OUR STORY
Hi, we are Jan and Paul, the teachers behind the mug
Jan teaches 5th grade right now, and every lesson we make is tested in her classroom. Jan has taught grades 3 through 6. Paul taught grades 6 through 12 and specialized in students with emotional and behavioral challenges, using technology from day one to make lessons interactive and meet every student where they are.
We have three children: John, who is 28; Lucas, who is 18; and Chandler Jane, who is 10. Yes, that’s quite a spread! After Lucas, we were sure our family was complete. So when Jan turned 40, Paul gave her a mug that read “I’d rather be 40 than pregnant.” By 41, to our complete surprise, she was pregnant with Chandler Jane.
How Teaching with Coffee started
A few years ago, Jan’s district adopted Illustrative Mathematics as its math curriculum. (At our age, “a few years ago” means sometime in the last four!) It’s a strong, rigorous curriculum, but Jan noticed that many of her students were struggling to keep up with its pacing.
Paul spent years teaching in self-contained special education classrooms, where he consistently used technology to individualize instruction for his students. After retiring from the classroom, he suddenly had a lot of time on his hands, so he got to work looking for ways to supplement the curriculum.
Stale PowerPoints and Google Slides weren’t cutting it. So together we built something more interactive: lessons that show students how the math actually works. Later, we decided to share them with other teachers on Teachers Pay Teachers. And that’s how Teaching with Coffee began.
Why interactive lessons?
In our shop, you’ll find interactive lessons that run in any web browser, each with a matching printable worksheet. We’re building the full Grade 5 math year one unit at a time, and Lesson 1 of every unit is free, so you can try one before you buy. You’ll also find a growing set of Social Studies lessons, with SEL resources on the way.
Why coffee?
This is a text Jan sent Paul during our first week of dating. From the very beginning, we’ve been caffeine-fueled educators. Other teachers have teased us for keeping coffee pots in our classrooms, for the half-dozen forgotten mugs scattered around our rooms, and for being wired pretty much all day long. So when we opened our Teachers Pay Teachers store, Teaching with Coffee was the natural choice.
Keep teaching, and stay caffeinated! ☕