Consulting with other teachers is important in making our products better.

This week’s TPT Back to School Challenge couldn’t have come at a better time.  The theme is customer care.  I know from my time on TPT I can tell the teacher authors really care.  We all take a lot of pride in our work.  We want the materials to fit the needs of students and teachers.

I have been fortunate to have very good feedback on TPT.  My rating has been a 4.  I knew at some point I would get poor feedback.  This past week I put up a new product.  I listed it as new, but it really is an update.  It had a 3.8 rating.  I could tell it needed tweaking.  I listed it new because I updated it a lot and changed the grade level.  Within a couple of hours I sold one.  I thought that was great, but by morning the buyer had written a poor comment.  Crushed!  The last line said, “It is just ok.”  I responded to the comment and explained the product.  I asked if it printed correctly.  I hope I responded fairly.

 I love this activity.  I have done this activity for 15 years.  I actually got my first teaching job by doing part of the activity in the final interview.  The best part was watching the teachers and administrators “playing" with the drops of water on wax paper.”  I think it was a nice break from their long day.  I so wished this teacher had tried the activity with the students first. 

 

After participating in the product swap I decided I would get other teachers to critique my work.  We all can improve.  I posted on the TPT Facebook Science Tribe.  Two wonderful teachers agreed to look over my product.  I am so happy I did this.  It is always important to get others opinions.  Sometimes we teach in our bubble and forget to consult with others.  There are so many fantastic teachers out there.  I know my experiments on the back of my hand. When turning them into products I need to remember every little detail.  Having others look over my products helps find anything I may have missed. 

I updated my product. I liked it before, but it is even better now.  I am hoping the rating does not affect the sales.  It truly is a wonderful science concept.  I hope buyers will see that I responded to the comment and that I took the time to make it better.  I am passionate about hands-on science in the elementary classroom.  I want my products to assist teachers in doing that.

Things I did to my product were

 

 

Thank you so much to Renee Heinrich from The Science School Yard and Angela Willyerd.  Please be sure to check out their stores.  I know that I will learn from this experience and my teaching will be better for it.  I also know I can not please everyone, but I will try to provide the best service I can.