Kirsten 0:09

This is the social studies teacher podcast, a show for busy elementary teachers looking for fun and engaging ways to easily add social studies into their classroom schedule without feeling overwhelmed or pressed for time. I'm Kirsten of the Southern teach, an educator and mom who is passionate about all things social studies. I love sharing ideas and strategies that are low prep and easy to implement. So let's dive in together.

Kirsten 0:47

Hello and happy 2025 if you're listening to this in real time, I'm so glad you are here as always. And welcome to another episode of the social studies teacher podcast. I wanted to make this episode not too content heavy. You might be catching up on podcast episodes from earlier in the fall or listening to other episodes that you're interested in, and so I wanted to keep this one a little light, because I know it is winter break right now. If you're on TPT or like to shop on TPT, you may or may not know that there are some hacks for leaving reviews like you get free credits. It's super cool. I used this method of leaving reviews as a classroom teacher to get some free resources or some nice deep discounts on future resources. So I wanted to share how you can leave feedback, not just on resources from my store, but for any resource you purchase on TPT, but if you have also purchased on my website, I will share with you a quick way you can do that. It's very simple and without further ado, let's get started.

Kirsten 2:00

Now, I did want to preface this by saying that leaving a review on Teachers Pay Teachers isn't just about giving feedback. It's a simple way to support other educators, help improve the resources you've purchased, and also it helps you earn some nice perks along the way. So I'm going to share with you some benefits of leaving reviews, how you can do it, and why it is worth your time, even if you have just five minutes.

Kirsten 2:28

Let's talk about four benefits of leaving reviews. Number one, it helps to support fellow teachers and creators. Leaving a review is a fantastic way to show appreciation for the creators behind the resources you use. TPT sellers do put a lot of time into making high quality classroom ready resources, and your feedback encourages them to keep creating. Positive reviews can help sellers know what's working and constructive feedback can inspire future improvements. The second benefit is that it builds community among teachers. Reviews on TPT create a supportive community where teachers can help each other find the best resources for their classroom. Your honest review provides insight for other teachers, considering the resource helping them make informed choices. Think of it like recommending a great book or classroom activity to a friend. I know, I am always checking the reviews, not just the stellar five star reviews, but even the four three star reviews. I want to get a full picture of what people like and may not like about the resource, and I make the best informed decision based off of that. The third benefit is that it helps you reflect on resource effectiveness. Taking a few moments to leave a review allows you to reflect on how the resource worked with your students. Did it meet your needs? How did students respond? Were they engaged? Did it align well with your curriculum goals? Reflecting on these questions can help you better evaluate resources and choose even more effective ones in the future. And another big benefit is that you can earn TPT credits toward future purchases. One of the best perks of leaving reviews on TPT is that you earn credits for each paid resource you review. These credits accumulate and can be redeemed for future purchases, giving you access to even more resources at a discount, or sometimes if you have enough credits for free. This is TPT's way of thanking you for your feedback and encouraging more community involvement.

Kirsten 4:29

All right, now let's get into the nitty gritty on how to leave a review on TPT. It is super easy now more than ever before, takes a few minutes just to leave for one product. So here's how to do it. You're going to go to my purchases. So once you've downloaded a resource and have used it, you would head over to that section of your TPT account near the top right hand corner, locate the resource. You can find the resource you'd like to review from your purchase list. The third step, leave a review. Next to the resource, you'll see an option to leave a review, and if you see something, some to the likes of too soon to review, you might have to wait 24 hours, or you may not have downloaded it yet. So you have to make sure you do download the resource, otherwise you will not be able to leave a review. But a review box will pop up and you'll see something along the lines of, have you used this resource? There's three options, no, not yet, and it will kind of kick you out. You won't be able to leave a review until you've used it. It'll be a button that says, Yes, I have used it. And then there's also near the bottom, it'll say, I no longer plan to use it, but I want to leave a review. So those are the three options. If you decide that you want to leave a review, you'll be taken to a page, and you will be able to select, what did you use the resources for? Maybe distance learning, in class learning, maybe at home with your child, and maybe for your own purposes, like room decoration or tracking progress, lesson planning. So you decide how you use it, it'll also share like information based on what you chose in the previous question, which grades did you use this resource with? If you used this primarily with students with specific needs. Select the group that reflects your students. Your overall experience. So how many stars would you rate it? 5432, or 1, and then writing about your experience, so you can easily type in what you liked or wish could be improved for that specific resource, and then you hit submit. Your review will be posted to the resource page, and you will receive TPT credits for leaving feedback on paid resources. So I also want to kind of highlight that you will get credits for TPT by leaving paid resources, but not for free download. So if you are looking to do a mass review of a variety of resource, I recommend going to the my purchases section and filtering it so that it just says paid purchases.

Kirsten 4:29

And if you're looking to see how many TPT credits you have, in general, you can click on your profile picture and go to account balance, and you'll see three little boxes. The one in the middle will say, TPT, credits earned. And you can click on View credits, and you'll see all the credits that you have earned in total. Each credit has a value of five cents. So every 20 credits earned equals $1 that you can apply to future TPT purchases.

Kirsten 7:51

Now if you're wanting to redeem your TPT credits, all you're going to do is you're going to put in whatever resources you want into your cart, and when you check out, there will be the ability to use TPT credits. So to apply your account balance to a purchase with those TPT credits, you can just select the Use the account balance option under the secure checkout button in your cart. Then you enter the amount you'd like to apply to your order, and then click Apply, and you'll be able to use those credits there.

Kirsten 8:29

So just some quick perks of leaving reviews in general. The first big perk is earning TPT credits. As mentioned, you'll earn TPT credits for each review on a paid resource. The second perk is that you have access to the best resources. By reading and leaving reviews, you're helping to create a reliable system where teachers can access the most effective resources available. The more reviews a resource has, the easier it is for other teachers to assess whether it's the right fit for their classroom. The third perk, it influences future resources. Your feedback gives TPT sellers, such as myself, ideas for updates, enhancements, or even brand new products based on your classroom needs. Many sellers read every review and use them to make valuable improvements, so your review can directly influence what's available on TPT. And the fourth perk, discounts on future resources. With TPT credits, you can purchase resources for a fraction of the price, which allows you to try new tools and activities for your classroom without impacting your budget. That's a major bonus there.

Kirsten 9:36

All right, now I'm going to share with you some tips on writing an effective TPT review. My first tip I have is to be specific. Describe how you've used the resource and how it helped your students. Specific feedback is more helpful for sellers and other buyers. Another tip is to mention the age and grade level. Mention the grade level or age group you teach as it helps other educators understand if the resource will suit their classroom. And don't be afraid to give constructive feedback. Sometimes saying, Oh, this is great. It's nice to see as a TPT seller, but I would really love any type of constructive feedback. If you have suggestions for improvement, frame them in a constructive way. Sellers are often grateful for insights that help make their resources even better. Now, if you have purchased resources on my website store, you can leave a review there as well. There is currently not a credit system, but maybe that could be something in the future. You can go into my account on the southern teach.com, forward slash shop, select an order and click on each resource purchased. Simply go to the Reviews tab, you can rate up to five stars and write a review. And if you have maybe purchased the same resource on TPT or something like that, you can always copy and paste there.

Leaving a review on TPT is a small gesture that makes a big impact. By sharing your experience, you're supporting fellow educators, enhancing the community, and improving your own teaching resources, all while earning credits for future purchases. So the next time you use a resource that made your day a little easier or your lesson a little brighter, take a moment to leave a review. You'll be helping out teachers everywhere, one review at a time. I hope you enjoy the rest of your week, and I will talk to you next week.

Thanks for listening to the social studies teacher podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, hit that subscribe button and leave a review. I would love to hear your thoughts. You can also find me on Instagram at the southern teach. I can't wait for you to join me in the next episode for more teacher tips and strategies.