Heidi: This is episode 252 of Teacher Approved.
Emily: Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In this
episode, we are revisiting an episode we shared last year
about five low stress tasks you can do here in April to get
ahead for back to school.
Heidi: Yes, we know you have got a few months before you actually
have to deal with back to school year stuff, but think how
grateful you're going to be when you get there and you've already
checked a few things off of your to do list.
Emily: In episode 249 we shared five easy back to school tasks
that you could do in March. So if you missed that, you can
start there.
Heidi: But don't let this feel overwhelming. We promise
everything is simple and doable. A lot of these tasks are related
to things you're already doing right now, so you may as well
get the biggest bang for your buck.
Emily: So let's dive into our list of tasks for April, and
we'll be back next week with some tips for wrapping up the
year on a high note.
Heidi: 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.
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 prompt this week?
Emily: This week, give the mystery compliment game a try.
You write each student's name on a small slip of paper and put
them in a jar, then have each student secretly draw a name and
write down a specific compliment about that person. Then in the
afternoon, you can read the compliments out loud and let the
students guess who it's about.
Heidi: I love this so much. It is a quick and easy way to boost
classroom kindness and connection, which is so
important this time of year, and it is a perfect way to add some
surprise and delight.
Emily: If you like this idea or anything else we share here on
the podcast, would you take a second and give us a five star
rating? Ratings and reviews are one way new listeners find us,
so every rating and review is a huge help to us.
Heidi: So be honest, did you have a little bit of a heart
attack when you saw the words back to school in this episode
title?
Emily: Don't worry if you did. That is completely normal, but
no need to panic. We promise, you will leave this episode
feeling inspired, not terrified.
Heidi: Not only inspired, but also empowered, I think.
Emily: Yes.
Heidi: Now I know you might be thinking April seems a little
bit early to be thinking about back to school, especially when
you might still be counting down the days to spring break. Or
maybe you are just trying to make it through the chaos of
testing season. But hear us out.
Emily: Yeah, thinking about back to school in April actually
gives you a nice advantage. You're still in the classroom
routine, so all those systems and challenges are fresh in your
mind. You don't have to think too hard to know what worked
well and what you are never, ever doing again. That kind of
clarity is hard to come by in the middle of summer break, when
last year feels like a cloudy memory.
Heidi: So we are going to jump on that April advantage, and
don't worry, we're not about to suggest things that are going to
take you hours to do after school. We have got five simple
things you can do in short bursts, like independent work
time or planning time, to set yourself up for back to school
success without adding to your already full plate.
Emily: We want you to start next year feeling rested, refreshed
and ready to go, and one step in that direction is by starting
your prep early. So let's dive into the five tasks you can do
in April for back to school.
Okay, task number one to get ready for back to school in
April is start your lists. We're starting with something simple
but seriously powerful, and we don't mean just make a to do
list. We're talking about three specific lists that will save
the day when you sit down to plan over the summer.
Heidi: Our first list is a Ta Da list. This is where you
celebrate everything you did well this year. What did you try
that worked? What routines or systems felt smooth and
sustainable? Write it down so that you remember to bring it
back next year.
Emily: If you're like us, it's so much easier to think of all
the things going wrong than to recognize all the amazing things
that are going great. But that's the reason why you need to start
working on it right away. Once you get a few things written on
your Ta Da list, more things will come to mind. You'll start
noticing how smoothly your morning routine runs, or how you
maximize your transition after lunch for a quick review time.
Make that list so you have a place to write these
observations down.
Heidi: It is so important to celebrate your wins. Not only is
that a great mood boost, but it will help you identify what you
want to make sure to continue in the future. And getting started
on it now, while you're still in the thick of the school year,
will help you pinpoint the little details that might slip
your mind in a few months.
Emily: Okay, next is the obvious list, your To Do list. These are
the tasks you already know you'll need to handle before
school starts. Think about things like what you need to
copy, what you'll need to label, or any supplies you'll want to
have ready.
Heidi: If you made a to do list last year and you still have it
handy, definitely check that list. It's so much easier when
you do not have to recreate the wheel every year.
Emily: And if you don't have one from last year, be sure to save
this year's list. Keep listening for a free resource we have for
you to help you keep track of these lists from year to year.
Heidi: And the third list you need is your Fix It list. This
is the place to capture all those little annoyances that you
meant to fix but maybe never quite got to. Maybe it's a
system that didn't flow, or a classroom layout that didn't
work. Now is the time to jot it all down before you forget.
Emily: This is, for sure, one of the easiest lists for me to
make. I am always so aware of every little pain point in our
routine and all the ways I want to improve my instruction.
Heidi: Just because we're into term four doesn't mean that it's
too late to fix these things now. In fact, solving a headache
now can be a smart way to make next year a little smoother,
which is a huge bonus at the craziness of back to school
time.
Emily: But we've been there. We know how exhausting this time of
year is. If you don't have the bandwidth to tackle a problem
now, or if it's genuinely something that's too late to fix
at this point, the next best solution is to get it written
down so you don't forget.
Heidi: Right. Just get all of those thoughts out of your head
and onto the paper. It will free up your mental load just having
it written down, and then when you're ready to set goals and
make plans for next year, that list is just going to be ready
and waiting for you.
Emily: And we've made these three lists easy for you with
our free End of Year Roadmap resource. This is a digital
planner that will help you wrap up the school year and start the
summer with intention.
Heidi: The Roadmap is in Google Sheets, which is nice, because
that means you can access it anywhere, and it's already
formatted with a Ta Da list, a To Do list, and a Fix It list,
just waiting for your great ideas.
Okay Em, what is task number two that we can do in April for a
better back to school?
Emily: Task number two is reflect on which procedures to
repeat and which to rethink. You know we love talking about
routines and procedures around here, we really believe that
good procedures and routines will save you so much time and
stress each year.
Heidi: So take a good look at how procedures and routines have
run in your classroom this year. Maybe try taking a day or even a
week to make notes of how the procedures are going in your
classroom right now. Sometimes just paying close attention to
your day to day for a little while will make it obvious
exactly which procedures are working and which ones you might
want to change in the future.
Emily: And if this is an area you want to deep dive into,
we've got some episodes to help you with this.
Heidi: Yeah, you know, just a few episodes. If you need a deep
dive into procedures and how to plan and teach them, start with
episodes 150 and 154 where we guide you through discovering
which procedures your classroom may need, and we share our four
step method for teaching them.
Emily: If you want to figure out why a certain procedure isn't
working, check out episode 32 where we shared five questions
you can ask yourself to get to the root of the problem and make
changes. If you have time, you can even revamp that procedure
this year to test it out.
Heidi: You know, you may as well troubleshoot things now and save
yourself the headache of course correcting in the fall.
Emily: Your classroom transitions are probably the
procedure you use most often in your day. If you want to improve
your classroom transitions, we have a three part series all
about making them efficient to save you time and stress.
Heidi: Who knew there was so much to say about classroom
transitions? Turns out that there is.
Emily: Yep. That series starts in episode 48. You could try out
some of our strategies before this year ends, but at the very
least, adding all of your notes to your fix it list can give you
a big head start later. When you're setting up next year, you
won't have to rely on fuzzy memories. You'll have actual
notes from your teacher self, who was in it.
Heidi: Okay. Task number three that you can do in April for
back to school is one of my favorites. Such a handy tip.
Take photos of your students doing their everyday procedures.
Emily: This is such a good one, and one that's really easy to
overlook.
Heidi: But the nice thing is, this is so easy to do. Just
start snapping photos of your students doing classroom
procedures the right way. You know, the way that you want them
to be doing them.
Emily: Get specific and take pictures of all the little steps
of the procedure. These photos will be much more helpful in
your teaching next year if they get into the nitty gritty of the
steps students need to take.
Heidi: So for example, think of your morning routine. You can
take a picture of the students entering the room, hanging out
their backpacks, turning in their home folders, getting a
pencil and all of that fun stuff.
Emily: Think about things like lining up, turning in work,
transitioning between centers, or using supplies. Any procedure
you know you want to teach next year. Capture it now. I prefer
using pictures, but you might want to take some videos too.
Wouldn't hurt, and you may find you want to use them.
Heidi: These pictures or videos make awesome visual anchors when
you're modeling expectations for your new class. It's so helpful
to have photos of kids completing the steps in your
room with your materials. And bonus, your new students will
love seeing the kids that they think are big kids showing how
it's done. Kids are way more engaged in learning about
something from another kid than you know, from a boring old
grown up.
Emily: Plus, this is kind of a sneaky spring classroom
management hack too, because when your kids know you're
taking pictures of them doing procedures to teach next year's
class, they will be much more likely to do those procedures
really well. So if your procedures are getting a bit
sloppy, definitely give this a try to get your students to
clean things up.
Heidi: This is so smart. All right, Emily, what is the fourth
task that teachers can do in April to get ready for back to
school?
Emily: Do you have a new idea you've been curious about but
you weren't sure when to try it? April is your moment. Task
number four is to do a trial run on something new.
Heidi: Trying something new with your students in the spring is
the perfect timing. You've built relationships with your current
students, so it's a low pressure way to experiment.
Emily: Plus, this is a great way to increase engagement by adding
in something new and to fill time after testing season, when
you're just trying to get through those final weeks of
school. So start by taking a minute to dream a bit about your
ideal classroom. What's something you've been wanting to
try that you haven't had the time or energy to do before now?
The end of the year is a great time to do this, because you can
see firsthand what it will be like before you commit to a
whole new routine or teaching method next year. And if it goes
well, then you know you know you definitely want to include it in
your next year plans.
Heidi: Maybe it's a new classroom routine or a behavior
system that you've had your eye on. It could be some new
technology that you want to try out, or maybe it's a fresh way
to do morning work or end of day cleanup. Once you decide what
you want to try, do it now while you still have time to adjust
and troubleshoot. This is so handy. You know that could be
trying out morning meeting, or spending a couple of weeks
really trying out a new daily vocabulary routine.
Emily: By the time back to school season rolls around,
you'll already know if it's worth using, and you'll feel way
more confident introducing it to a brand new group of kids. Okay,
Heidi, what is task number five?
Heidi: Well, our final April task to help you prepare for
back to school is to decide what order to teach your procedures
next year.
Emily: Now, clearly, at this point in the episode, you
already know that teaching procedures is essential, but
obviously it's impossible and unnecessary to try and teach
everything on day one.
Heidi: Oh no, you would lose your mind, and so would your
kids. So you need to decide which procedures to teach first,
and April really is the perfect time to figure that out. Yes,
yes, we're serious.
Emily: While you're still living your daily classroom routines,
ask yourself, which procedures keep my day running? What's
really essential for those first few days and what can wait?
Heidi: By thinking through this now, you're going to avoid that
August panic when everything feels important. Narrowing down
your top three to five procedures to teach right away
will help you start the year with calm and confidence.
Emily: And you'll be ready to plug those procedure lessons
into your first day and first week plans when you start
working on them. And that's it. Those are our five things. So
let's do a quick recap of the five things you can do in April
to get ahead for back to school.
Heidi: Number one, start your lists. Specifically, you want a
Ta Da list, a To Do list, and a Fix It list to really capture
what worked, what needs to get done, and what could use a
tweak.
Emily: Number two, reflect on what procedures to repeat and
what to rethink, so you're not trying to remember in August
what drove you crazy in April.
Heidi: Number three is to take photos of students doing your
procedures to create easy, real life visuals for modeling
expectations for next year's students.
Emily: Number four, do a trial run for something new. Test out
a new routine or system now, so you can see what works with a
group you already know.
Heidi: And our last one is number five, decide which order
to teach your procedures so that you are ready to start the year
with a clear plan, instead of trying to teach all of the
things all at once on day one.
Emily: Even just picking one of these tasks to try can make a
big difference, and your future teacher self will definitely
thank you.
Heidi: And don't forget to head to the show notes, where you can
find a link for our free end of year roadmap digital planner.
This will help you figure out your schedule for the next few
months, reflect on what you want to maintain and change in the
coming weeks, and break down tasks so you can get things done
without stress.
Emily: We'd love to hear what you do in April to get ready for
back to school. Come join the conversation in the Teacher
Approved Facebook group.
Now let's talk about this week's Teacher Approved tip. Each week
we leave you with a small actionable tip that you can
apply in your classroom today. This week's teacher approved tip
is do a quick refresh on a troublesome procedure. So tell
us about this, Heidi.
Heidi: Well, as you may have noticed, teachers, spring fever
is real, and classroom routines can get a little wobbly this
time of year. So one way to combat that is to try a quick
win refresh. So start by picking one routine that's maybe gotten
a little sloppy, you know, lining up, cleaning up, or
transitioning between subjects, and reteach it like you did at
the beginning of the year. So we want to model it, practice it,
and praise it like it's brand new.
Emily: And then discuss how students can continue to meet
your expectations going forward. Just because summer vacation is
peeking around the corner doesn't mean we give up on our
standards of behavior.
Heidi: Now to help you out, we have a set of Google slides that
you can use to revisit any procedure. So how it works is,
for each procedure that you want to refresh, you can have the
students rate themselves on how well they are currently meeting
your expectations from one to five. The kids know. The kids
know they're pushing the boundaries, and then you can use
that information to guide your discussion. And you can find a
link to the slides in the show notes, or you can visit our
shop.
Emily: Refreshing a routine takes less than 10 minutes, and
the payoff is huge. Students get a clear reminder of
expectations, and you get back a bit of the calm structure your
classroom needs in the spring chaos.
Heidi: All right, to wrap up the show, we are sharing what we're
giving extra credit to this week. Emily, what gets your
extra credit?
Emily: I'm giving extra credit to the book First Lie Wins by
Ashley Elston. So generally, I stick to romance books or maybe
historical fiction, but I have been dipping my toe into the
thriller waters. I'm not into violence or anything too scary,
so First Lie Wins fits the bill.
Heidi: It sounds a little intense.
Emily: No, trust me, you can do this. You can do this one. So
here's the blurb. Evie Porter has everything a nice southern
girl could want, a perfect doting boyfriend, a house with a
white picket fence and a garden, a fancy group of friends. The
only catch, Evie Porter doesn't exist. So it was a fun, quick
read. If you have some other non scary thriller recommendations
to share, I'd love to hear them. I found that what I'm enjoying
about starting to read some thriller books that aren't too
scary is that it just makes me look for reasons to read them
during the day, like it's getting me reading even more
than I already was, because I just want to know what's going
to happen, and so it's kind of fun to have a different read.
I'm mixing it in now, still getting in plenty of romance,
don't worry.
Heidi: But it's a nice change of pace, and it's nice when you
have something compelling that's drawing you back to the book.
That's always a fun feeling. This could be a fun one if
people have spring break still to look forward to. That could
be a fun Spring Break read.
Emily: Yes, definitely. Okay, what are you giving extra credit
to, Heidi?
Heidi: Well, this is much less exciting, but my extra credit
goes to La Roche Posay Effaclar gel cleanser. How do they name
these things, right? With salicylic acid. So I saw a hack
on Instagram for using it to prevent ingrown hairs, sorry,
TMI, and I thought I would give it a shot. And I have to say,
I've been very happily surprised. The trick is to use
this gel as like a shaving gel, and then follow it up by
applying hydrocortisone cream. It has made a huge difference
for my skin. I don't think I've had any problems since I started
trying this. Now I will say I think the magic ingredient is
the salicylic acid, and not necessarily that specific
cleanser, because I know I did try using a shampoo with
salicylic acid instead, and I liked shaving with that better,
Emily: Okay.
Heidi: Definitely worth trying out, especially as temps get a
because it's a little thicker than the cleanser.
little warmer and sleeves maybe get a little shorter.
Emily: All right, I'm gonna check it out.
Heidi: That is it for today's episode. Try out some of our
five easy things that you can do in April for back to school, and
make sure to grab our End of Year Roadmap freebie from the
link in the show notes to help you finish the year strong.
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.