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Heidi: This is episode 190 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 giving you five
easy tasks that you can do in

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April to get ready for back to
school, and we're sharing a

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teacher approved tip for giving
a spring refresh to your

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classroom procedures.

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Heidi: Let's start with a try it
tomorrow, where we share a quick

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win that you can try in your
classroom right away. Emily,

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what is our prompt this week?

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Emily: This week, give the
mystery compliment game a try.

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You write each student's name on
a small slip of paper and put

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them in a jar, then have each
student secretly draw a name and

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write down a specific compliment
about that person. Then in the

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afternoon, you can read the
compliments out loud and let the

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students guess who it's about.

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Heidi: I love this so much. It
is a quick and easy way to boost

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classroom kindness and
connection, which is so

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important this time of year, and
it is a perfect way to add some

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surprise and delight.

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Emily: If you like this idea or
anything else we share here on

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the podcast, would you take a
second and give us a five star

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rating? Ratings and reviews are
one way new listeners find us.

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So every rating and review is a
huge help to us.

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Heidi: So be honest, did you
have a little bit of a heart

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attack when you saw the words
back to school in this episode

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title?

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Emily: Don't worry if you did.
That is completely normal, but

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no need to panic. We promise you
will leave this episode feeling

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inspired, not terrified.

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Heidi: Not only inspired, but
also empowered, I think.

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Emily: Yes.

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Heidi: Now I know what you might
be thinking. April seems a

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little bit early to be thinking
about back to school, especially

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when you might still be counting
down the days to spring break,

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or maybe you are just trying to
make it through the chaos of

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testing season. But hear us out.

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Emily: Yeah, thinking about back
to school in April actually

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gives you a nice advantage.
You're still in the classroom

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routine, so all those systems
and challenges are fresh in your

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mind. You don't have to think
too hard to know what worked

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well and what you are never,
ever doing again. That kind of

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clarity is hard to come by in
the middle of summer break, when

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last year feels like a cloudy
memory.

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Heidi: So we are going to jump
on that April advantage. And

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don't worry, we're not about to
suggest things that are going to

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take you hours to do after
school. We have got five simple

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things you can do in short
bursts, like independent work

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time or planning time, to set
yourself up for back to school

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success without adding to your
already full plate.

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Emily: We want you to start next
year feeling rested, refreshed

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and ready to go, and one step in
that direction is by starting

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your prep early. So let's dive
into the five tasks you can do

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in April for back to school.

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Okay, task number one to get
ready for back to school in

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April is start your lists. We're
starting with something simple,

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but seriously powerful. And we
don't mean just make a to do

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list. We're talking about three
specific lists that will save

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the day when you sit down to
plan over the summer.

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Heidi: Our first list is a Ta-Da
list. This is where you

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celebrate everything you did
well this year. What did you try

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that worked? What routines or
systems felt smooth and

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sustainable? Write it down so
that you remember to bring it

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back next year.

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Emily: If you're like us, it's
so much easier to think of all

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the things going wrong than to
recognize all the amazing things

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that are going great. But that's
the reason why you need to start

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working on it right away. Once
you get a few things written on

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your ta-da list, more things
will come to mind. You'll start

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noticing how smoothly your
morning routine runs, or how you

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maximize your transition after
lunch for a quick review time.

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Make that list so you have a
place to write these

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observations down.

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Heidi: It is so important to
celebrate your wins. Not only is

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that a great mood boost, but it
will help you identify what you

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want to make sure to continue in
the future. And getting started

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on it now, while you're still in
the thick of the school year,

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will help you pinpoint the
little details that might slip

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your mind in a few months.

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Emily: Okay, next is the obvious
list, your to do list. These are

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the tasks you already know
you'll need to handle before

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school starts. Think about
things like what you need to

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copy, what you'll need to label,
or any supplies you'll want to

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have ready.

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Heidi: If you made a to do list
last year and you still have it

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handy, definitely check that
list. It's so much easier when

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you do not have to recreate the
wheel every year.

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Emily: And if you don't have one
from last year, be sure to save

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this year's list. Keep listening
for a free resource we have for

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you to help you keep track of
these lists from year to year.

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Heidi: And the third list you
need is your fix it list. This

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is the place to capture all
those little annoyances that you

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meant to fix but maybe never
quite got to. Maybe it's a

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system that didn't flow, or a
classroom layout that didn't

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work. Now it's the time to jot
it all down before you forget.

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Emily: This is, for sure, one of
the easiest lists for me to

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make. I am always so aware of
every little pain point in our

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routine and all the ways I want
to improve my instruction.

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Heidi: Just because we're into
term four doesn't mean that it's

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too late to fix these things
now. In fact, solving a headache

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now can be a smart way to make
next year a little smoother,

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which is a huge bonus at the
craziness of back to school

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time.

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Emily: But we've been there. We
know how exhausting this time of

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year is. If you don't have the
bandwidth to tackle a problem

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now, or if it's genuinely
something that's too late to fix

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at this point, the next best
solution is to get it written

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down so you don't forget.

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Heidi: Just get all of those
thoughts out of your head and

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onto the paper. It will free up
your mental load just having it

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written down. And then when
you're ready to set goals and

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make plans for next year, that
list is just gonna be ready and

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waiting for you.

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Emily: And we've made these
three lists easy for you with

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our free end of year roadmap
resource. This is a digital

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planner that will help you wrap
up the school year and start the

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summer with intention.

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Heidi: The roadmap is in Google
Sheets, which is nice because

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that means you can access it
anywhere, and it's already

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formatted with a ta-da list, a
to do list and a fix it list,

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just waiting for your great
ideas.

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Okay Em, what is task number two
that we can do in April for a

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better back to school?

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Emily: Task number two is
reflect on which procedures to

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repeat and which to rethink. You
know we love talking about

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routines and procedures around
here. We really believe that

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good procedures and routines
will save you so much time and

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stress each year.

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Heidi: So take a good look at
how procedures and routines have

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run in your classroom this year.
Maybe try taking a day or even a

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week to make notes of how the
procedures are going in your

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classroom right now. Sometimes,
just paying close attention to

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your day to day for a little
while will make it obvious

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exactly which procedures are
working and which ones you might

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want to change in the future.

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Emily: And if this is an area
you want to deep dive into,

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we've got some episodes to help
you with this.

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Heidi: Yeah, you know just a few
episodes. If you need a deep

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dive into procedures and how to
plan and teach them, start with

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episodes 150 and 154 where we
guide you through discovering

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which procedures your classroom
may need, and we share our four

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step method for teaching them.

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Emily: If you want to figure out
why a certain procedure isn't

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working, check out episode 32
where we shared five questions

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you can ask yourself to get to
the root of the problem and make

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changes. If you have time, you
can even revamp that procedure

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this year to test it out.

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Heidi: You know, you may as well
troubleshoot things now and save

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yourself the headache of course
correcting in the fall.

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Emily: Your classroom
transitions are probably the

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procedure you use most often in
your day. If you want to improve

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your classroom transitions, we
have a three part series all

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about making them efficient to
save you time and stress.

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Heidi: Who knew there was so
much to say about classroom

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transitions? Turns out that
there is.

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Emily: Yep. That series starts
in Episode 48. You could try out

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some of our strategies before
this year ends, but at the very

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least, adding all of your notes
to your fix it list can give you

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a big head start later. When
you're setting up next year, you

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won't have to rely on fuzzy
memories. You'll have actual

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notes from your teacher self who
was in it.

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Heidi: Okay. Task number three
that you can do in April for

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back to school is one of my
favorites. Such a handy tip.

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Take photos of your students
doing their everyday procedures.

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Emily: This is such a good one,
and one that's really easy to

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overlook.

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Heidi: But the nice thing is,
this is so easy to do. Just

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start snapping photos of your
students doing classroom

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procedures the right way. You
know the way that you want them

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to be doing them.

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Emily: Get specific and take
pictures of all the little steps

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of the procedure. These photos
will be much more helpful in

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your teaching next year, if they
get into the nitty gritty of the

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steps students need to take.

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Heidi: So for example, think of
your morning routine. You can

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take a picture of the students
entering the room, hanging up

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their backpacks, turning in the
home folders, getting a pencil

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and all of that fun stuff.

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Emily: Think about things like
lining up, turning in work,

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transitioning between centers,
or using supplies. Any procedure

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you know you want to teach next
year, capture it now. I prefer

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using pictures, but you might
want to take some videos too. It

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wouldn't hurt, and you may find
you want to use them.

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Heidi: These pictures or videos
make awesome visual anchors when

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you're modeling expectations for
your new class. It's so helpful

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to have photos of kids
completing the steps in your

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room with your materials. And
bonus, your new students will

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love seeing the kids that they
think are big kids showing how

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it's done. Kids are way more
engaged in learning about

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something from another kid than,
you know, from a boring old

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grown up.

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Emily: Plus, this is kind of a
sneaky spring classroom

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management hack too, because
when your kids know you're

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taking pictures of them doing
procedures to teach next year's

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class, they will be much more
likely to do those procedures

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really well. So if your
procedures are getting a bit

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sloppy, definitely give this a
try to get your students to

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clean things up.

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Heidi: That is so smart.

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Alright, Emily, what is the
fourth task that teachers could

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do in April to get ready for
back to school?

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Emily: Do you have a new idea
you've been curious about, but

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you weren't sure when to try it?
April is your moment. Task

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number four is to do a trial run
on something new.

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Heidi: Trying something new with
your students in the spring is

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the perfect timing. You've built
relationships with your current

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students, so it's a low pressure
way to experiment.

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Emily: Plus this is a great way
to increase engagement by adding

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in something new, and to fill
time after testing season, when

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you're just trying to get
through those final weeks of

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school. So start by taking a
minute to dream a bit about your

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ideal classroom. What's
something you've been wanting to

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try that you haven't had the
time or energy to do before now?

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The end of the year is a great
time to do this, because you can

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see firsthand what it will be
like before you commit to a

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whole new routine or teaching
method next year. And if it goes

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well, then you know you
definitely want to include it in

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your next year plans.

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Heidi: Maybe it's a new
classroom routine or a behavior

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system that you've had your eye
on. It could be some new

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technology that you want to try
out, or maybe it's a fresh way

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to do morning work or end of day
cleanup. Once you decide what

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you want to try, do it now,
while you still have time to

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adjust and troubleshoot. This is
so handy. You know, that could

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be trying out morning meeting or
spending a couple of weeks

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really trying out a new daily
vocabulary routine.

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Emily: By the time back to
school season rolls around,

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you'll already know if it's
worth using, and you'll feel way

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more confident introducing it to
a brand new group of kids.

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Okay, Heidi, what is task number
five?

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Heidi: Well, our final April
task to help you prepare for

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back to school is to decide what
order to teach your procedures

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next year.

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Emily: Now, clearly, at this
point in the episode, you

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already know that teaching
procedures is essential, but

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obviously it's impossible and
unnecessary to try and teach

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everything on day one.

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Heidi: Oh no, you would lose
your mind, and so would your

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kids. So you need to decide
which procedures to teach first,

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and April really is the perfect
time to figure that out. Yes,

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yes, we're serious.

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Emily: While you're still living
your daily classroom routines,

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ask yourself, which procedures
keep my day running? What's

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really essential for those first
few days, and what can wait?

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Heidi: By thinking through this
now you're going to avoid that

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August panic when everything
feels important. Narrowing down

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your top three to five
procedures to teach right away

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will help you start the year
with calm and confidence.

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Emily: And you'll be ready to
plug those procedure lessons

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into your first day and first
week plans when you start

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working on them.

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And that's it. Those are our
five things. So let's do a quick

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recap of the five things you can
do in April to get ahead for

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back to school.

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Heidi: Number one, start your
list. Specifically you want a

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ta-da list, a to do list, and a
fix it list to really capture

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what worked, what needs to get
done and what could use a tweak.

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Emily: Number two, reflect on
what procedures to repeat and

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what to rethink, so you're not
trying to remember in August

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what drove you crazy in April.

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Heidi: Number three is to take
photos of students doing your

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procedures to create easy, real
life visuals for modeling

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expectations for next
year'sstudents.

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Emily: Number four do a trial
run for something new. Test out

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a new routine or system now so
you can see what works with a

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group you already know.

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Heidi: And our last one is
number five, decide which order

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to teach your procedures so that
you are ready to start the year

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with a clear plan, instead of
trying to teach all of the

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things all at once on day one.

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Emily: Even just picking one of
these tasks to try can make a

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big difference, and your future
teacher self will definitely

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thank you.

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Heidi: And don't forget to head
to the show notes, where you can

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find a link for our free end of
year roadmap digital planner.

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This will help you figure out
your schedule for the next few

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months, reflect on what you want
to maintain and change in the

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coming weeks, and break down
tasks so you can get things done

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without stress.

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Emily: We'd love to hear what
you do in April to get ready for

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back to school. Come join the
conversation in the Teacher

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Approved Facebook group.

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

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we leave you with a small
actionable tip that you can

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apply in your classroom today.
This week's teacher approved tip

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is do a quick refresh on a
troublesome procedure. So tell

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us about this, Heidi.

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Heidi: Well, as you may have
noticed, teachers, spring fever

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is real, and classroom routines
can get a little wobbly this

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time of year. So one way to
combat that is to try a quick

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win refresh. So start by picking
one routine that's maybe gotten

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a little sloppy, you know,
lining up, cleaning up or

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transitioning between subjects,
and reteach it like you did at

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the beginning of the year. So we
want to model it, practice it,

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and praise it like it's brand
new.

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Emily: And then discuss how
students can continue to meet

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your expectations going forward.
Just because summer vacation is

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peaking around the corner
doesn't mean we give up on our

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standards of behavior.

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Heidi: Now to help you out, we
have a set of Google slides that

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you can use to revisit any
procedure. So how it works is,

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for each procedure that you want
to refresh, you can have these

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students rate themselves on how
well they are currently meeting

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your expectations from one to
five. The kids know. The kids

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know they're pushing the
boundaries. And then you can use

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that information to guide your
discussion, and you can find a

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link to the slides in the show
notes, or you could visit our

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shop.

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Emily: Refreshing a routine
takes less than 10 minutes, and

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the payoff is huge. Students get
a clear reminder of

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expectations, and you get back a
bit of the calm structure your

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classroom needs in the spring
chaos.

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Heidi: All right, to wrap up the
show, we are showing what we're

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

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00:15:57,890 --> 00:15:58,700
extra credit?

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Emily: I'm giving extra credit
to the book, First Lie Wins by

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Ashley Elston. So generally, I
stick to romance books or maybe

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historical fiction, but I have
been dipping my toe into the

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thriller waters. I'm not into
violence or anything too scary,

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so First Lie Wins fits the bill.

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Heidi: It sounds a little
intense.

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Emily: No, trust me, you can do
this. You can do this one. So

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00:16:22,930 --> 00:16:26,650
here's the blurb. Evie Porter
has everything a nice southern

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girl could want, a perfect
doting boyfriend, a house with a

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00:16:29,290 --> 00:16:32,500
white picket fence and a garden,
a fancy group of friends. The

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00:16:32,500 --> 00:16:37,690
only catch? Evie Porter doesn't
exist. So it was a fun, quick

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00:16:37,690 --> 00:16:41,770
read. If you have some other non
scary thriller recommendations

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00:16:41,770 --> 00:16:44,830
to share, I'd love to hear them.
I found that what I'm enjoying

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about starting to read some
thriller books that aren't too

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scary is that it just makes me
look for reasons to read them

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during the day, like it's
getting me reading even more

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than I already was, because I
just want to know what's going

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to happen, and so it's kind of
fun to have a different read.

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I'm mixing it in now, still
getting in plenty of romance.

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Don't worry.

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Heidi: That is a nice change of
pace. And it's nice when you

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00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:07,330
have something compelling that's
drawing you back to the book.

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It's always a fun feeling. This
could be a fun one if people

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have spring break still to look
forward to, that could be a fun

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pring break read.

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Emily: Yes, definitely. Okay,
what are you giving extra credit

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to Heidi?

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Heidi: Well, this is much less
exciting, but my extra credit

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00:17:21,120 --> 00:17:26,100
goes to La Roche Posay Effaclar
Gel Cleanser. How do they name

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00:17:26,100 --> 00:17:30,570
these things, right? With
salicylic acid. So I saw a hack

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00:17:30,570 --> 00:17:33,840
on Instagram for using it to
prevent ingrown hairs, sorry,

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00:17:34,230 --> 00:17:37,950
TMI, and I thought I would give
it a shot. And I have to say,

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I've been very happily
surprised. The trick is to use

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this gel as like a shaving gel,
and then follow it up by

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applying hydrocortisone cream.
It has made a huge difference

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for my skin. I don't think I've
had any problems since I started

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trying this. Now I will say I
think the magic ingredient is

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the salicylic acid, and not
necessarily that specific

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00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:01,980
cleanser, because I know I did
try using a shampoo with

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salicylic acid instead, and I
liked shaving with that better

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00:18:05,550 --> 00:18:07,290
because it's a little thicker
than the cleanser.

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Emily: Okay.

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Heidi: Definitely worth trying
out, especially as temps get a

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little warmer and sleeves maybe
get a little shorter.

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Emily: All right, I'm gonna
check it out.

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Heidi: That is it for today's
episode. Try out some of our

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00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:23,160
five easy things that you can do
in April for back to school, and

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00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:25,410
make sure to grab our end of
year roadmap freebie from the

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00:18:25,410 --> 00:18:28,020
link in the show notes to help
you finish the year strong.

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

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Emily: And I'm Emily. Thank you
for listening. Be sure to follow

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00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:40,350
or subscribe in your podcast
apps that you never miss an

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00:18:40,350 --> 00:18:40,770
episode.

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00:18:41,220 --> 00:18:43,530
Heidi: You can connect with us
and other teachers in the

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00:18:43,530 --> 00:18:46,710
Teacher Approved Facebook group.
We'll see you here next week.

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Bye, for now.

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Emily: Bye.