each month. We feel like we are barely making ends meet now, even though we make way more than most households, I am sure.

Yet, we give every month. It is not what we should give, and every month I try to give a little more and a little more. We are not where we should be but we are trying. I am so glad that God is not just "trying". I am so glad that He doesn't just give me 10%. I am so glad that He gives me 100%, and I am so very unworthy.

What I have found is that when I tithe like I should, amazing things happen. Amazing things are not the reason why you should tithe, but they sure make you see how much God loves you and they serve as a witness to others.

My husband is our financial GURU. He is the one who determines what we can give each month. I have even seen the clenching of his jaw when I tithe a little more than he thinks we can afford. I am glad he is the way he is otherwise we would be in some major trouble in these uncertain economic times.

With that said, I wanted to share a recent tithing experience. Anyone following my blog, knows that I have started a new business venture. I am selling the items I create for my classroom on the site Teachers Pay Teachers.  I have my own Tricks of the Trade store on the site and have started another blog called Tricks of the Teaching Trade.

I have done really well with this  business. As of September 4, I had earned about $875. I was feeling really good about myself until I saw in a TpT newsletter that one seller had earned $100,000 in the three months of June-August. 100,000!! I started looking at what I could do to improve sales. I "Pinned" my products, posted on Facebook, shared on Google +, and Tweeted nonstop. Then it hit me...I had not once said a prayer asking for God's blessing!

So I stopped right then and prayed. I prayed that God would bless my business, help teachers find my products helpful in teaching, and grant me the creativeness to create quality products. I then heard God speak...well, He sounded a lot like me...but I still know it was Him. He asked, "Have you tithed any of the money you have earned?"

So at church that Wednesday night, I did one last check of my total sales and tithed exactly 10% of my earnings so far. When I told my husband about it later, I got a very skeptical look complete with some intense jaw clenching.

Up to that point, it had been 7 months since I started selling and I had earned a total of $900 in those 7 months. That averages out to about $130 a month. The night I told my husband, I prayed that God would help me prove to  my husband that I wasn't crazy.

It is now almost 2 weeks later, and my total sales are at 1,315! That is an increase of almost $500 in just 2 weeks. Not months...WEEKS! In fact, September has been a banner month for my little business so far bringing in $440 and there are still 2 more weeks left.

So yes, sometimes It Hurts to Give. Yes, you can always think of somewhere else that money needs to go. Yes, there will never be enough money. But as much as It Hurts to Give, it feel 10,000 times better to give to God. No you should not tithe because you hope you will gain financially. You should tithe because God is good. He is good in all things and in all things He is good.

Embracing My Talents

I have been teaching for over 12 years. And during those 12 years I have tried everything to get out of it. There has got to be something better to do. Something that can make more money, get more respect, and have more days off! Alas, I have yet to find that "something".

What I have found is that I am quite good at teaching. I don't mean to sound cocky, but I seemed to have a knack for not only teaching but getting kids to learn. I guess it is because I do whatever I can to entertain them because when they are entertained they are engaged and when they are engaged they are enlivened and when they are enlivened they are encourage to perform to their utmost potential.

So I am finished trying to find other things to do. I will no longer try to get out of teaching to write or blog or teach Zumba or paint or opening my own store or ...whatever else I thought could get me more money, more respect, and more days off.

I am Embracing My Talents. I am going to start blogging about teaching and would love you to follow Tricks of the Trade to follow this part of my crazy, insane, but most of the time satisfying life. And if this blogging leads to something more...well...(hopefully) we will cross that bridge when we get there!

Number Forms

My teaching style received a major revamp a few years ago when I went through Singapore Math training. Not only did the way I teach math change, but so did the way I thought about math. These principles of understanding the why in numbers does astonishing things to students mathematical minds.

One of the fundamental concepts that students in grades 2-4 must understand is that of Number Forms. Here is my 4 day standard-based unit on PowerPoint that includes songs, interactive lessons, use of manipulatives, videos... Check it out!
                                   

Learning Place Value

I don't normally blog about teaching. In fact most of my career has been spent trying to find something else to do that makes more money and makes less stress and earns more respect.

But as I have come into my own over the last 12 years, I have come to find the enjoyment in teaching. And that enjoyment comes from engaging and encouraging the children that I love...the children that I consider my own.

I have also become quite creative and resourceful, especially with PowerPoint presentations and songs. And when I graduated recently with my Educational Specialist degree in Instructional Technology and Design, it was with a thorough understanding of the importance of incorporating technology into student learning.

I now put every unit I teach into a 3-5 day PowerPoint unit complete with songs, videos, games, interactive manipulatives, proven teaching strategies, test practice and tons of graphics and animations.

My husband has been on me for a long time about trying to make money off of my creativeness. I have started so many books about everything from teaching to couponing to reasons for hating teaching...all of which sit on my computer unfinished. (My ADD tends to really get in the way sometimes.)

So when I discovered TeachersPayTeachers I thought I would try it out. Why not get paid for all of this hard work?

I posted my first PowerPoint presentation yesterday for free, and now I am just waiting to see if it will get enough hits to be worth paying the $59.99 it costs for a membership.

Learning about and understanding Place Value is the most important concept students can accomplish in elementary school. Everything revolves around it. The PowerPoint is more than just a presentation. It is a 4 day standards based unit that incorporates Singapore Math teaching strategies while providing concrete examples with interactive manipulatives and standardized test practice.
Here is a little preview. To see and download the whole unit on PowerPoint please visit my TPT store.