Heidi: This is episode 257 of Teacher Approved.
You're listening to teacher approved, the podcast helping
educators elevate what matters and simplify the rest. I'm
Heidi.
Emily: And I'm Emily. We're the creators behind Second Story
Window, where we give research-based and teacher
approved strategies that make teaching less stressful and more
effective. You can check out the show notes and resources from
each episode at secondstorywindow.net.
Heidi: We're so glad you're tuning in today. Let's get to
the show.
Emily: Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today's
episode, we are talking about how to survive that mid-May
slump, where you can see summer but you can't quite reach it
yet, and we're sharing a tip for holding the day steady when the
routine is falling apart.
Heidi: But first, let's start with a try it tomorrow, where we
share a quick win that you can try in your classroom right
away. Emily, what is our suggestion for this week?
Emily: This week, try complimenting a colleague in
front of their class. May is the season where teacher burnout
really starts to bite, and one of the best antidotes to burnout
is connection. We get so isolated in our own classrooms
with our own problems, and it's easy to forget that there are
other adults in the building who totally get it. And really, this
couldn't be easier. Just the next time you're talking to a
colleague who has students with them, just say something nice
about them in front of their class.
Heidi: My friend Vicki was so good at this. Anytime she popped
into my classroom, she'd say something like, Do you guys know
how awesome your teacher is? You are so lucky to be in her class.
This did two things at once, obviously, like, I loved Vicki
for it, but it also gave me an opening to praise my class. I'd
always say something back, like, it's pretty easy to be a good
teacher when your class is this awesome. I'm so lucky to have
these kids in my room.
Emily: Oh, I love that. And then I bet everybody's day was just a
little bit brighter when she did that. Well, if you like this
idea or anything else we share here on the podcast, we would
love it so much if you take a second and give us a five star
rating on your podcast listening app.
Okay, so let's talk about why this stretch of May is so
brutal, because it's not just one thing, it's like three
things stacked up on top of each other in a trench coat.
Heidi: Of course it is, and that's why it's so tricky to
manage. First up, everyone's emotions are all over the map.
Some kids are crying because they don't want fourth grade to
end, and other kids are crying because fourth grade isn't
ending fast enough, and they're fed up. And you're probably
somewhere in the middle, just trying to hold it all together.
Emily: And then there's the structure thing. Your Kids
genuinely need your routines right now because they are so
dysregulated, but they push back on every single one of them.
They want to know what's coming next, but they don't actually
want to do what's coming next.
Heidi: Yeah, that's a fun puzzle to solve at the end of the year
when your tank is totally empty.
Emily: And that's the third piece, their energy is going up,
yours is going down, and there are still three or more weeks at
school left, and your calendar looks like it was filled out by
someone on a dare.
Heidi: Or maybe by an adrenaline junkie. There are the assemblies
and dress up days in all of the end of your celebrations.
Emily: Yep.
Heidi: Given a choice, no rational person would choose to
cram this many extras into an already heated situation. It's
kind of like tossing gasoline onto a fire.
Emily: I know, I'm always like the parents don't want this
much, the teachers don't want this much. Why, why does they
have to be like this? Well, with so much going on, I think
teachers feel like they have to pick a side either you double
down on structure and you hold the line on every single rule,
which, you know just makes the kids push back harder, or you
let it all go and try to coast through the days, and that
means, you know, your classroom is in chaos by 10am.
Heidi: Neither of those approaches work particularly
well. That's because May is not an all or nothing kind of month.
You don't have to choose between structure and fun. You just have
to make sure they're balanced.
Emily: If you're new here, welcome. We're so glad to have
you. This might be a new concept if you're new here, but if
you've been here a while, then you already know that this is
one of our favorite topics.
Heidi: Yeah, in fact, we love it so much we just wrote 70,000
words about it.
Emily: I mean, you know what? We were like, that's gonna be so
hard to write such a long book, and we were contracted for a
60,000 word book, which felt like a lot, but, you know, we
just had so much to say. We felt like we needed that extra 10,000
words to say it all.
Heidi: We tried to cut it back, but there's just so much to say.
Emily: Every time we cut something, I think we just added
something else, somewhere else.
Heidi: So if you need a refresher, a calmly managed
class requires a balance between two energies, structure and
spark. That balance shifts depending on where you are in
the school year. These last few weeks are what we call the home
stretch. This is the season where rebalancing matters most.
Too much rigidity right now triggers resistance, but too
much looseness sends the whole class into free fall.
Emily: So the trick in this season is to maintain the
predictability your class needs, to feel grounded, and add just
enough novelty to keep them interested, but not hyper.
Heidi: And that is a trick, but we are here to help you out.
Today, we are sharing five small switch ups. These are little
shifts that add the spark your students are craving, without
giving up the structure that's keeping you functioning. And
none of these require very much prep at all.
Emily: Yeah, these are just tiny tweaks to what you're already
doing. And our first smart switch up is the change of
scenery. This is exactly what it sounds like, you do your regular
activity, you just move it to a new location.
Heidi: And it's almost magic how well this works. It can be as
small as moving your read aloud from the back carpet to the
front of the room, or having silent reading under desks
instead of at desks.
Emily: And if your class really needs a bigger shift, or you
think they can handle a bigger shift, you can do something like
math review in the gym or a science lesson in a different
teacher's classroom. You don't have to do anything different
with the content, but a new spot makes everything fresh.
Heidi: One of my favorite versions of this is doing a
class swap. If you have a willing teammate or two, try
rotating classes. So each teacher plans one activity, and
the kids rotate through. That way you only have to plan one
activity, and the kids are getting three or four new
experiences.
Emily: Yeah. Plus, kids often behave a lot better for teachers
that they don't see every day, so that kind of gives you a nice
break from refereeing the same arguments that you've been
refereeing all year.
Heidi: The reason a change of scene works so well is because
novelty triggers the brain to release dopamine, which is the
chemical tied to motivation and engagement. When something
familiar shows up in slightly different ways, the brain perks
up and pays attention. That new location is doing the management
work for you.
Emily: Okay, so our second switch up is playing the
favorites. This is just bringing back the hits from earlier in
the year.
Heidi: This one is so underrated. When teachers think
about adding spark at the end of the year, they usually think
they have to plan something brand new. But honestly, the
best stuff often already exists in your room. You've spent nine
months building this class culture, so use it.
Emily: Yeah, think about all the activities your kids loved this
year, the favorite read aloud, the math game that everybody
asked to play again, the science experiment that got everyone
talking. You can just bring those back.
Heidi: I had a class one year that was, like, weirdly obsessed
with musicals, and they were a tough class, especially at the
end of the day. They had just had it. So I made a deal with
them, if they would clean up quickly at the end of the day,
we could watch part of a musical until the bell rang. So at the
end of the year, it just felt to spend an afternoon watching
Sound of Music in one go, instead of in like five minute
chunks. The kids were so into it, except, obviously I did fast
forward Climb Every Mountain, because nobody, nobody has the
patience for that one.
Emily: No, why is that song in there?
Heidi: There's one in every show, you're just like, okay,
come on.
Emily: Yeah, but that is the perfect example of playing the
favorites. It wasn't a brand new activity, it was something your
class already loved that they got to do in a bigger, more
satisfying way at the end of the year.
Heidi: What makes this so genius for May specifically, is that
the kids already know how to do these activities, so they can
just dive in. You don't have to teach the rules or model
anything.
Emily: And while the kids are busy, you get a pocket of prep,
which means you can pack a bin or grade a stack of papers.
That's the kind of hack you need at the end of the year.
Heidi: So as you were thinking about your last weeks, think
back over the year. What activities did your kids ask to
do again? What lit them up? Don't reinvent the wheel. Just
use the wheel you already have.
Emily: Our third switch up is one a lot of teachers don't
think about, and it's a really fun one. Give your students a
peek at what they'll learn next year.
Heidi: I love this one because it taps into something kids
really want, which is to feel like they're growing up. By May
they have been in your grade all year. They want to know what's
next, and they want to feel like the big kids.
Emily: So go peek at the curriculum for the grade above
yours and pick something that has a natural wow factor. So if
you teach second grade, maybe you do a mini lesson on cursive.
If you teach third grade, maybe you introduce two digit
multiplication. If you teach fifth grade, maybe you give them
a taste of middle school science.
Heidi: To really boost the buy in. Present it with some
fanfare. You can say something like, You guys have learned so
much, I think you're ready for something kids usually don't see
until next year. That kind of framing just turns this lesson
into a whole event.
Emily: Yeah, and it like raises the level of concern in the room
in a good way, because suddenly the kids are leaning in like,
Ooh, this is something I'm going to need. And they pay closer
attention, because the stakes feel important.
Heidi: Just make sure that those stakes aren't causing any
anxiety.
Emily: Yeah.
Heidi: Frame it as a sneak peek, not as a preview of how hard
things are going to get.
Emily: And also be considerate of next year's teacher. You
don't want to step on their toes by going too deep into a topic
that they're going to teach in the fall. Just stick to
introductory, hands on stuff. The goal is to spark curiosity,
not to teach mastery.
Heidi: So a really good example of this is multiplication
tricks. Kids think they're so cool, but if you teach a bunch
of shortcuts before they've built the conceptual
understanding, you're going to undermine the work that next
year's teacher is trying to do. So keep it light. You're not
responsible for teaching this, so just enjoy the fun part of
it.
Emily: And if you don't want to deep dive into one topic, you
can also just do a broader sampling. Pull up the curriculum
for next year and let kids preview a bunch of different
things, let them share what they already know about each one and
what they're excited to learn.
Heidi: This is one of those switch ups that delivers
structure and spark at the same time. There's spark because it's
new and exciting and a bit of a mystery, and there's structure
because the kids naturally lean in when they realize that this
content actually matters.
Emily: Okay, switch up number four is team up time, and this
one solves a really specific May problem, which is that kids are
dying for social interaction right now.
Heidi: Yeah, they pretty much want to talk non stop, but you
can't just let them sit in a corner and chat. Although that's
probably tempting. So we need a structured outlet for that
energy.
Emily: One of the best ways to do this is to team up with a
class in a different grade, reach out to a teacher friend,
ideally, one whose class is two or three grade levels different
from yours, and see if they'd be interested in partnering with
your class.
Heidi: When I taught second grade, my friend Angela taught
fifth, so it worked out really well for our classes to partner
up. My kids would bring math games or books to read with
their buddies, and then Angela and I got a chance to hang out
for a few minutes.
Emily: And what's so great about this is that it satisfies the
social hunger without the chaos that usually comes with it. The
older kids show up to those buddy sessions like little
mentors. They want to be impressive role models, and the
younger kids want to impress them right back, so they're on
their best behavior because they're trying to seem grown up.
Heidi: Plus that has real academic value. The little kids
get one on one support, which is hard to come by in any
classroom, and the older kids get a chance to review skills
that they may not have practiced in a while. Even a fifth grader
can use some more time with subtraction facts and reading
fluency.
Emily: One important tip if you do this, be sure to assign the
buddies. Do not let the kids pick, otherwise you're going to
have somebody standing alone, and then you'll feel terrible.
So make a pairing list ahead of time, so you can pair kids
strategically based on social and emotional needs.
Heidi: And a really nice bonus of team up time is that kids who
struggle with behavior in your room often shine in this
setting. Because the dynamic is different, they get to be the
helper, and this can really be such a confidence boost for kids
who don't usually get to feel that.
Emily: Okay. Our last switch up is little freedoms. Loosening
one low stakes rule can make your students feel like they got
handed the keys to the castle.
Heidi: This one is maybe the most counterintuitive on the
list, but stick with us. It seems like relaxing a rule will
just make everything fall apart, right? But that is genuinely not
what happens, as long as you do it strategically.
Emily: Yeah, the strategy is the most important part here. Start
with something that has insignificant impact on your
routine. So if your normal rule is no toys at school, maybe you
say you can bring a small stuffed animal or a fidget for
your desk tomorrow. Even if the rest of the day is completely
ordinary, that one little freedom feels like a treat.
Heidi: If you are relaxing a rule in one place, you need to
fortify the structure around it. Make the boundaries clear. Maybe
the stuffies only come out during quiet reading time, or
you can read aloud to your stuffy for fluency practice. The
parameters make sure that freedom feels fun.
Emily: If you try this one, make sure to set limits on what they
can bring. So no electronics, nothing expensive or
irreplaceable, because you do not want to be the reason that
Dylan loses his beloved teddy bear that he sleeps with every
night.
Heidi: Yeah, his parents aren't going to thank you for that. And
you also don't want to have somebody's Switch mysteriously
disappear from their backpack.
Emily: Oh gosh, yeah.
Heidi: Your classroom rules exist for a reason. So if you
are deciding to relax a rule, you have to account for all of
the potential side effects.
Emily: Yeah, somehow it takes a lot of extra rules to support
one relaxed rule, which feels a little funny, but it works
because it gives kids that taste of freedom that they're craving
without giving up control.
Heidi: Another easy little freedom is loosening hallway
expectations, not in a crazy way. We don't do crazy hallway
here.
Emily: No.
Heidi: But you can let the line leader pick a silly walk, as
long as everyone stays silent. Or turn the hallway into a
freeze game. When you turn around, everyone has to pose
like a statue.
Emily: Instead of relaxing a rule, you can try implementing a
new rule, but this rule is meant just for fun. So growing up,
because we're old, we watched Pee Wee's Playhouse on Saturday
mornings, and Pee Wee always had a secret word, and whenever you
heard it, you were supposed to scream.
Heidi: I always tried so hard to remember the word after the
episode was over, but no luck. Memory like a sieve even when I
was eight. But you can apply the same principle in your
classroom.
Emily: Yeah, but not with the screaming part.
Heidi: Yeah, no screaming.
Emily: Do something like maybe take a nod from Finding Nemo and
have a class call and response. So anytime the teacher says
Shark Bait, the class says, ooh, haha.
Heidi: That's such an easy way to add some whimsy to the day.
The only catch is remembering that you have to say Shark Bait
a few times a day.
Emily: Yeah, maybe you need to set a little alarm on your phone
to remind you to do it.
Heidi: If you decide to try offering some little freedoms,
stick to one relaxed rule at a time. Don't listen to everything
at once, or it really will fall apart. And frame it as a
privilege that the kids earned through being responsible. Be
willing to pull back if things get wild.
Emily: So those are our five smart switch ups for the messy
middle of May. Change a scene, play the favorites, peek ahead,
team up time, and little freedoms. That's how you keep
structure and spark balanced in May.
Heidi: And if this topic was helpful, you are going to love
our new book. It's coming out in August, and it will walk you
through how to reset the balance between structure and spark all
year long.
Emily: The book is available for pre-order, and we would love
your support. If you've gotten value out of these conversations
around the podcast, pre-ordering our book would be a great way to
support us. Every author says that, but it is so true, the
pre-orders really do make a big difference for authors.
Heidi: And as a bit of spark to the structure, we have some
really fun pre-order bonuses on the way, and we will tell you
more about those soon.
Emily: Yeah, and if you've already pre-ordered, you'll
still get all the bonuses after so don't worry. There is a link
in the show notes if you're ready to pre-order, and a huge
thank you in advance to anyone who does. It really means so
much to us.
Now for our Teacher Approved Tip of the Week, where we share an
actionable tip to help you elevate what matters and
simplify the rest. This week's teacher approved tip is to
protect your morning routine. Let's talk about it, Heidi.
Heidi: Oh, this is so important. We just spent the whole main
segment talking about adding spark to the day, and now we're
saying, But wait, not in the morning. Mornings set the tone
for the whole day. If you start the day with too much
excitement, that energy keeps climbing until it crashes. You
know, usually around 10:30 in the form of a meltdown over a
missing pencil. Your students need predictability more than
ever right now, because they are so dysregulated. The kids who
resist structure are usually the ones who need it the most, and
the morning is the anchor for all of those swaying nervous
systems.
Emily: Yeah. So even when you're loosening rules and switching
things up later in the day, keep your morning the same. That
predictability is what lets them handle the spark that you are
going to add in later.
Heidi: And that's what makes the rest of your day work. If the
morning is steady and predictable, then the change of
scene later feels like a fun shift, instead of just one more
thing in a chaotic day.
Emily: Right.
Heidi: To wrap up the show, we are sharing what we're giving
extra credit to this week. Emily, what gets your extra
credit?
Emily: I'm giving extra credit to the miracle foot cream that I
got, except it's not called that. It doesn't even like, have
a name. It's just like a made, I don't know.
Heidi: Black market?
Emily: No. It's just like, not like a name brand. It's just
like a cheap brand on on Amazon, it says grocerism is the name.
Heidi: Grocerism?
Emily: Grocerism, yep.
Heidi: Okay.
Emily: It is a 40% urea cream, which sounds like, oh, that
might be spicy. It's not spicy at all. It just feels like a
nice lotion, and it's got a little bit of salicylic acid in
it, and like a couple of other things, like aloe vera and
stuff. And like, you put this thing on at night and you will
have soft feet in the morning. I'm not even joking.
Heidi: Oh, okay,
Emily: I've been using it on the back of my 10 year old's arms
too, because she's got the keratosis polaris problem. Hers
was getting pretty bad, and so we put that on and like the next
day, it already was a ton better. So check it out. It
works good.
Heidi: Okay, I'm sure there'll be a link in the show notes.
Emily: There will. What are you giving extra credit to, Heidi?
Heidi: I'm giving extra credit to the three wins app. I think
this was only on iPhone, so apologies to Android users. But
I've been using this for a couple months now, and I love
it. So the idea is that, I think it's set up where, like at the
start of the day, you pick the three most important things you
want to get done in that day, and then at the end of the day
you come back and you say whether or not you've done
those. But I use it just at the end of the day to make a list of
everything I managed to get done.
And as someone who struggles with productivity guilt, this
has been a game changer. It's so easy. I just go through it, I
list everything I got done, because sometimes you get to the
end of the day and you see everything you didn't get done,
or what you feel like you got done isn't enough, or you just
take for granted all the little things you did, like, you know,
getting a load of laundry done, or putting the groceries away.
Like, once you start listing it out, it's just been such a huge
relief to me to be like, Oh, I'm crushing it. I'm doing so much
here. And if you check off all the wins for the date, you get
confetti. So, that's extra fun.
Emily: It's like, now that you're a Libby user, you'll have
to know this, that when, if you return a book early, they pop up
a little bouquet on the screen, and if you click that, then it
shoots all these flowers. I didn't even know this until a
couple months ago, I was returning books early and not
getting a celebration.
Heidi: Yeah, you've missed out.
Emily: Yes, but I will check this out, because it's, usually
at the end of the day I'm like, What did I even do today? Even
though I know I did stuff and it's way easier to just focus on
all the things you didn't get done.
Heidi: Yep, I used to have a journal that I would try and
write in, but I just couldn't keep up with it. But it's so
easy on my phone. So I give this five stars.
That is it for this week. May is a tug of war between holding on
and letting go, and the way through that middle stretch is
not to pick a side, but to rebalance. Try one switch up
this week and see what happens.
Emily: We'd love to hear which one you tried. So come find us
on Instagram @2ndstorywindow, and that's with a two. And don't
forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. We will see you
next week.
Heidi: We hope you enjoyed this episode of teacher approved. I'm
Heidi.
Emily: And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
or subscribe in your podcast app so that you never miss an
episode.
Heidi: You can connect with us and other teachers in the
Teacher Approved Facebook group. We'll see you here next week.
Bye for now.
Emily: Bye.