Meet Susan Powers | Teacher-Author and Instructional Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Susan Powers and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Susan, is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you?
” Sometimes you just have to jump off that bridge and build your wings on the way down.”

This was one of those sayings that I grew up with. As a child, I was encouraged by my Mum to take a leap of faith in the knowledge that whatever I needed to know or do, I could figure out along the way. There would never be a perfect time to follow through with my goals or dreams and there’d always be a thousand reasons why “now” wasnt the right time and so, with her words ringing in my head to this day, I tend to be a dreamer and a doer rather than only a dreamer. I do it scared most of the time, but I get it done.

What should our readers know about your business?
I’m an international teacher turned creator of educational resources specifically for inquiry-based teaching and learning and an instructional coach. In 2013, I came across a small platform (at the time) called Teachers Pay Teachers. As a single mother, I had been teaching in the U.S.A in Denver, and on a teacher’s salary (Denver Public Schools did not recognise my almost two decades of international teaching experience and so I began on the bottom of their payscale ) , it was a challenge to pay for the extra curricular activities for my two children. With my son eager to join the local baseball team, I needed to somehow come up with $200 to buy his kit and so, in quiet desperation, I created a few educational resources that I used with my own students, and added them to this new platform, not sure what to expect. Within a few hours, I had made $26! I was ecstatic!

I had to teach myself how to create digital resources and, more importantly, how to market them. This was like the blind leading the blind. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. However, through many trials and even more errors, I continued to improve and create and sell those resources and soon teachers from around the world began reaching out, asking questions, making requests. There was a definite need for these tools specific to the International Baccalaureate’s primary teaching community and I began a blog within that first year too, to share ideas and my strategies for implementing this pedagogical approach. The learning curve with the technology was a steep uphill-never-ending-hike and my mistakes were many. Juggling a full time job with parenting, and a growing business was no mean feat but I made it work. I’d often find myself sitting on the bleachers at weekend baseball games, grading students’ papers, creating new resources and cheering for my own kids’ all at the same time!

Fate stepped in a few years later, when I suffered a traumatic brain injury with devastating results. Unable to work, I had to resign from my teaching position and relied on friends and community for the first year of healing. Diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome, symptoms such as seizures, constant migraines, speech problems, hyper-sensitivity to noise and much more had become a common part of my day-to-day existence. I literally could not leave the house, drive or work on my computer. My creating had come to a grinding halt. But, my income still continued to dribble in through passive income as teachers from around the world continued to purchase my resources and reach out to me for advice.

After 2 years of taking time to heal, I was able to resume work on my computer and, knowing I wasnt going to be able to return to the classroom for a while, I created an online course to help guide teachers who were new to the process of inquiry-based teaching. An online marketing podcast brought me to Amy Porterfield. An online marketing guru, she gave me hope that I could actually make this work. Her course, however, cost $1500. There was no way I could have afforded that payment. I was barely making ends meet as it was. Not a chance. But she gave me a chance. I swallowed my pride and pleaded with her team to help me to find a solution and they did. I paid her in installments over the course of 12 months and, in the meantime, I followed her course to the letter and created my own digital course. It took me 7 months to create it. Remember I could only be on the computer for about an hour before my head injury forced me to stop.

My course, Essentials for Inquiry: Getting Started with Student-Led Inquiry was born in 2019 and took off amazingly. School leaders began reaching out seeking professional development for their teaching team and I gradually moved into leading workshops for international schools.

There is no doubt that many of my first attempts were extremely amatuer-ish. And I’m not embarrased to tell you that more often than not, I did it scared with my mothers’ words ringing in my ears, ” Susan, sometimes you just have to jump off that bridge and build your wings on the way down.” Some days I was flapping hard convinced I was going to plummet.

Today, I continue to create engaging educational resources to support our students as they become global thinkers and inquirers through Teachers Pay Teachers, I have the privilege of coaching teachers from all around the world through our focus groups and my online professional development course and, now, I’m leading in-person workshops with amazing educators in international schools. My business provides a full-time income that supports my travel allowing me to meet incredible educators from every corner of the world as we spread the word about the benefits of the inquiry-process of learning and how it brings the much-valued voice of our students to the forefront of their education, bringing forward a greater partnership from our global community. We are that proverbial village.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Denver is such a beautiful city!

Let’s begin this week with Larimer Square and take in the downtown area with a taste of the old buildings as a backdrop. We’d stop by Osteria Marco and sit on the patio for lunch. A perfect place to people watch, whilst sipping a glass of wine and enjoying a light Italian style lunch.

After an early morning sunrise hike along the Mesa Trail in Golden, we’d catch the W line on the light rail into Union Station. The inside of the station is worth a view, with the florists’ stall the first thing you see walking inside. We’d take a stroll up 16th street to the Civic Centre park, on our way to a museum or gallery. The park offers a fabulous juxtaposition of the old and modern architecture, telling a tale of Denver across time. Which museum should be visit? Would they prefer modern art or a story of Denver’s history? The options are all within this area.

Visiting Denver Highlands Square on 32nd and Lowell is a must. If we go on a Sunday during summer, we can catch the bustling farmers market. Walk away with a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers and a basket full of fresh produce. Stop in at the coffee shops on the street, Cork and Coffee is a great one to visit with its sheltered patio out back. Or, head on to the Pizza place on the corner. Before we leave, we would have to pop into the cheese shop and, it would be rude not to go next door to Mondo Vino and choose a bottle of wine too. To go with the cheese, of course.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The staff and community surrounding Brown International Academy in Denver were a phenomenal support as I struggled to heal my brain following a TBI. I was sent so many messages of encouragement, reminding me that what I could offer to educators and students had value. This gave me hope.

My friends and my family suffered through my early years of ” always working”. They held me together when I was broken and they reminded me that I was capable of overcoming whatever life through my way, unconditonally loving my “new normal. ” This gave me strength.

Amy Portfield, an online marketing guru, doesnt know I exist. Yet, thanks to her guidance from her podcast and her digital course, together with the empathy from her caring team, I found a way to support myself and my children through this disability that took away my career. This gave me freedom.

Our international community of IB PYP teachers. Their voice and their excitement and their enthusiasm for what we do continues to fuel my desire to keep sharing as we are united in developing lifelong lovers of learning. This brings me joy.

Website: https://www.pypteachingtools.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pypteaching/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PYPteachingtools/

Image Credits
International Sharing School, Portugal