My Blogging Journey



Welcome to my little corner of the internet!

I'm Mrs. Watring, a high school Earth and Space science teacher on a mission to make education more engaging and effective by creating educational resources and sharing them with other educators and parents. This will be my 4th year teaching. As an educator in the high school I graduated from, it’s important to me that I provide fun and engaging learning experiences for my students. I also create and post educational resources for teachers and parents on my Teachers Pay Teachers Store. Here's the link: Science With Mrs. Watring TPT Store

I have a wonderful husband who works way too hard and a fearless toddler who simultaneously scares me to death and amazes me everyday. We share our house with 2 feline friends: Kali and Paige. I can honestly say there is never a dull moment around here. ♡

I am a nerd at heart who loves the Harry Potter books and movies, the Doctor Who series, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, and much more! I love to read, write, and paint in my free time as well as chase my daughter.

I started my teaching journey during the height of the pandemic. The semester that I completed my Teacher in Residence (TIR), which means I was a full-time classroom teacher while I was a student teacher, started virtually.

I was scared to death.

The thought of presenting myself virtually to students I had never met and with virtually no support from admin--let's just say in one semester, we had two different principals. I was a new teacher, relatively on my own and I was struggling. I felt like I was winging every lesson in the hopes that my students would learn something. I had no clear path to be a successful teacher. I wasn't even given any curriculum or resources, just the standards. I had to ask another teacher for a teacher's edition of an old textbook to have something to reference. This led to me creating my own educational resources that I used in my classroom.

I was lucky to be offered that position once my TIR was finished and I wish I could say that in the following 3 years, everything got so much easier and my students were learning so much!

Wrong.

Each year of teaching presented a new challenge from trying to implement new teaching strategies, to expecting our daughter, and then becoming a first-time mom. Looking back on the past 2 years of my teaching career, I wonder if I'm crazy to keep trying to be a better educator. I thought I had given everything I had to become just that, but why did I still feel like a failure? I had worked so hard to create quality educational materials, but why wasn't seeing the fruits of my labor?

The struggles of teaching came to a boiling point for me in the 2023-2024 school year. The result was I became desperate to get out of the place that I was so excited to make a difference in just a few years prior. I applied for online teaching jobs and eventually started looking for a career outside of teaching. Given my negative experiences with teaching, did I want to do that from home?

I knew that I wanted to make a career shift, but I didn't necessarily want to leave education. I still loved sharing the wonders of science with students. How was I going to make that work? Change careers but still have fun sharing science?

I created a Teachers Pay Teachers store, where I post the educational resources that I have created to make some extra cash.

Extra cash. My first 2 years with a TPT store I earned $50. 🙄

I finally realized that if I enjoy creating educational resources for students and teachers, then why can't I make that my career? I just needed to find a way to increase my audience to share my resources with.

So, now I'm here!

One of my favorite quotes to display in my classroom is "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right" by Henry Ford. As an educator, I reinforce with my students, that if they put their minds to it, they can do whatever they want to.

Well, that applies to me as well! If I want a career where I can create educational resources from home while raising my sweet daughter, then what is what I am going to work towards.

I spent a lot of time getting in my own way and part of the reason I started this blog was to help other educators who are struggling like I did. I also want to provide quality educational resources for teachers and parents of homeschooled students. I believe that students should be able to learn wherever is best for them and have access to quality resources.

Parents nationwide are pulling their children out of public school and enrolling them in virtual schools. There are pros and cons with this just like with anything else, but as a new mom, it's hard not to see the appeal of virtual school.

In discussions about homeschooling, I hear a lot of concern about homeschooled children "socializing". In today's day and age, socializing looks incredibly different than it did when I was growing up. If I wanted to socialize with my friends we did so in person or called each other on the landline. But today, almost every child has a cell phone and access to some sort of social media.

Social media.

Social media is not the same as interacting with someone in person, obviously, but it is still a way to socialize. As a parent, I want my child to be able to interact with others in various ways. So, I plan to teach her how to use social media safely and the importance of face-to-face interactions. We cannot let technology be a substitute for human interaction. That being said, there needs to be a healthy balance between in-person and virtual socialization.

That is why I am doing this. To give teachers educational resources they can use in their classrooms and to enable parents to help their children be successful academically. I want to make a difference in the education field and this is the best way that I know how to do that.
Content Overview

At first, I will be focusing solely on science content and classroom resources. However, my goal is to expand my content library with resources for all subjects as well as homeschooling resources. In addition to purchasable content, I will also have resources that you can download for free.

On this blog, you'll find a variety of content, including:

  • Classroom management tips and tricks
  • NGSS-aligned lesson plans and activities
  • Science education best practices
  • Reviews of educational resources
  • Homeschooling Resources

I believe that by sharing our experiences and knowledge, we can collectively improve the educational landscape for both teachers and students.

So, let's learn and grow together!

I invite you to subscribe to my blog, follow me on Teachers Pay Teachers here, and leave comments with your thoughts and ideas for resources you would find helpful as an educator.


This blog and my library of resources is a work in progress so check back soon to see what’s new!

Until next time!

Mrs. Watring

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