We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Iantha Ussin. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Iantha below.

Iantha , appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career.

Without a doubt, our students would have more fulfilling lives and careers if classroom instruction was more robust and more specifically catered to their needs. This, I believe, starts with recruiting and developing highly qualified teachers, and it’s certainly where I would start if I were making changes in the education system.

It’s no secret that our nation is experiencing a teacher shortage. Because of this, the education system has relaxed its standards for teacher qualification, allowing many who’ve never studied education to “come as they are” and “learn as they go”. The vast majority of teachers that now stand before our children lack the skills necessary to offer effective, transformative instruction.

It’s quite unfortunate, and I’ve seen some of the negative effects of it firsthand.

I’ll never forget teaching 6th grade on a four-man team where two of us were seasoned teachers and two were first-year teachers. One of the first-year teachers hadn’t studied education and wanted to “try teaching”. By the middle of the school year, after failing to create a safe, welcoming, academically-charged environment for students, the teacher no longer had a classroom; it was a playground. No instruction was taking place. The students had taken over; the teacher was the inferior. The teacher couldn’t regain footing and one day walked out of the building, while class was in session, and never returned.

Had the teacher gotten adequate onboarding and training in classroom management, effective instruction and basic classroom facilitator expectations, who knows? Maybe the students wouldn’t have missed an entire year of instruction in that particular subject. Just maybe.

Iantha , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was a middle school English teacher for 15 years. Somewhere around year 10 of my career, my focus began to shift. I was still very much committed to teaching my students with a spirit of excellence, but I couldn’t help noticing other teachers in the building who didn’t have the same commitment because they’d either grown weary of the profession or they hadn’t been equipped with the necessary tools to reach that level of commitment. My heart broke for the latter, which was mostly comprised of new teachers who, in most cases, hadn’t been teaching for more than a year. Many of these teachers struggled to manage their classrooms, so students were missing out on impactful instruction. And that’s what compelled me to action—students (EVERY student is MY student) not receiving the quality education they deserve.

Over a five-year period, after much prayer and enduring a season of frustration, God began to show me that there was need of me and all the skills I’d acquired as a model teacher in my school district. He showed me that it’d be impossible for me to teach every child in the nation, but if I empowered and equipped education majors, pre-service and beginning teachers, they could create classroom environments that are conducive to learning and daily institute innovative, impactful instruction for their students.

May 2021, on a direct commission from God, I retired from the classroom and formed Ms. Ussin Teaches, LLC to partner with K-12 school districts and universities, preparing new teachers for the classroom.

Only because my business operates on contracted work do I consider myself a consultant, as the true heart of my work is teacher training. I generally refer to myself as The New Teachers’ Teacher and a keynote speaker, and that’s what sets me apart.

There are a host of consultants and speakers out there that cater to educators’ needs in many different capacities. As far as I know, though, I’m the only “consultant” whose focus is solely pre-service and beginning teachers, preparing them to start their careers strong with effective classroom management tools and surefire instructional strategies. And it has been a ride! Fifteen years in the classroom was needful preparation for the content I present at conferences, in my signature workshops and trainings, and in my book for new teachers, Your Classroom or Their Playground.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Conferences are the best source of new clients for me, hands down. Word of mouth would be my next best source.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

One thing I’ve learned about this business, and entrepreneurship in general, is there are financial ebbs and flows. One month could bring in thousands of dollars, and the next, zero. I remember a very recent 6-month period where I had no contracts. None! Then, in that seventh month, overflow! In the 6-month period, I continued to work behind the scenes on my digital products, my first online course, and developing my skills as a keynote speaker. I refused to bow out. I know I was called to this work, so a dry season won’t push me out.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.msussinteaches.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msussinteaches/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/msussinteaches/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/msussinteaches
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVvVnOEROfDZxvHkOdO0-FA
• Other: https://ms-ussin-teaches.teachable.com/purchase?product_id=5575540