1 . Deanna Jump made headlines when it was announced she’d brought in a million dollars selling her lesson plans online. Despite the windfall, Jump, has no plans to quit the work she considers her calling. She spoke with us about her secrets for creating units that kids and fellow teachers can’t resist.

How did you get the idea of selling your work online?

Deanna Jump: I’ve always created my own activities and units, and I’ve always shared them with my fellow teachers. A few years ago, one of my team members said, “Your stuff is so good. You’ve got to put it on Teachers Pay Teachers.” I got started. The first year, my sales were really slow with about $300. But I thought that was great.

How has the income changed your life?

DJ: Teachers in America don’t make a lot of money, so I really consider it a blessing. I have a brother who’s a quadriplegic (四肢瘫痪的人). For about 13 years, he was stuck at home unless he had a doctor’s appointment. With my first big check, we bought a van so our mother could take him around. I also give some to my community. But I still drive a Kia. I still live in the same house.

What advice would you give fellow teachers who might want to sell their lessons?

DJ: Stay true to yourself. My teaching style is reflected in my units. I don’t try to say, “Okay, how would this teacher over here do it?” and try to create something for her. Also, be a teacher first, and a seller second. Be careful to make sure that you don’t say, “Oh, my goodness, I haven’t put anything out for two months. I need to get something out.” I never think like that. I create things with my students in mind.

2 . I wanted to buy something today — until I figured out the cost versus the benefit. At that point I knew it was a completely stupid idea.

What I wanted to buy was an older car to have in addition to my four-year-old Smart Car that I absolutely like. So you wonder, why would I want to have another car as well? The reason is ... grandkids. I have several and in the Smart Car I can only have one passenger (It’s a two-seater). Besides, one of my daughters-in-law does not trust the Smart Car as a vehicle for her daughter Lily to ride in, so that’s one little girl I can’t take anywhere at all. My husband also has a car -- and a truck.

So that’s why I had the stupid idea to buy an old Toyota I found on the lot of an honest used car salesman. Thank heavens I came to my senses before I spent $ 8000 to buy it, $ 80 or so to license it and probably $ 500 to insure it for a year. It would be senseless to buy that car.

My grandkids just have to continue to come with me one by one. I can’t take two girls out to lunch or two girls shopping or pick up the brother and sister that live in the same house. As for the little one that’s not allowed to ride with me ... well, Grandpa will have to pick her up. As for me, I didn’t get money in my savings account by being totally stupid. Sure, doing things with the kids is fun, but spending that kind of money to put two or more of them in a group — which would probably drive me crazy anyway — is really dumb. Sometimes temptation can prove that you still have a little sense.

4 . As I grew up, I always had my mom by my side. We lived a very ________ life. I never looked at the other kids and ________ why I didn’t have a dad, or why I lived in an apartment instead of a big house. Most of what I ________ was our little Christmas tree in the living room and going to the park very often.

________, when I hit my teenage years, things started to change. I didn’t want to ________ with her as much. I ________ on friends and school. I ________ her out because I didn’t want her to tell me what to do.

At about 16, I ________ an eating disorder. And I felt sad and lost. Soon, I found the reason why I was ________ — I needed my mother. And she was there ________ my mean words, my silence, and my anger. She told me she was ________ there for me, reminding me to relax for a moment and think. I did. And I ________ when the world is sometimes cruel, she will be there for me all the time.

After that day, everything changed. I looked at how she ________ me on her own as a single mom. I looked at the sacrifices and ________ of sleep she endured for me. She got herself through college without ________ by making money by herself, and is now ________ with her own apartment and ________. I honestly could not be more grateful for such a(n) ________ mom. Now, as a 17-year-old ready to leave for college, it’s my turn to ________ her. I thought the least I could do was to get her to go on some dates. I ________ her in every way, and she does the same.

6 . Thomas, 13, and his friends Mark and Josh had a fantastic idea. Why not play a game of football ... on a trampoline（蹦床）?

At first, it was great fun. Then Mark stumbled（绊倒）, landing directly on Thomas’s leg. Thomas howled in pain.

Even if you’ve never been injured on a trampoline, chances are you know someone who has. There were nearly 95,000 trampoline-related injuries, in 2012 alone.

These injuries are such an enormous problem that the American Academy of Pediatrics （AAP）, a group of doctors who specialize in treating children and adolescents, said in a 2012 study that trampolines should never be used at home or on playgrounds. Never.

“This is not a toy. It’s a piece of equipment,” says Dr. Michele LaBotz, an author of the AAPstudy.

Indeed, when trampolines were invented in the 1930s, they were intended for use by professional acrobats（杂技演员）. Over time, trampolines caught on with the public, and now 900,000 are sold each year, most of them for recreational use.

Part of trampolines’ appeal is that despite the risks, they provide good exercise. You get a heart-pumping aerobic（有氧的） workout, like you do when running or dancing. And young people need all the exercise they can get.

Still, trampolines can be dangerous — and not just for kids who fall off. Kids are also getting hurt on the springs and when they strike against each other. Serious injuries to the head and neck have been reported. One out of every 200 trampoline injuries leads to permanent brain damage.

Bouncing on a trampoline is clearly risky. But then, every athletic activity involves risk. Kids fall off bikes and skateboards all the time. As with any sport, kids on a trampoline can protect themselves. For instance: Never allow more than one person on a trampoline at a time. （About 75 percent of injuries result from having multiple jumpers at once.） And always have adult supervision.

10 . I was born without arms. My parents bought me a full-length _______ when I was a baby so I’d get comfortable with the way I looked. They never let my _______ hold me back, and it never did. Before I started school, they helped me _______ with holding a pencil in my mouth, but I _______ to use my left foot. At school, I used a desk my grandpa had _______ for me. It was _______ so I could write with my feet. The other kids quickly _______ to me and I made lots of friends.

In Year 2011 I swam in the inter-house carnival and a coach encouraged me to join his squad. It _______ a passion in me for swimming, _______ I kept up when I went to the university to study business and law. By then, I ________ lived with my parents, but I did most things on my own. I drove a car with my right foot on the steering wheel and cooked meals using my feet. Meanwhile, I started doing ocean swims and I got the ________, doing bigger swims. This peaked in me ________ a 10km swim around Old Woman Island, Qld, in April 2022. I swam freestyle with fins and rolled to breathe. I had an amazing support crew but it was seriously ________ going. When my feet ________ the sand again five hours and 11 minutes later, my family ran to hug me and we both ________. The swim ________ $13,000 for special schools on the Sunshine Coast, Qld. If it goes some way to enable ________ with a disability to feel how I felt after that swim, then every metre, every kick was ________.

I’m ________ do it again this year! My disability has never ________ me. I have a wonderful life, a job I enjoy and a goal to reach. I just happen to have been born without arms.