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Heidi: This is episode 189 of
Teacher Approved.

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You're listening to Teacher
Approved, the podcast helping

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educators elevate what matters
and simplify the rest. I'm

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Heidi.

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Emily: And I'm Emily. We're the
creators behind Second Story

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Window, where we give research
based and teacher approved

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strategies that make teaching
less stressful and more

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effective. You can check out the
show notes and resources from

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each episode at
secondstorywindow.net.

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Heidi: We're so glad you're
tuning in today. Let's get to

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the show.

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Emily: Hey there. Thanks for
joining us today. In today's

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episode, we're sharing some
tried and true ideas for keeping

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your students engaged after
testing season, and we're

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sharing a teacher approved tip
for some end of the school year

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self care.

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Heidi: We are starting today's
episode with a morning message,

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just like we used to do at
morning meeting in our

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classrooms. This week's morning
message is, you are getting a

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new student tomorrow, and
they're named after your

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favorite font. Who are you
welcoming to your class? Emily,

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what's your new student's name?

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Emily: Well, Poppins is a really
interesting name for a child,

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but here we are.

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Heidi: I think that could work.
I could kind of see some like

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young, hipstery parents having a
little Poppins.

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Emily: Young Poppins. Yes, I
could see it. It could be cute.

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Could be far worse. What's your
new student's name, Heidi?

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Heidi: Well, we make all of our
products in Neutraface, so I

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have to say Neutraface.

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Emily: We love Neutraface.

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Heidi: Which is a terrible name
for a child. That would be the

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worst.

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Emily: Well, we got some fun
responses from our teacher

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approved Facebook community.
April is welcoming the

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unfortunately named Happy
Paragraphs.

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Heidi: Oh, okay.

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Emily: Brianne has the ideal new
student in Perfect Penmanship.

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Heidi: That's also a mouthful,
but I bet that's teacher's pet.

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Emily: Yeah. Tanya and Evelyn
are both getting a Times New

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Roman. Abby's new little darling
has a lot to live up to as

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Inimitable Original

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Heidi: And get like fitting that
in a name tag too.

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Emily: Yeah, that's a long one.
Cheryl has Coming Soon, coming

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to her class soon.

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Heidi: That's like a Who's on
First problem right there.

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Emily: And of course, we had to
have a Comic Sans and Amy claims

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that one, and Ardena's student
gets off lucky being named

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Ariel.

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Heidi: Oh, that is a lucky
break. We would love to hear

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about your favorite fonts, or, I
guess, students named after

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fonts in our Teacher Approved
Facebook group.

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One of the biggest challenges
for teachers this time of year

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is keeping students engaged, you
know, especially once testing

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season wraps up.

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Emily: Yeah, and let's be
honest, the energy in your

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classroom after testing season
is not the same as it was back

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in August. You've all been
working hard, and now that the

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high stakes pressure is off, it
can feel a little like you're

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just coasting to the finish
line.

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Heidi: Or maybe it's more like
you're dragging yourself to the

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finish line. Let's be real.
Depends on the day.

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Emily: True story. But just
because testing is behind you

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doesn't mean the learning has to
stop. There are plenty of ways

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to keep your students motivated,
focused and even excited to come

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to school each day, yes, even in
May.

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Heidi: So we've got five teacher
approved ideas that you can try

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out to make these post testing
days meaningful, manageable and

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maybe even a little magical.

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Emily: All right, let's get to
it. Five ways to keep students

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engaged in class after testing
is over. Number one is to try

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out passion projects.

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Heidi: The end of the year is
the perfect time for letting

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students explore something that
they care about. Passion

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Projects are great because they
give students choice, autonomy

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and a purpose for learning, and
they are surprisingly easy to

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implement, even in your lower
elementary classes.

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Emily: I love the idea of using
passion projects at the end of

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the year. So what's the best way
to approach passion projects

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with your students, Heidi?

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Heidi: Well, the idea is simple.
Just have your students choose a

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topic that they are interested
in, animal sports, a favorite

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country, how roller coasters
work, and guide them through the

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process of researching,
organizing and presenting their

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learning.

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Emily: My team used to do animal
reports at the end of the year,

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and the kids loved it so much,
and we always had a zoo field

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trip at the end of the year. So
that's sort of how we tied it

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all together. So you could
choose the category for them, or

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you could just let them pick
from several categories,

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whatever they're excited to do a
project about.

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Heidi: I think the key is having
enough child friendly resources

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so that they can do the
research, so that might limit

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the options that you can give to
your students.

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Emily: For sure.

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Heidi: And listener, Margaret
suggests doing book studies. She

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says students get to choose
between Wonder, The Sea of

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Monsters, My Louisiana Sky, or I
Survived Hurricane Katrina.

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Whatever they choose, they do a
book study with the others in

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the class who also chose the
same book. Once they're finished

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with the book study, they have
to come up with a presentation

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to convince the others to read
the book of their choice over

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the summer.

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Emily: I love this idea so much
because it has automatic buy in

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and it's got the built in
choice. It gets them excited

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about reading, and they're
getting their classmates excited

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about reading books too. I think
it's such a clever idea.

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Heidi: You have that student
choice, and then also having

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them work in groups, are great
strategies for maintaining

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engagement at, you know, the
time of the year when students

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focus is probably at its lowest.
Now, of course, your students

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will need you to guide them
through the process, but you can

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scaffold the steps with simple
graphic organizers or

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checklists. There are tons of
resources out there.

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Emily: And then you let the
students present their final

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project. You could assign a
method of presentation or let

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them choose to present it
however they'd like—a poster, a

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slideshow, a podcast. Wouldn't
that be fun? Or even a diorama?

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Heidi: Oh, yes.

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Emily: This could be as simple
or as elaborate as your students

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are ready for and as you want to
deal with as the teacher.

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Heidi: Yeah, yeah. You decide
what you want to deal with and

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then work backwards from that
point. Yes, really this is such

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a win win idea. We're adding
structure to the classroom by

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doing a scaffolded project, and
because students are choosing

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what they want to learn about,
the novelty factor is really

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high, balancing structure and
novelty. Of course, that means

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that the engagement piece often
takes care of itself.

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Emily: On to idea number two,
which is to create classroom

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challenges.

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Heidi: Now, after testing, your
students might be mentally

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checked out, but kids can rarely
say no to a competition. Use

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that to your advantage by
setting up some classroom

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challenges.

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Emily: You could do academic
based ones like a math fact

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fluency challenge, or reading
minutes challenge, or even a

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math escape room.

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Heidi: Or you can keep it light
hearted with team building

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challenges like building a
spaghetti tower, a classic, or

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creating a Rube Goldberg
machine.

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Emily: We got a fun suggestion
from Betsy to set up 100 piece

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puzzles on the floor in
different corners of the room.

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That could be a fun fast
finisher or a challenge project

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one afternoon, just be sure to
talk to the custodian about not

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vacuuming your room for a few
days.

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Heidi: That's a hassle that is
better to head off from the

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beginning. Don't want to make
the custodian mad, especially at

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the end of the year.

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Now, I always love an
opportunity to work in poetry,

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and after testing, you could
challenge kids to work on

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memorizing a poem or two.

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Emily: And it's always a good
idea to try a behavior

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challenge. You can have your
students working cooperatively

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as a class or in tables to earn
rewards with their good

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behavior. That means coming up
with a prize. But it doesn't

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have to be complicated.

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Heidi: Really, rewards can be
simple—extra recess, a popsicle

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party or lunch with a teacher.
But you know, honestly, we're

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not going to blame you if you
don't want to spend your lunch

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time break with your students.

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Emily: No, that would probably
not be my first choice for

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rewards. So all you got to do is
start a challenge, choose a

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simple reward, and watch that
motivation come flying back to

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your classroom.

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Now for idea number three, theme
days or weeks.

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Heidi: Theme days are our secret
weapon for thriving after

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testing. There's really
something magical about them.

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They kind of like flip a switch
in kids brains. Suddenly,

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everything you do feel special,
even if it is just, you know,

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your regular math lesson with a
twist.

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Emily: You could try a camp read
a lot week, stem Olympics,

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animal week, or even travel
around the world days where each

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day focuses on a different
country, and we always love

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doing quiet as a mouse day.

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Heidi: Yeah, that was the best
day of the year. And the best

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part is that most of these ideas
can be woven into your usual

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content. That means you don't
have to adjust your schedule.

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Just add a theme to what you
normally do during the day to

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spice things up. Fractions
suddenly becomes way more fun

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when you are  "baking" in your
classroom bakery.

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Emily: Add in a few decorations
and a theme to read aloud or

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two, and you've got a classroom
full of engaged learners who

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aren't even thinking about the
countdown to summer.

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Heidi: If you want more ideas
for using theme days, head way

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back to episode seven, where we
share all of our best tips and

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tricks for making theme days
work for you.

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Emily: And make sure you check
out the links in the show notes

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where we will link our two
already done for you theme day

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sets, one for a Camping Day and
one for a Space Day. Each set

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includes themed work packets,
craftivities, book

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recommendations, review
activities, so much more. We

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often hear from people that
there's so much more in there

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than they can even use.

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Heidi: Yeah, theme days can be a
lot of work to set up, but the

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nice thing is that when you
figure it out once, it is so

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easy to reuse each year. I want
to shout this for teachers,

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because this saved me so many
years.

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Okay, let's take a look at idea
four, and I'm excited about this

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one, let students become the
teachers.

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Emily: I know, this is such a
cute idea. You can let students

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teach a mini lesson to the class
on something they're good at, or

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something they love. This gives
them ownership, and it builds

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their confidence, and it lets
them share something with their

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classmates that they are truly
skilled at.

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Heidi: That's such a gift for
your kids that maybe have felt

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overshadowed academically all
year to let them have a minute

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in the spotlight. You can guide
them to plan a short

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presentation, a demo or
activity. It could be anything

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from teaching how to draw a
cartoon character, how to fold

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origami, how to do a cartwheel,
or explaining the rules of their

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favorite game.

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Emily: Yeah, and you'll be
surprised how serious they take

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this and how much the rest of
the class loves learning from

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each other, plus it is a sneaky
way to reinforce speaking and

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listening skills.

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Heidi: Those are really
important life skills that can

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be hard to find a time to work
on much during the school year.

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But just a tip that if you want
to keep parents on your side, do

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the work on this during class.
Zero parents, I can guarantee,

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want to be facilitating a big
project at the end of the school

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year.

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Emily: Yeah, that is true for
all of these, their passion

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projects that they're doing, the
book recommendations, work on

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that in class. Do the research
for things in class. Do not make

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this a parent problem in May,
they will not be happy.

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And that brings us to idea
number five, do creative

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projects with a purpose. The end
of the year is a great time for

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project based learning. Work
doesn't have to be standards

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driven to still be meaningful.
You could plan a future me

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project where students create
vision boards or write letters

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to their future selves.

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Heidi: Or you could make a
classroom memory book, an end of

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year time capsule, or a class
museum where they display

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artifacts and memories from your
year together.

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Emily: And we also have an
awesome resource for this, which

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is to make a looking back
bulletin board where your

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students look back at the school
year and highlight something

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that was a wonderful memory for
them in this school year.

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Heidi: So once the kids have
illustrated their memory, and

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you could put up your sign, you
know, looking back at third

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grade or second grade or
whatever, whatever grade you

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happen to be in. Now the magic
of this comes that you're gonna

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get double duty out of it, and
you can either leave it up over

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the summer or put it up again at
back to school and change out

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the title to be looking forward
to whatever grade you're in as a

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way to get kids excited about
all the fun things they'll get

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to do in their new grade.

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Emily: I know, it's so fun. And
then your students from this

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year, when they come by your
class next year, they will see

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their memories still up. So it's
a fun way to connect with them,

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too. I mean, this is like, win,
win, win, win. This idea. I love

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it so much. These kinds of
projects are not only fun and

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engaging, they help students
process the end of the year and

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reflect on their growth.

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Heidi: And honestly, they give
you some really special

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keepsakes to remember the magic
of this class. So make sure you

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check out the show notes for a
link to our looking back

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bulletin board project.

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Emily: So let's quickly recap
our five ideas to keep students

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engaged after testing is over.
One, try passion projects. Two,

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create classroom challenges.
Three, use theme days or weeks.

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Four, let students be the
teacher. And five, plan creative

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projects with a purpose

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Heidi: No matter what you
choose, just remember this time

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of year does not have to be
about coasting. It can still be

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rich and meaningful, even
without test prep hanging over

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your head.

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Emily: You and your students
deserve to finish strong and

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have some fun. You've worked so
hard all year. Make the most of

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these last few weeks together.

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Heidi: And make sure you head to
the show notes. We've got all

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the links there today, where you
can find a link for our free end

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of year roadmap digital planner.
This will help you figure out

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your schedule for the next few
months, reflect on what you want

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to maintain and change in the
coming weeks and help you break

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down tasks so that you can get
things done without stress.

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Emily: We talked all about the
roadmap in last week's episode,

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so make sure to check out
Episode 188 if you want the

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details.

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Heidi: We would love to hear
what you are looking forward to

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in term four. Come join the
conversation in our Teacher

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Approved Facebook group.

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Emily: Now let's talk about this
week's teacher approved tip.

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Each week we leave you with a
small actionable tip that you

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can apply in your classroom
today. This week's teacher

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approved tip is to stock a
personal recovery kit. Tell us

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about this one, Heidi.

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Heidi: I love this idea so much.
Now if you join us over on the

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Holiday Headstart podcast, you
have heard us talk about this

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already, but this is such a
handy tip for teachers that we

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didn't want to limit it to
holiday headaches. The idea is

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that in advance of a stressful
event, such as, you know, the

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end of the school year, you can
create a recovery kit for

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yourself. The idea is to get,
you know, a box or basket that

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you can fill with little things
to help you pamper yourself as

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you recuperate from what you've
just been through.

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Emily: Think how great it would
be to have this on hand after

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the last day of school, or even
just after a particularly

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00:14:50,580 --> 00:14:53,100
stressful day of school at any
time of the year.

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Heidi: I think for women, and
especially women with children,

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talking about pampering and
taking time to rest and recover

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can truly feel impossible. But
even though it might not be easy

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to make it happen, finding a way
to rest is really essential for

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your health.

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Emily: And if you're someone who
struggles with guilt over taking

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time for yourself, remember that
if you want to be able to give

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your best to the people you
love, you have to be a little

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selfish sometimes.

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00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:19,920
Heidi: Gretchen Rubin from the
Happier Podcast, which is a

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podcast that we really love, she
has a great saying that applies

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here. When we give more to
ourselves, we can ask more from

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ourselves. If you want to be
able to show up as the best

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version of yourself, you have to
make your well being a priority

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sometimes.

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Emily: And this is especially
important after a draining event

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like the last few weeks of
school. You hear people talk all

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the time about how you can't
pour from an empty cup, and

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making a recovery kit is a
tangible way to help refill that

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empty cup.

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Heidi: Think how great it will
feel to come home after a long

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day and pull out your recovery
kit with some fuzzy socks or a

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head massager or a magazine that
you love but don't normally buy.

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Emily: If socks and head
massages and magazines don't

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interest you, stock your
recovery kit with things that

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do. Maybe a new notebook, a
craft kit or art supplies would

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be more restorative for you. Or
maybe you want to stock up on

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some DoorDash gift cards so you
don't have to think about meals

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for a few days.

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Heidi: If you aren't sure where
to start with a project like

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this, try thinking about your
five senses. What are some

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soothing sounds or scents? What
textures do you find comforting?

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What is something relaxing that
you can read or watch? And of

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00:16:29,070 --> 00:16:31,470
course, you know you can't go
wrong with a few treats.

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Emily: You can get started by
finding a box or bin to use and

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then start adding to it over the
next few weeks. You can even ask

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friends or family to donate
supplies. I'd love it if someone

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I care about reached out with
something like this. Being told

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about a tangible way to help a
loved one survive a stressful

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time is a gift. I'd be so happy
to help.

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Heidi: We all know that we need
some downtime to recover before

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we can bounce back. A recovery
kit is a way to make sure that

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that needed downtime is actually
restorative, and, you know, not

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just passing out on the couch.

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Emily: And keep adding to your
recovery kit over the summer.

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Those DoorDash gift cards can be
a real lifesaver the first few

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weeks of school. By spending
just a little bit every week or

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so, you're supporting your
future self without placing a

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huge burden on your budget.

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Heidi: To wrap up the show, we
are sharing what we're giving

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extra credit to this week.
Emily, what gets your extra

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00:17:20,700 --> 00:17:21,120
credit?

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Emily: I'm giving extra credit
to the TV show Running Point on

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Netflix. And despite this being
a Mindy Kaling project, I have

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to say I was a little skeptical
of the premise and even the

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previews, I just didn't think it
was going to be that funny. But

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it really has been very funny to
watch. So the premise is that

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00:17:39,090 --> 00:17:42,540
Kate Hudson plays a reformed
party girl who has to prove

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herself as a business woman when
she's unexpectedly put in charge

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of her family's pro basketball
team. It does have some

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language, so heads up on that if
you're sensitive.

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Heidi: I have not heard of the
show at all.

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Emily: Really? They talked about
it on The Popcast, because

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they'd been making fun of it
leading up to it, and then Knox

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watched it and he loved it.

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00:18:01,410 --> 00:18:03,420
Heidi: Oh, well, I'm a little
bit behind there, so I'll have

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to catch up there too.

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Emily: My other extra credit is
that I love The Popcast, that's

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my favorite podcast.

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Heidi: That is a fun one.

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Emily: What are you giving extra
credit to, Heidi?

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Heidi: This is not nearly as
fun. My extra credit goes to

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00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:24,150
cost plus drug company, which is
the mail order pharmacy started

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by Mark Cuban. Now I have only
used it one whole time so far,

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but they offered the
prescription that I usually have

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00:18:30,990 --> 00:18:35,610
to pay more than $80 for, they
offered it to me for $21. So

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even with the added $5 for
shipping, I am still saving 70%

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00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:42,930
so I would say it's definitely
worth checking out if you have

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any expensive prescriptions.

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Emily: So this is the thing
where you pay out of pocket

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00:18:48,180 --> 00:18:50,580
instead of using your insurance,
but then it's actually cheaper,

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right? Isn't that the way it
works?

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Heidi: Yes, so they do take some
insurance. They don't take ours,

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00:18:55,260 --> 00:18:59,580
but what I was paying out of
pocket, like the $80 was what I

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was paying out of pocket. So
even if they don't take

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00:19:01,650 --> 00:19:04,770
insurance, I'm still saving 60
bucks.

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00:19:04,860 --> 00:19:07,650
Emily: Yeah, I think that
happens more and more in medical

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00:19:07,650 --> 00:19:12,180
care, where cash pay is actually
cheaper than what you pay with

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00:19:12,180 --> 00:19:15,090
your co pay for insurance that
you're paying a lot of money

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00:19:15,090 --> 00:19:18,540
for. I mean, it's crazy. So that
is definitely worth looking

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into. I'll have to go see if
anything I need is cheaper over

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there.

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Heidi: And they break down the
cost, so you see exactly what

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the pills cost them, how much
they're taking, and then, like,

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how much of it goes to the
pharmacist. So, like, it's all

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transparent. It's such a change
when you know you've dealt with,

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you know, medical bills, where
you're just told, like, yep,

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00:19:37,890 --> 00:19:40,620
here's $300 you owe us. And
you're like, I will have to

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00:19:40,620 --> 00:19:41,610
trust that that's accurate.

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Emily: Yeah, that's awesome. I'm
gonna check that out.

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Heidi: That's it for today's
episode. Remember our five ideas

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00:19:49,350 --> 00:19:52,650
for how to keep students engaged
after testing is over, and don't

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forget to start stocking that
self care recovery kit.

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00:19:57,660 --> 00:20:01,410
We hope you enjoyed this episode
of Teacher Approved. I'm Heidi.

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00:20:01,500 --> 00:20:04,770
Emily: And I'm Emily. Thank you
for listening. Be sure to follow

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00:20:04,770 --> 00:20:07,290
or subscribe in your podcast app
so that you never miss an

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00:20:07,290 --> 00:20:07,740
episode.

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00:20:08,190 --> 00:20:10,500
Heidi: You can connect with us
and other teachers in the

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00:20:10,500 --> 00:20:13,680
Teacher Approved Facebook group.
We'll see you here next week.

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Bye, for now.

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00:20:14,730 --> 00:20:15,510
Emily: Bye.