Heidi: This is episode 268 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're making the case for adding a little whimsy to
your summer, plus we've got a teacher-approved tip for putting
together an analog basket.
Heidi: But let's start with a try it tomorrow, where we share
a quick one that you can try right away. Emily, what is our
suggestion for this week?
Emily: This week, pick one tiny treat to indulge in. So maybe
it's buying yourself a bouquet of flowers at the grocery store,
or picking up the fancy iced coffee from the place that you
only let yourself go to sometimes, because it's, you
know, too expensive. Or you know, just getting a new candle,
anything like that. It doesn't have to be big, just claim one
small fancy thing, just for you.
Heidi: I love this. So much of life seems to run on autopilot.
We get through the day, there's the children to wrangle, we put
dinner on the table, we collapse. There's just not a lot
of space for enjoying things or noticing things.
Emily: Yeah, and a tiny indulgence is a reminder that,
you know, those small moments are where life happens, so it's
not just the big trips or the milestone events, but, you know,
the random Tuesday afternoon when you light a candle and sip
your coffee for 10 minutes. Those moments make up a lot more
of your life than the big things.
Heidi: Well, if you like ideas like this one, would you take a
second and give us a five star rating and review in your
podcast player? It is a small thing that makes a big
difference for us, and it helps new listeners find us. So we
really, really do appreciate everyone.
Emily: Yeah, we do. Okay, let's start with a trip down memory
lane. If someone asked, what did you do last summer, could you
remember? Not in like a, we went to the beach, but like
specifically, what did you do last summer.
Heidi: And I think for a lot of teachers the answers may be kind
of a shrug. You know you had time off, you know you were
definitely grateful for that, but most of the summer blurred
into, we did some stuff, and then it was August.
Emily: Yeah, and that's what we are talking about today, not how
to rest more, although we are big fans of rest, but how to
make a summer that you'll remember, and we're doing that
by making the case for a little summer whimsy.
Heidi: And it does feel a bit whimsical to dedicate a whole
episode to whimsy.
Emily: It does, we're so whimsy. But that might be like verging
into whimsy inception territory. Yeah, and none of us have the
brain power to unravel inception at the moment.
Heidi: No, we're not doing that. So, instead, let's start with
something that we have been circling around all summer.
We've talked a lot about recovery, especially in those
first weeks of break. And back in episode 262 we made the case
that recovery is more than just crashing on the couch.
Emily: And to be clear, we are fully encouraging you to crash
out on the couch, like do that as much as you need to. But
often when we talk about teacher recovery, we're talking about
taking things away, everyone wants less stress, less
pressure, and fewer responsibilities.
Heidi: If you remember our 4R recovery framework, all of those
taking away things lives under that first R, relax, and that,
of course, is important. But if your whole summer is only
focused on relaxing, you're missing three fourths of your
recovery plan. The other R's - refresh, refocus, and recharge -
are all about thoughtfully adding things that enrich your
life.
Emily: So, think of summer recovery like a garden bed. You
can pull all the weeds, you can clear it out, you can get the
soil all ready, even though that doesn't sound relaxing, that's
essentially the work of relaxing. You're getting
everything out of the way, so you can be still.
Heidi: And I am told that that's an important step in gardening.
Emily: Yeah, we established last week on an outing that we do not
have green thumbs. We were trying to get into some
gardening, and, it didn't, it didn't go well, listeners.
Heidi: I did manage to kill the one little sprout that I got to
show up, but it's fine. It's fine.
Emily: My basil plant is already looking pretty droopy. I need to
re-pot it, but I haven't, ugh, see, we don't know anything
about gardening. We're making this analogy up.
Heidi: So if it's wrong, don't tell us. But tying that back
into recovery, you have to clear the path a little bit, clear the
bed, but nothing's going to grow if you never plant the seeds.
Emily: That that I do know is true, that's definitely true.
Heidi: Yeah, that's kindergarten level on that one. But after
relaxing, we got those three other R's, and we're not going
to go into all of them today. You can go back to episode 262
if you want the breakdown, but what all of those R's have in
common is that they're about reconnecting with who you are
when you're not being a teacher.
Emily: For some teachers, this comes pretty naturally, but for
a lot of us, even the thought of having to answer, what do you do
for fun, just makes you panic.
Heidi: Oh, 100%. Emily and I used to spend our summers
bouncing back and forth between our classrooms, working on big
projects.
Emily: I mean, we would take on like massive curriculum
overhauls, like writing something from scratch, like
that was, and we loved every minute of it. That's the crazy
part, but I don't know that we got any of this recovery done.
Heidi: No, it was fun, but I also kind of have to admit that
there was like a darker layer to it for me. Staying busy gave me
this feeling of accomplishment, without ever having to stop and
consider what I actually want for my life, and am I moving
toward that. So, even after Emily moved away, my summers
were still just full of that same level of work. Busyness was
so much easier than having to sit with those questions, and
maybe having to overhaul my life as a result.
Emily: Right. I think a lot of teachers will see themselves in
that description. When you've drifted from your sense of self,
the idea of finding your way back kind of feels overwhelming.
Heidi: Yeah, it's a bit like jumping from a plane with no
parachute. So, here is why we are dedicating today to whimsy.
It's because it's such a low pressure place to start. There's
no soul searching. You don't have to figure out what's
missing from your life. You just have to open the door to a
little bit of playfulness.
Emily: And our teacher-approved definition of whimsy, who cares
what Merriam Webster says.
Heidi: Well, we care a little bit, because we do like their
account.
Emily: It's true, they have a very good account on social
media, they're very funny, but our definition of whimsy is
deliberately making room for delight, curiosity, surprise,
and playfulness. So, on the surface, it probably sounds very
frivolous, but it's an important part of recovery. Whimsy
reconnects you with yourself, and it helps you get the most
out of your summer in a way that fills your tank back up instead
of draining it.
Heidi: But don't worry, we're not getting into the heavy
stuff. We're not going to suggest that you throw a
Bridgerton style tea party for 30 of your friends.
Emily: Although if you are, way to go. I bet your group texts
are lively. If you have 30 friends, that's amazing. But you
don't need 30 friends or tea parties to feel whimsical. All
it takes is something as simple as wearing llama earrings or
talking to your cat in an accent. Whimsy meets you where
you are with whatever energy you have to give.
Heidi: So, to give a little example from my own life, Emily
and I are both big fans of Gretchen Rubin and her podcast,
Happier. And every year she talks about how to design your
summer so that it feels special and not just three months of
sweating. So, a couple of years ago, I took Gretchen's idea, and
I did The Summer of Parks and Rec, because I had never seen
that show all the way through. I'd only watched the first
season. So my to-do list was watching every episode and
listening to the Parks and Rec podcast. It's pretty low, it's
pretty low key, and I cannot say that that project made me a
better person, but it definitely made me a happier one.
And then another summer I did the summer of Audrey Hepburn, so
I listened to her biography, and I watched all of her movies in
order, not all of them, I couldn't find all of them on
streaming, but all the ones I could. And I have these clear
memories of that summer, like one afternoon where I treated
myself to a fancy soda, because we get all the fancy sodas here,
and I was listening to this story unfold of young Audrey
working with the Dutch resistance to take down Nazis.
And like this moment was not anything special, but because
summer's our busy season for work, and everything just has to
be wedged in around my other responsibilities, having
something lighthearted to focus on reminded me that life is
about more than my to-do list.
Emily: Yeah, and I feel like for us, because now we serve
teachers and summer is like go time for us, it's really easy to
just like let the summer pass by, and so I do think adding in
these rituals or moments of whimsy can really help you feel
connected to your summer. A couple years ago, I think I
talked about it here on the podcast when I came up with the
idea, which is that I wanted to have the summer of movies. So I
just had this realization that I love going to the movies, it's
just this nice escape where you're fully locked into
something and not being distracted and just enjoying a
movie, and then you can get your little movie snacks and watch
previews. I just, I just love it.
It's even better now that all of the theaters around us have very
nice recliner seats and things like that. But it was such a
nice summer having this thing that I wanted to do feel more
like something I should do, because I had set the intention
to do it, so then it did give me that thrill of, like, check, I'm
checking things off of my list. But it is just easier to
prioritize something when you name it.
Heidi: And I love how expansive this idea is. You can have the
summer of anything, really, the summer of trying every ice cream
parlor in town, or reading on the porch, or learning the names
of the birds in your yard. We recently downloaded the Merlin
app, so we are becoming experts.
Emily: I sent my youngest out with that to check on some birds
that she was watching, and they flew away, so she didn't, she
didn't catch anything, but she tried doing some fake noises,
thinking that she could trick it, and I have to tell you, the
Merlin app is too smart, she could not trick it.
Heidi: It's a wild Eloise. Now before you chalk all this up to
just, you know, fluffy feel-good nonsense. There is some real
psychology backing this up. Heavy emotions like stress
narrow our attention. So, think about how we all feel in the
middle of testing season. We are just zeroed in on the problems
and tracking all the deadlines and all the things that need
fixing.
Emily: And that's useful when you're trying to survive a hard
stretch, but it can wreak havoc on your mind and your body if
you spend every day wound up like that.
Heidi: Yeah, that's how we end up with brain fog and insomnia
and digestive issues.
Emily: And if it goes too long, we end up with problems like
heart disease and autoimmune disorders. So it's really
important to learn to manage your stress.
Heidi: And one way to do that is to lean into lighter feelings.
Where stress and anxiety narrow our focus to whatever problem is
right in front of us, delight and playfulness do the opposite;
they help us see the possibilities again.
Emily: And now we're going to use real research here.
Researcher Barbara Fredrickson calls this broaden and build
theory. So, the idea is that we counter the narrowness that
stress brings by opening up to emotions and behaviors that
broaden attention. So, over time, those broadened moments
help us build lasting relationships, skills, and
coping strategies.
Heidi: Or in other words, whimsy is not just a TikTok trend, it's
part of how we heal and come out even stronger on the other side.
Emily: And I just think this is especially important for
teachers all day long, you're scanning for who needs help,
what's missing, what did I forget, what problem is about to
become my problem. I mean, that is really the job, to be waiting
for an issue all day long.
Heidi: Yeah, that is the job, which is why teaching has a way
of swallowing up huge parts of who you are. You become the
planner, the organizer, the caretaker, the problem solver,
and your world gets a little smaller without you even
noticing.
Emily: So, summer isn't only a break from the stress, it's also
your chance to widen the lens again. So, you spent 10 months
narrowing. Summer is when you get to broaden back out.
Heidi: You know, we love reflection questions around
here. So, let's take a minute to think about a couple things.
First, what did you love before teaching took up so much of your
attention? And second, what are you curious about right now?
Emily: And this is the thing about those summer themes. The
summer of Audrey Hepburn wasn't really about Audrey Hepburn,
right, Heidi?
Heidi: No, it really wasn't. It was about having a no stress
reason to walk away from my computer sometimes. I just used
Audrey and also Leslie Knope as my doorways.
Emily: Right. And my movie summer wasn't really about
movies, it was about me realizing, like, oh, there's
this thing that I actually really enjoy, and I'm never
doing it, because I haven't made any space for it in my life. So
now I need to make the space for it.
Heidi: It's a chronic problem. When we were at the nursery the
other day, I came home, and I can't tell you, like, I had so
much guilt that we had gone to the nursery in the afternoon.
Emily: I know, in the middle of a work day.
Heidi: And I just was like, what? What is going on in my
brain that I can't let this go?
Emily: Uh huh.
Heidi: We are just so conditioned to justify
everything. We don't move unless it counts as exercise. We track
the minutes that we're spending on our phones. We feel guilty if
the books we read aren't serious enough. Everything has to earn
its keep.
Emily: But I have a secret for you, the. Rules are made up. You
are a grown-up. You can do something just because it
interests you. It doesn't have to be productive, and it doesn't
have to make you better. It can just be fun and silly and
completely pointless if we want it to be.
Heidi: And that is what whimsy gives you. It creates room for
experiences that don't have to justify themselves. And the
funny thing is those things tend to end up being some of the most
meaningful parts of life anyway.
Emily: But the catch is that those moments almost never just
happen on their own. So, if you want some place to start, use
Gretchen Rubin's idea of giving your summer a theme. This year
maybe you want the summer of state parks, or the summer of
musicals, or the summer of library visits.
Heidi: The nice thing about a theme is that it creates
anticipation and a little bit of structure, but there's not too
much extra work involved.
Emily: And that brings us right back to the question that we
started with. Years from now, the summer of 2026 might not
mean anything if you hear that, but you might remember, oh, that
was my summer of wildflowers.
Heidi: So, if you need a whimsical on-ramp, try naming
your summer. But if you want to go a different route, why not
try something we are calling a whimsy menu. So, here's the
problem it solves: when we are tired, we default, and the
default is almost always scrolling.
Emily: Yes, so guilty every time. So, to combat that, let's
make some decisions ahead of time. Find a moment when you
have a little energy and make a plan that you'll benefit from
later when you're feeling sluggish. It's, you know, the
gift for your future self. We love to do it. So, start with a
list of categories, and if you need some ideas, you could try
creative, outdoor, social, silly, or curious.
Heidi: And then think about some things you might want to do in
each category. You will be more likely to follow through if you
make the item specific. So, instead of writing "have fun,"
write, "try three new homemade popscroll recipes," or instead
of, "spend more time outside," put, "walk the trail behind the
library every Tuesday." That way you know if you have achieved
your goal or not.
Emily: And remember, this is not about chasing productivity, so
please mix in some easy ones.
Heidi: Or honestly, do all easy if that's more realistic for
your season. No one's grading you.
Emily: Yeah, this is a menu, not a contract. You are not failing
your summer if you don't get to all of it. You're just giving
yourself good options for the moment you'd otherwise reach for
your phone.
Heidi: And even though we are moving into July, there is still
a lot of summer left. So, what do you want to get out of it?
What would help you broaden your view?
Emily: So try naming your summer. Follow a curiosity. My
friend just told me that she's super into sandhill cranes right
now. I was like, okay, I love it. And you know, watch the
movies, give yourself something to remember, and give yourself a
chance to just be a person again before it's time to be a
teacher.
Heidi: And this is exactly the spirit behind something we've
got coming up that we are so excited about, it's almost time
for our annual teacher summer talk summit.
Emily: And I'm so excited about this. This is something we do
every summer, it's been a few years of doing this now, and
what is really important to us, if we're going to ask teachers
to come spend some of their personal time working on
professional development, then we're going to make sure you
have a really good time. So last year our theme was 90s theme, a
90s summer theme, and oh, we went hard. Anyone who was at it
knows we leaned all the way into the 90s. We had a snack food,
90s snack food bracket that we voted on to figure out what was
the best 90 snack, and we just had such a fun time.
And so I knew we needed a different theme this year. I
wasn't sure we could top it until I came up with summer camp
theme, and not just any summer camp, like parent trap summer
camp, like, very nostalgic, all the fun. We are going to have a
total blast, and you'll get to get ready for back to school
from the comfort of your own couch. And then, along the way,
you can earn merit badges. This is the part I'm so excited
about. And then also the chance to win prizes while you're
learning, so it's win, win, win.
Heidi: It's basically permission to make getting ready for fall
feel a little more whimsy and a lot less like a chore.
Emily: The summit is free, and the tickets open up on July 1.
So, mark your calendar, and believe me, we will have all the
details for you as we get closer.
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 make an
analog bag. So, tell us about an analog bag, Heidi.
Heidi: Well, if you are online a lot, like I am, this is
something you're probably familiar with, because it's kind
of everywhere right now.
Emily: It's the it thing, this summer.
Heidi: That and whimsy, but I think everyone is latching onto
it, because it makes so much sense. The idea is to just round
up a bunch of stuff that you can do while you're relaxing,
instead of scrolling your phone. So, in my analog bag, I have a
couple of books, a needle punching project that I'm just
learning how to do, some puzzle books that I got for my
birthday, a sticker by number book, and then I also have this
little word game tin called Cue List that our mom got us for
Easter.
Emily: Oh, yeah, yeah.
Heidi: It's perfect because it's just a one-player game, and then
you just need something to store it all in, so that it's as handy
to reach for as your phone. Obviously, I have the perk of
not having kids around, so I don't have to worry about kids
getting into it. I'm using a felt diaper tote, but I've seen
people use baskets or canvas bags, or even fun gardening
totes.
Emily: Yeah, and you just want to look for something that has a
lot of little pockets, I think, because sometimes there's just
little bits and pieces for some of the things you might want to
add.
Heidi: So, I'll put a link in the show notes to the diaper
tote I'm using. It's really nice, it's got little pockets on
the side and big spaces in the middle, and then your challenge
this week is to start rounding up stuff at your house, because
I bet you've got more bits and pieces scattered all over that
would work well for an analog bag. You probably don't even
need to buy anything, but this is a good reason to use the
stuff that you've always been meaning to get to.
To wrap up the show, we are sharing what we're giving extra
credit to this week. Emily, what gets your extra credit?
Emily: Well, I wanted to think of something whimsy for the
extra credit this week, so I am giving extra credit to myself
for this idea. No, I'm giving extra credit to rock exchanges.
So I had the thought that out by my little free library in my
yard, it would be perfect to have a little rock exchange
there, so the kids in the neighborhood can decorate rocks,
and they can come drop them off, and they can grab one of the
other ones and take it home, and then they can drop them off
places where they want to, you know, you can just leave a cute
rock in the park, or whatever. So I just thought it was such a
fun little summery thing to do, and so my extra credit actually
is going to the paint markers that I found that are supposed
to be good for rocks.
Heidi: That's such a fun idea. I don't have painted rocks, but
I've got some random rocks that kids might like.
Emily: Oh, I do love your ladybug rocks.
Heidi: Oh, that's a fun idea. Maybe I'll bring those over.
They're just sad in my yard right now. I inherited someone's
rock collection that got passed from, like, I think someone's
parents had collected, and it made its way to me. So, I got
these like pretty rocks. I don't do it, but maybe the kids would
want to decorate them.
Emily: Yes, maybe that's a good idea. What are you giving extra
credit to, Heidi?
Heidi: Well, also in the theme of whimsy, I'm giving extra
credit to plant magnets. Have you seen these, Emily?
Emily: Yes.
Heidi: They're so fun. They're just like little magnetic eyes
or shapes that you can put on the leaves of your plants. So,
I've got this big tall snake plant in the corner, the one
plant I've managed to keep alive. So, I put all these
little eyes on it, and it just makes me laugh. I love it. It's
not very expensive, it doesn't take up any extra space, so I'll
put a link in the show notes, but there's tons of brands out
there. If you want something to make you smile, plant magnets
are it.
Emily: I love it.
Heidi: That is it for today's episode. Pick a theme for your
summer, make yourself a whimsy menu, and give yourself a summer
worth remembering.
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.