Back to School by Christine DePetrillo

It's Labor Day and I've been back to laboring in the classroom for about a week now.  Funny how in the middle of July I can't even picture myself sharing office space with twenty-five small humans, but after a few days back at it, it's like I never left.

Sure, it's a new set of students with a new medley of needs and talents, but the essence of the job doesn't change.

Unless you dig deep and make it change.

That's my goal this year. This is my nineteenth year teaching and I've been growing ever more dissatisfied with what the profession has become. When I think back to when I first started, I remember all the... what's the word?

Umm... rhymes with sun...

Generally brings smiles...

Leads to true learning...

Oh! I remember! The word is FUN!

We used to embark upon learning adventures that stimulated our minds and made the days pass quickly. Sometimes too quickly! No one was over-stressed. No one was anxious. No one was moving at warp speed because there was just too damn much to cover in 180 days.

And math... oh, sweet, math used to be such a delight to teach because 2 x 2 always equaled 4 and you didn't have to show you knew that six different ways with sketches and charts and essays and Google slideshows and puppets. Now I look at math instruction and wonder where it all got off track. I used to get fifth graders who could tell you their multiplication facts faster than they could tell you their names. Now they stare at the ceiling as their fingers spring into action to COUNT by seven, eight times, to get fifty-six.

Half the time they don't even get fifty-six!

Ugh.

Anyway, this year I've vowed to get back to my original teaching philosophies. The ones that used to inspire children to do well, have confidence without being a snob, and be generally nice people. I've read a few professional books over the summer, all of which have talked about growth mindset. I've also encountered quite a few mentions of helping students find their genius.

"Find your genius."

Yes, that's become our fifth grade motto for this year, because as the great Jane Goodall said, "Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference." If we help students find what they are good at, what they are passionate about, what makes them truly happy, we aren't only doing them an incredible service, we are also creating potential world leaders.

And I think we can all agree that we are in desperate (like apocalyptic-level) need of that.

I want to be chilling on my couch, watching the news, and hear stories of people doing fabulous things to make this blue marble a better place. I want to know some of those people. I want to have had a hand in raising those people.

I want to teach the future's superheroes.

So that's what I'm going to do.

Are students back to school where you live? What are your hopes for these young minds?

Toodles,
Chris
Go check out my books at www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com. I dare you.
 

Learning by Christine DePetrillo

Last year was my most prosperous writing year to date. I’ve been doing this author “thing” for over fifteen years and finally have some momentum going. I can’t call it a hobby anymore. It’s not just something I do for the fun of it, although I do have a blast most times. It’s gotten to be serious business these days.  

How did this shift come about?

I spent money. Yeah, I spent money on writing. Money beyond an editor and a cover artist. Money on advertising and a small street team. It was money well spent too.

In February of 2016, I took the plunge and paid what I considered an exorbitant amount to have one of my books advertised in Book Bub, a reader newsletter that targets specific readers. I’d heard from more than one fellow author that they’d made back the money they’d spent on this promotional opportunity and then some.

Still I was reluctant. I was tired of always taking a hit in the writing department. I slaved away for hours and hours after the day job and wasn’t seeing any financial rewards for my labor. I couldn’t reach the readers I needed to by just blasting images and links and clever one-liners on Facebook groups that had anything to do with reading and books. I was sick of checking my Amazon rank and finding it to be large, unspeakably embarrassing numbers.

I was ready to quit altogether.

Finally, I decided to go for it as a last ditch effort to make writing a semi-respectable profession for myself. If it didn’t produce some solid sales, I was done. I doled out the cash and waited.

I wasn’t disappointed. The book I advertised was free and the downloads came pouring in. I didn’t make any money off those downloads, BUT those lovely readers were kind enough to buy the other books in the series. A lot of them. Soon I was watching my ranks go down and my earnings go up! I was delighted and refueled to continue spinning tales.

People were really reading my stuff. They were leaving reviews. They were emailing me with kind words that sent me over the moon. My characters were finally getting to meet the world. I was like a proud mom.

I supplemented this tidal wave with establishing a small, 3-person street team of fine women who had liked my books and were willing to spread the word. I promised them a monthly prize, and they agreed to talk about my books to their friends, re-post news about my books on Facebook, and other little things that have helped my sales.

For a few solid months, I saw some wonderful royalties and grew excited about the number of readers I was reaching. Sales tapered off after the summer and then I did something crazy like launch a new series that wasn’t really like the series that had garnered some fans. Things have been slow to pick up on that new series, but I’m gearing up to spend some money again and hopefully put these books in front of the right readers. I’m determined to have another great writing year.

In the meantime, I’m experimenting. I’ve been trying out different sponsored Facebook ads and have found that the ones with images with little text do the best. They are eye-catching enough to get people to notice them in their newsfeeds and make them curious enough to click for more info. I’m also dabbling with promoting the “Shop Now” button on Facebook to see if leading people directly to Amazon works better than providing several links in the ad for various retailers. And finally, I’m playing around with a review service where you pay a fee, your book becomes available to targeted, non-paid reviewers, and those reviewers promise to post reviews at various spots online. I’m figuring if I can get more reviews for my new series, then I can approach Book Bub with more confidence.

Blog tours, book trailers, and online parties never seem to work so I’ve cut those out of the cycle. I’m devoting my time and money to new ideas or things that have worked for me in the past.

In other words, I’m still learning. Over fifteen years doing this writing “thing” and there’s still so much to figure out.

What’s something new you’ve learned that works for your books? Or if you are a reader, how do you find those new books you grow to love?

Toodles,

Chris

www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com

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SECURE, Book Three, The Shielded Series, coming soon!

Plans for Change by Christine DePetrillo

It’s May 14^th and in approximately one month, THE SCHOOL YEAR WILL BE OVER!

It’ll be my 17^th year completed teaching the same grade (five) at the same school in the same room.

So, yeah. I need some change.

But not too much because I don’t really like change.

Here’s the plan. Stay in the same grade at the same school in the same room, but change up the schedule, the subjects taught, and the room configuration. For all of the 17 years I’ve been teaching, the two fifth grades in my school have always switched classes to get students ready for switching classes at the middle school and to play upon our own teaching strengths. I’ve taught Math and Writing for most of my time at this school with a side order of Social Studies.

Next year, I’ll teach ALL the subjects and keep my own homeroom all day. This has many advantages. I can have longer periods for each of the subjects because transition time doesn’t have to be factored in. If I want to extend a period to do a more in-depth study of a topic, I can because I’ll always have the same set of students. If I want to teach a topic across disciplines, I can. If I want to take a thematic approach, no problem. Project-based learning? You betcha. Time to address the emotional-social needs of students (which seem to grow in frequency and magnitude each year) will now be available because I will have a better understanding of my core students instead of trying (often unsuccessfully) to get to know twice as many students.

I’m hoping for a better connection to my class. I want to really immerse them in learning. The kind of learning where they don’t even realize that the end of the day has arrived. I feel as if this year’s students did a great deal of “clock-watching.”

Honestly? So did I.

Whether that was my fault or theirs, I'm not sure, but I don’t want that to happen next year. I’m looking for the type of teaching and learning that brings things into the 21^st century and really ignites a passion for knowledge and discovery. I’m also hoping to arrange my classroom in a more comfortable, casual learning space. Something that promotes collaboration and innovation. I already plan to swap out my individual desks for larger tables in hopes to create a more laboratory, this-is-where-we-figure-stuff-out-cooperatively setting.  

And I’m obviously psyched to be teaching Reading again. The opportunity to talk about books with students as both readers AND writers excites me! I’ll also get to dive into Science, which will be great because I’m head of our school’s Roots & Shoots Team and really would love to get more outdoor learning into the mix. And the Science Fair? Ugh. It needs a facelift in the worst way. We've already made it digital, but the students really need opportunities to think more about real-world problems they can solve or inventions they can make. Something more than which flavor of gum lasts the longest. Bleck. 

With all the plans I have for next year, one hundred eighty days probably won’t be enough time to do it all, but I’ll channel the energy into making those days the best my new fifth graders ever had. I have all summer to strategize (while I’m not writing), and we’ll see how things go.

When does the school end where you live?  

Toodles,

Chris

www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com

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