About Sylvia Skinner Teacher and Founder of
I Love To Teach
First, a little about me. I’ve been helping generations of students get excited about learning since 1998, when I first received my shiny Education degree with hons. Originally from the UK, I dedicated over 20 years to primary education, and now, I’m crafting creativity as a K-12 Art teacher in Australia.
But, before we go further, let's talk about YOU!
Teaching in the classroom can be a blast, but if your space is all over the place, you’re going to have to start taking shortcuts. Before you know it, your students won’t have any time to flex their creative muscles.
But our administrative tasks can quickly get out of control and it feels like you’re running on a treadmill that you can’t get off. Time just keeps moving faster at 1,000 miles an hour, and the paperwork continues to accumulate. Have you been there? Have you done so?
You don’t have to be the one doing the running in this equation. You can take control of your time and prevent yourself from getting caught up in the terrible teacher paperwork treadmill.
Creative thinking
After two decades of teaching I’ve learned a thing or two about teaching. It’s important to foster creativity in our students, but it can be hard to do that when you’re drowning in paperwork and admin tasks.
That’s why I created this website – to help you get organised and create a classroom environment that encourages creativity.
When you free up mental bandwidth by decluttering your desk and classroom and employ certain strategies to help save time, it’s glorious and liberating.
Our mission
We help teachers prevent burnout, reduce those non-contract hours, and get organised so there’s more time for creativity in the classroom. With over 20 years of experience in the classroom we understand the challenges faced by educators on a daily basis.
But I Love To Teach 101 not just about courses and resources for teachers – we’re also about empathy and equity. For every purchase made on our site, a substantial part of the revenue gives a helping hand to Solomon Island teachers in need.
Why Solomon Islands?
As part of the British Aid Programme, my husband and I ventured overseas in 1986, touching down in Solomon Islands. We stayed for eight wonderful years.
A month into our arrival, Cyclone Namu hit. I was keen to help in any way I could, and ended up teaching a Foundation class of 72 kids!
In 2001, we ventured out again, but from Australia. This time we stayed for seven years.
We found many Solomon Island teachers work for little, or nothing at all, so we decided something had to be done about it.
School project
Our solution was to help build a school that was self funding. Next, I was asked to become principal, which I resisted for a long time.
During those five years as principal, I taught a foundation class, so I had to learn pretty fast about setting priorities. I also trained teachers how to set up, decorate, organise, plan, grade and think creatively about their teaching.
The school experienced great success. Each year, our Year 6 students graduated in the top 10%, allowing them the very few spots available in the few High Schools.
On the back of this success, I am now keen to share what I have learned. Looking to equip teachers with the necessary tools to be outstanding educators.
