Why I Made My Etsy Shop

If you follow my Instagram page, you’ve probably noticed that I have been posting a lot of new products on my Etsy shop. Almost every other week I have a new item available.

The thing is, this year I probably have the best group of students I’ve ever had while teaching. I LOVE my students. I have so many wonderful kiddos and have developed so many meaningful relationships with them as both a teacher and a coach. I genuinely look forward to talking with my students and attempting to convince them that science is the coolest thing ever.

And yet, this year has been a bear. Let me give you a small insight into the challenges of being a teacher.

First and foremost, my job is to create a safe space where students, aka teenagers, feel protected and cared for. In a high school setting, that in and of itself is a feat.

Second, I have a class that has a state test that they are required to pass. So I have to really teach the standards. Whether I agree with them or not.

Next, I teach at a Title I school. Roughly 85% of my school qualifies for free or reduced lunch. To put that into perspective, to qualify for free lunch, a family of four would have to make less than a combined total of $34,060 a year. I teach in a rural community where education is often taken for granted. The majority of my students do not have computers or Wi-Fi at home, so most of them basically didn’t learn or do any work during the months that schools were shut down.

All of that, in and of itself, is quite the challenge. A challenge that I usually enjoy, but enter in a pandemic.

Imagine a kid tests positive for COVID. Every student who sits near this student in all 6 periods will quarantined. Imagine an athlete tests positive, the entire team is quarantined. I have had students who have been quarantined three times. That’s 6 weeks of school missed. Most of these students don’t do a lick of work while they are gone, even though I prepare packets, message them on TEAMS, and plan for their work upon return.

On top of that, it feels like every week I am getting new students who are transferring from remote learning. Many of these students were “enrolled” remotely but didn’t actually attend class or do any of their work. I have one student, for example, who recently enrolled in traditional brick and mortar school, but only attended two days of class during the first 5 months of school. I have many examples of similar situations. Put simply, for the majority of students, learning virtually or remotely is less than ideal.

Through all of this, teachers are still expected to teach like “normal.” We still have a state test and students still need to pass.

This pandemic affects kids in poverty drastically more than the average kid. For some of my students, when they aren’t at school, they don’t get to eat. When they aren’t at school, they don’t learn. When they aren’t at school, who knows the conditions that they live in and how it affects their mental health.

So yes, this year has been hard.

Enter my blog and Etsy shop. I daydream about my shop and my products. I am constantly thinking of new product ideas, how to improve my shop, how to expand it.

I honestly don’t know if I can teach another year. Mostly because next year, I will be teaching in a new state, at a new school, with new state standards, a new boss, and new students.

On top of that, moving to a different state usually requires a new application and test to earn an in-state credential.

If I were staying put, I would push through this year and continue teaching because I am connected at my current school. But as a military spouse that moves every 2-3 years, it is so hard to put down roots.

In the 5 years I have been a teacher, I have had to take a test every year to maintain my credential. I am currently certified to teach 6-12 science in Texas, physics and chemistry in California, and biology and chemistry in Florida. I am qualified in one location, but as soon as I move to a new state, I am suddenly unqualified.

Being an Etsy shop owner, I don’t have to “restart.” I can continue working on the same projects, producing the same products, and growing my brand that I’ve already started. You have no idea how nice that sounds.

Will I teach next year? Probably. I think I would just miss it too much.

Do I daydream of the day where my Etsy shop is sufficient to be a full-time job? 100% yes.

The thing is, it takes a while to grow your business. My teaching job is currently paying for a lot of the initial investment in my Etsy shop. While I am proud of the progress my shop has made, I haven’t made a big profit. The saying “you have to spend money to make money” is very true. I am working on expanding my shop so that I can start to work with boutique shops in our new location or even farmer’s markets and other small venues.

All in all, here is how I feel.

I love teaching. I love my students. I will finish this year and I will finish it strong, even if I decide not to teach next year.

I will continue to grow my shop. And we will see what happens. In the meantime, thank you for following along. Thank you for supporting my shop. And thank you for supporting me.

XOXO

Alaina