This is episode 242 of Teacher Approved.

You're listening to Teacher Approved, the podcast helping

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

Heidi.

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.

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

the show.

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

episode, we are talking about how to manage your energy so

that you can have the best February yet. Plus, we're

sharing a Teacher Approved tip that might be a little

controversial, but has the power to change your whole month.

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?

This week, how about sending a 'one good thing text.'

At the end of your school day, you know, like before you leave

the building, or right when you get home, text one person and

share something good that happened that day.

Now your good thing does not have to be big. It could be,

oh, a kid who's been struggling finally got something today, or

I actually ate lunch sitting down, which is always a win. But

the magic is that this forces your brain to scan the day,

looking for something good, and then sharing it doubles the

boost.

And this is especially helpful this time of year when

the days are gray and cold and dark and it's easy to just drive

home and replay everything that went wrong in your head. So try

this tomorrow or hey, today, depending on when you're

listening, pick one of your favorite people and send them

one good thing from today.

And if you find that this podcast is one of your good

things, would you take a second to leave us a five star rating

and review in your podcast app? It really helps other teachers

find us and we read and appreciate every single one.

And you can include it in your one good thing text, if you

want when you text.

All right, Heidi, so can you believe it? It is almost

February. I feel like January is 1 million years long. So it does

feel like a relief to get here after the slog of January.

Oh yeah. It is the worst. Fully the worst. When I was

teaching, January was my least favorite stretch of the entire

school year. Nothing else even came close to how much I hated

it, because I would come back from Christmas break. You know,

you're already mourning the loss of the break being over, and you

come back and the festive December sparkle is all gone,

and immediately I would have to jump into catching up my

mountain of grading.

Yes, because in our district, term two didn't end

until that first week back. And so that meant when we got back

the report cards and the parent conferences were just there

waiting for us right out of the gate.

And now, if I'd been on top of it, this would have been

something I did before the break, but that happened exactly

zero times. And when we had conferences, we did not have it

easy, like these young teachers nowadays, like we did not have

half days for conferences for us.

No, no, and, and I don't know if it's just around here

that they're getting those half days. Maybe some people are

suffering the way we used to suffer, but it was a long day.

Yeah, we had to go straight through. So we taught

all day, and then we had conferences 3:15 to 9. And if

you were lucky, at some point, you got 15 minutes to sneak away

for some PTA prepared lasagnas in the faculty room. And you

just had to hope there was food left by the time you got the

time you got in there.

Right. And I usually had a few conferences before school

too. So it was, it was a marathon day. And, you know, we

deserve some kind of reward for having to do that in the

beginning of January, especially.

Yeah, or, you know, some bonus pay or something.

Ha! Wouldn't that be nice? Well, on top of ending the

semester, January brings all the mid year reset pressure too,

which is important. And we talk about doing mid year resets for

sure, but it can feel like another big thing to manage. And

while you're trying to fix everything that drifted off

course in September, your students are also crawling out

of their skin because of the cabin fever.

Yeah, it's relentless this time of year. I remember

finally making it to February and just being in this fog where

I was hopping from task to task with no real strategy, you know,

just moving the stacks of paper around the room.

Yeah, and for me, it was the grading, because I hate

grading, I'd put it off, and then I'd finally catch them in

January, and then immediately fall behind again, because I had

dropped everything else to do the catching up on the grading.

And you know, it's just a vicious cycle.

Now, looking back with some perspective, I can see

though, that February offered some opportunities that I

completely overlooked. You know, the conferences were done for a

couple of months, the mid year reset push was winding down, but

the testing panic had not kicked in yet.

Yeah, you do kind of get a bit of breathing room here,

but often you're so drained that you kind of just drift through

it.

That is what I wish I had understood back then, February

can be such a gift if you are aware enough to take stock of

where you are and where you want to go.

That's actually why it's so important to think about the

school year in seasons, because February needs something very

different than December or March.

This is the lens that we use inside the Teacher Approved

Club to help you decide what actually matters right now,

instead of trying to fix everything at once. So we are

going to apply that same framework to our discussion

today. We want you to have the kind of February that we didn't

get to have.

That starts with reflecting on what you need from

the month and how you can use it to make teaching more

sustainable. So back in December, we shared our December

teacher survival kit to help you make a plan for how to manage

planning and teaching and hyper kids and prepare for January all

at the same time. And we got some very lovely feedback that

we wanted to share about that resource.

Yeah, Jonathan reached out, and he said, I've been

teaching for 14 years, and I recently came across your

December Survival Guide, which I purchased. I just wanted to tell

you thank you so much for this product, because this has been

the quietest, calmest winter break I've ever had. I've not

thought about school at all, and have just been able to relax

because I know everything is all set from the prep I did through

your guide.

I love it so much. Thank you for sharing that with us,

Jonathan. Kind of got a little teary the first time I read it,

because that's exactly what we hope the December guide will do

for you. So we got to thinking about what teachers might need

in February, because even though the challenges look different,

the weight this time of year isn't any easier to carry.

And so, allow us to introduce our newest product,

the very cleverly named, February Teacher Survival Kit.

Hey, it's a good name. It says what it is.

It is, you can, you know exactly what you're getting.

Now, this is much smaller than the December version, because

there are fewer moving pieces this time of year, but we wanted

to give you the tools that you need to take advantage of this

little reset that February can offer.

So there are 14 exercises, and they're organized

into five planning categories: evaluate, clarify, plan, sustain

and look ahead. And those will give you the perspective you

need to take advantage of this moment without adding to your

overwhelm. Unfortunately, we can't go into all of them in the

time that we have today. So we had to pick the one we think is

the most important.

This was a tough decision, but we finally decided

that the February energy audit was the key to making everything

else work. By this time of year, teachers are often moving

through the day on autopilot. You know that feeling. It is

very likely that some of the things you are doing right now

could be easier with just a few tweaks.

Especially if you can plug any energy leaks. An energy

leak is a repeating drain that costs more than it should. It's

often invisible because it's just part of the regular

routine.

So these are things like that afternoon transition that

takes five minutes longer than it should. I just felt my blood

pressure spike, just thinking about it. Or, you know, it's the

email that you check real quick that pulls you out of your

morning prep, or it's the crating that follows you on

because you couldn't get it done during your planning time.

What makes energy leaks sneaky is that they don't feel

like emergencies. You don't notice because nothing is

forcing you to really look, you're just trying to get

through but every one of them is depleting your battery like an

open app that's running in the background.

Okay, so here's how we're going to make this energy audit

work in an audio form. We're going to walk through six areas

of your day where energy leaks tend to hide, and for each one,

we want you to rate it like a traffic light. So green means

that this area is working, and these are the things that you

want to work hard to protect.

But if you're rating somewhere is yellow, it means

it's draining more than it should, and something here could

probably be better. And obviously, if you go to red, it

means this is actively costing you, and something that needs to

change.

So you can do this right now as we go through the

episode, you know, in your car, on your commute, just listen and

rate each area in your head.

Although if you're the type who needs to write things

down, you maybe want to wait until you're parked, or you can

listen and then maybe at the end, come back and zip through

and write down what you want to write down, because we do not

Yes, no accidents, please. It's a hot take, but

want to be responsible for any accidents.

that's what we're standing on.

Yes, yes. That is a firm teacher approved stance.

Okay, let's start with before school. This is

everything that happens from when you arrive until the kids

walk in. Now, do you ever find yourself trying to wrap up all

of that morning prep while the kids are walking in? So you

know, now you're half prepping, half greeting, half answering

questions.

That's three halves.

Well, that is exactly how it feels. You are doing 150% of

a job, and probably none of it well.

If you only reflect on one part of your school day,

this is the one. Energy leaks here can be extra sneaky,

because they often look like productivity. You're at school

early, you're working! But if you look closer, sometimes that

time is leaking like a colander.

So take a second here think about your before school

time. Is it green, yellow, or red? If it's yellow or red, take

a few minutes to examine your morning routine. It might help

to write it down, and we've got a page for this in the February

guide, if that's helpful. So think about what you're doing at

that time and what is eating into your time.

And even if you don't have the guide, just writing

this down on any paper will help you see what's happening. Maybe

you need to batch similar tasks. Maybe certain things should only

happen on certain days.

Or maybe the key to the whole thing is prepping your

morning before you leave the night before. I know this can be

so hard to manage when you're tired, but think of it as a gift

to your future morning self. You also will not have the time or

energy to do the tasks that you're putting off right now.

Right. You're going to be tired probably both times. But I

often am more motivated to help future me than I would be just

to help now me.

Okay, let's look at area two, during instruction. This is the

time you're actually teaching.

Now, you know teaching is tiring. This is just true.

Standing in front of humans all day and having to be on is

inherently demanding. But there's a difference between,

teaching is hard, and, something about my instruction is draining

me more than it should.

If your kids are disengaged during instruction,

that might be a huge energy leak. You're working so hard to

deliver this lesson, and it's just crickets and fidgeting, and

that one kid who's definitely building something out of eraser

bits.

Oh my gosh, the eraser bits. You know, and so that

leads to another leak, off task behavior. When kids aren't

engaged, they find something else to do, and then you're

spending energy managing behavior instead of actually

teaching.

It's so exhausting, you leave those lessons feeling like

you ran a marathon but somehow also lost the race. So consider

your during instruction time. Would you rate it green, yellow

or red?

If it's yellow or red, think about the balance between

structure and spark or novelty. We talk a lot about this because

it is foundational for everything that happens in your

class. To add some spark to your lessons, try adding more active

student response.

And we did a whole episode on this episode, 161

where you get every student participating, instead of just

the hand raisers. You can also try a new lesson format,

something that encourages exploration or discovery or

play. Even just turning a lesson into a game can completely shift

the energy.

All right, you've thought about the before school moments

and instruction time. Now let's talk about one of the big ones,

those in between moments. Think about your transitions, the five

minutes it takes to get from the carpet back to desks, or the

five minutes to switch from math to reading. On their own these

long transitions might not seem like a big deal, but if you have

got three transitions a day that take an extra five minutes, that

adds up to 45 hours a year.

Oh, yikes. Those last moments really do add up fast.

Another energy drain is the time lost to interruptions. It's hard

to get through a lesson when someone is knocking on the door,

the phone is ringing and a kid needs to go to the nurse. Those

constant, small disruptions break everyone's focus.

So think about your in between moments. Would you say

they are green, yellow or red? If transitions are your leak, we

have three episodes that can help you with this. Episodes,

48, 49 and 50.

Yes, we did, in fact, spend three episodes talking

about transitions, because they are so tricky, and getting them

right is really important to the flow of your day. It really can

make or break the whole day.

Oh, seriously, that's not hyperbole. And I think with

transitions, one of the most effective ways to plug any

energy leaks is to have clear bookends to your transition. So

bookend beforehand by making sure you have everyone's

attention while you're giving directions. That will clear up a

lot of confusion and wandering around. And then bookend at the

end by making sure you have created what we call a landing

pad activity. This is something that engages students the second

they arrive at the next spot.

And landing pads can be so simple, it can be drawing a

picture, playing the quiet game, taking out a book, discussing a

silly question with a neighbor. But if kids arrive somewhere

with nothing to do, they will find something to do, and I

promise you, it will be disruptive.

Yeah, that's that's a threat, and that causes an

energy leak, because when you have to spend time and energy

getting their attention all over again, that easily eats another

five minutes. And if you consider how many transitions

you do in a day, that's a lot of leaking energy.

All right, we're halfway through. How are you doing out

there? Still with us, I hope. Let's look at area four, after

school. This is the time between dismissal and when you actually

leave the building.

And for a lot of teachers, or maybe I'm just

adding my own bad habits, this is where the wheels completely

come off. If you don't have a plan for how to handle this

time, it's really easy to just putter around for an hour and

still somehow not be ready for tomorrow.

Yeah, but you'll feel productive because you're doing

stuff. But unless you know exactly what needs to happen for

tomorrow, what you're doing may not actually be helping.

So reflect on your after school time. Does it feel green,

yellow, or red? This is why an end of day routine helps so

much. When you have a routine, you don't have to figure out

what to do. You just do the next step.

The February survival kit has an end of day routine

planner that walks you through building one, but even just

writing down, first I do this, then I do this, then I leave,

gives you something to follow when your brain is mush.

Now we're going to be talking about this more in the

next couple episodes, plus we'll be talking about how to do a

planning time routine. So make sure you're subscribed to this

podcast so you don't miss anything. We want to help you

figure out the right routines that support your needs, so your

job is not any harder than it has to be.

All right, let's check out area five, at home. This is

how school follows you home. You know how it goes. Grading on the

couch, planning on Sunday, answering emails at 8pm while

you're trying to watch TV with your family, but you just can't

turn off the teacher brain.

Yeah, the leak here is doing school tests at home,

which means you're never actually off. So think about

your at home time. Is it green, yellow, or red? If this is red

for you, let's think about what's usually following you

home.

And I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's probably

grading.

Oh yeah, grading is like laundry. You're never done. So

do what you can to make it more manageable, if possible, only

grade the bare minimum.

Yes, this is your permission slip. You do not need

to grade every bit of student work. You can mark things pass

fail. You can look at one or two questions on each page, and that

will tell you if the student understands it or not. Figure

out how much information that you need to assign a grade, and

then don't grade any more than that.

And if you do morning work, don't grade morning work.

Oh yes, please don't.

Yeah, correct it as a class, everyone is learning, and

you're saving yourself a huge headache.

Yep.

Okay, so let's look at our last area, emotional labor.

This is the invisible category. It's the effect of all of the

worry and concern that you're carrying.

This might not even show up on your to do list, but

compassion fatigue and decision fatigue and seasonal depression

are all out there, stealing your energy. So is your emotional

labor green, yellow or red?

This one is a lot harder to fix, but there are things

that help. First, try naming what you're carrying. Just tell

yourself, I'm holding a lot right now. That awareness alone

can make a huge difference.

Second, treat yourself gently. Gretchen Rubin has a

saying that you should treat yourself like a toddler. And I

know it sounds silly, but it's actually great advice, because

toddlers need rest, snacks, play and someone who's patient with

them, and you need those things too.

And also, you know, like a toddler, give yourself a

bedtime. Make sure you're getting more in your diet than

caffeine and sugar. Take time to do something that's just for

fun, and when you're struggling, be as patient with yourself as

you would with a tired three year old.

There are so many factors that go into teaching that you

can't control, but you can build your capacity to handle them,

and sometimes that starts with a snack and an early bedtime.

Yes, a snack and a rest are never a bad idea.

Yeah, I think those solve a lot of your problems.

All right, you just rated six areas of your day. So let's talk

about what to do with what you found. For your red and yellow

areas, you basically have three options. Option one, strategic

swaps. These are the small shifts that reduce the drain

without overhauling everything. So for example, instead of

planning from scratch, you lean on what worked last week and

just tweak it.

Now, we gave you some swaps for each of the six areas

already in this episode, and there are more in the February

survival kit, but the guiding principle here is to look for

small and targeted and sustainable tweaks.

Your second option for managing your yellow and red

lights is to set boundaries to protect your time and energy.

Try a hard stop for leaving school or being clear with a

chatty co worker. Oh, that's hard.

Yes, yes. Boundaries definitely feel uncomfortable at

first, especially if you are not used to setting them. It's like

a muscle you have to train, but they're how you keep those

energy leaks from taking over.

And then we have option three, channel your inner Elsa

and let it go. This is the hardest one for a lot of

teachers, because we care so much, we want to do everything

well. But not everything that's draining you is essential, so

some things you can just stop.

So for example, maybe you could stop sending the weekly

newsletter that no one reads, or turn over bulletin board

decorating to your students. They would be thrilled. If it's

not mandatory and they aren't paying you extra to do it, let

it go.

So hopefully, today's energy audit helped you identify

a few strategic shifts that will help you use February to refill

your tank.

If today's episode helped you see what's actually draining

you, that's huge, but knowing what's wrong is only half the

battle. You still have to figure out what to do about it while

teaching and grading and managing the 100 other things

you juggle in a day.

And so most teachers end up doing the same thing,

scrambling for random solutions for whatever problem's bugging

you the most at 10pm on Sunday night, or just white knuckling

through the chaos because that feels easier than fixing the

problem.

But what Emily and I have learned over the years is that

many of the challenges that come with teaching are actually

predictable. February boredom happens every year. Extra

chattiness is coming in March. Sorry if that's a spoiler.

December, chaos is not a surprise. We can see it coming.

So we created the Teacher Approved Club to give you real

solutions before you need them. Every month, we deliver

strategies for what's actually happening in your classroom

right now. And these are not generic tips like, batch your

copies. Although that's a good idea, you should batch your

copies.

Yes, do that.

But what we're offering is specific tools for the exact

challenges of the season you're in.

When we get to April, you're not going to be Googling

how to manage spring fever, because you've already got it

locked down. You got your April strategy on the first. And when

December rolls around again, you won't be drowning in festive

overwhelmed because your November prep already included

your holiday management plan.

The club is set up to give you structure and spark in

action. We have monthly strategies and easy, quick win

challenges to help you take action and live calls with us

and a community of teachers who get it, so you can say goodbye

to the midnight googling.

So if you are tired of figuring this out alone, if you

want to actually prevent the problems instead of just

reacting to them, come join us. Head to

secondstorywindow.net/club to learn more, or head to the link

in the show notes.

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

create some bonus prep time. Tell us about it, Heidi.

Okay, I know this is going to ruffle some feathers,

but I am okay with that.

You're taking a stand.

I am on this one. So since January is wrapping up, we

want to challenge you to carve out some time during school this

week or early next week to plan for February. Now, if you

remember, back in December, we talked about claiming pockets of

prep, just a few minutes here or there, so you can get ahead on

all of the work that's waiting for you. And that's what we're

going to do here, but on a bigger scale. Now, a whole day

would be ideal, but an afternoon, or even just an hour,

if that's all you can find, can completely change your whole

month.

So here is what that looks like in action. Instead of

teaching lessons, you're going to keep your students involved

in independent work. Maybe you plan a small group review

challenge, get out math games from last term, or use

flashlights to stretch reading time just a little bit longer.

Maybe you're going to have the kids do online activities, or

you're going to use a work packet or show a Wild Kratts

video.

There are so many options to keep kids engaged

independently, but while they are doing all of that learning

on their own, you're going to be at your desk actually planning.

This is your chance to pause and really look at what needs to

happen next month, figure out what you need to prepare, or

deal with that mountain of grading. This lets you finally

get ahead instead of playing catch up for the next four

weeks.

Now, I can feel some of you panicking through your ear

buds right now. I can't do that! My principal would have a fit!

So let's talk about it. First, as long as your students are

engaged in meaningful learning activities, you are not short

changing them. Reading is learning. Games that practice

skills are learning. Review work is learning. Educational videos

are learning. Your students are still benefiting from

instruction, even when you're not standing at the board,

delivering a lesson.

Second, one day, or one afternoon a month without small

groups, is not going to hurt any student's progress. And in fact,

if you look at the big picture, this might actually help them,

because this month, you will be able to more strategically meet

their needs, instead of just plunging forward without any

idea of your destination.

And third, let's be honest, you will never be given

the time you need to do your job well, so you have to get

creative about using the time you have. If you can't take a

whole day, rearrange your schedule. Put all your lessons

in the morning, and reserve the afternoon for independent

activities.

And honestly, your principal may not love it, but

until they start paying teachers overtime, do not feel guilty

about using work time to do work tasks.

If you're worried about doing this all in one chunk and,

you know, whatever your principal might think about it,

you could also do a few smaller chunks over a couple chunks over

a couple of days. So maybe just show a short video every day for

three days, three different videos. Don't just show the same

one three times. That would be wasting the children's time, but

do three quality videos over three afternoons, and you can do

it that way if that feels a little more comfortable to you.

And the February kit has planning pages that make this

planning time even more effective. There's a one small

step page that helps you sort through everything and pick the

one thing to focus on, and a finished, strong focus page that

helps you clarify your priorities for the rest of the

Hopefully this is something that you can make part

year.

of your monthly routine. Maybe you schedule it the last Friday

afternoon of the month. Your kids will feel like they're

getting a treat, and you will feel like you won a prize,

because you actually have a chance to be the kind of teacher

that you want to be.

I love it.

To wrap up the show, we're showing what we're giving

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

credit?

I'm giving extra credit to hinge toppers. Did you

already give extra credit to this one time? I can't remember.

I did. But I have different ones than you do.

That's true. So I just loved the idea so much when you

shared about it, about these little magnetic cutie things.

They're about an inch tall.

Yeah, like figurines, they are magnetic, and you can

put them on the top of the hinges of your doors, you know,

just a few scattered throughout your house. And what kind do you

have, Heidi?

I have dragons.

Oh, which is so cute. Well, you gave me some little

gnomies.

They're so cute.

For Christmas, and I love them so much. I just put them

up, and they just bring me so much joy, especially because

they're not, the ones I got, they blend in with the hinge,

which I actually think is the best way to do it. You can do,

there's cute ones I've seen that are colorful, and that would be

fun too, but I do really like that they blend in, because then

they're even more fun when you notice them there, because it's

like a little surprise.

Yes, this little sprinkle of whimsy, but it's so

unobtrusive. And I don't, yeah, I don't think anyone has noticed

my dragons unless I point them out, but it makes me happy. I

love feeling like my doors are being guarded.

Yes, it's like adding just like a little secret to

your house. I think it's so cute.

I'm glad you like the gnomes. I thought they were

pretty cute.

I love them. And whimsy is my word of the year. So you

just front loaded me with some way to add some whimsy to my

year. So thank you. What are you giving extra credit to, Heidi?

Well, I'm giving extra credit to the blue air invisible

mist humidifier. I started using this, well I got it for

Christmas, so a month ago. I have really enjoyed it. It does

a good job. Now, my benchmark for what kind of humidifier I

wanted was I needed something that was easy to clean. And this

is, you do have to disassemble it a bit, but it's not too bad,

and you can use tap water. That was the other thing, I don't

want to have to, it doesn't leave, there's no that white

residue anywhere.

Yeah, sometimes you get with humidifiers.

Yes, and it's really easy to control in the app. The only

problem I have is that when it is on night mode, you cannot

turn the display all the way off. When it's just on regular

running setting, you can turn the display out, it has like an

LED display, you can turn it all the way off, but you can't do

that in night mode. And I thought, okay, it might not, I'm

just gonna Google it, and there, I guess you used to be able to

and then they did some kind of upgrade, and it's not a function

now.

What?

I know, it's so bizarre. So the way around it is I just

don't use night mode. I just set up a, like, a schedule, because

it's not a big deal. I just set it up for like, the hours I want

to turn on and the level of humidity I want, and then I can

just turn the display all the way down, because I didn't want

that blue light all night.

There we go. That makes sense, and that, I have a blue

air purifier in my room right now, and that is my complaint

with it, is that it's got this light on it that you can't turn

off, and it's so annoying, I've covered it up with stickers, but

I guess to see it through the little black stickers. But

anyway, that's good to know. I really need a new humidifier, so

I've got my eye on this.

Yes, watch for sale.

I will.

That is it for today's episode. Don't let February

drift by. Audit your energy, find your leaks, and make one

small shift. And remember to grab the February survival kit

so you have a place to reflect and plan.

And if this is the sort of topic you want to hear more

of, be sure to join us in the Teacher Approved Club. Each

month we're preparing you to handle what's ahead so you can

protect your energy and enjoy your job.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm

Heidi.

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.

You can connect with us and other teachers in the

Teacher Approved Facebook group. We'll see you here next week.

Bye for now.

Bye.