Latest / Teacher Approved: Elementary Teacher Tips & Strategies / 223. The Core 4 Routines Every Classroom Needs to Run Like Clockwork
Transcript
- 0:01Heidi: This is episode 223 of Teacher Approved.
- 0:05You're listening to Teacher Approved, the podcast helping
- 0:08educators elevate what matters and simplify the rest. I'm
- 0:12Heidi.
- 0:13Heidi: We're so glad you're tuning in today. Let's get to
- 0:13Emily: And I'm Emily. We're the creators behind Second Story
- 0:15Window, where we give research based and teacher approved
- 0:18strategies that make teaching less stressful and more
- 0:21effective. You can check out the show notes and resources from
- 0:25each episode at secondstorywindow.net.
- 0:30the show.
- 0:34Emily: Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today's
- 0:39episode, we are talking about how to turn your individual
- 0:42procedures into routines that actually stick, and sharing a
- 0:46teacher approved tip for handling your own routines.
- 0:49Heidi: Let's start with a try it tomorrow, where we share a quick
- 0:52win to help you boost your classroom community. Emily, what
- 0:55is our suggestion for this week?
- 0:56Emily: Well, if you haven't already, take a couple minutes
- 0:59during your prep time today to set up a table to track positive
- 1:03communication for each student. A simple way to do this is to
- 1:07list students' names down the side and then have a column for
- 1:09each month. Then it's easy to keep track of which families
- 1:12you've reached out to recently. Making communication with
- 1:15families a positive experience and not just something that
- 1:18happens when there's trouble, can go a long way to
- 1:21strengthening the school home partnership. And I can vouch for
- 1:24this from the parent side, that I hate feeling like every time I
- 1:27see an email from a teacher that something must be wrong. So it
- 1:31would be great if sometimes it's positive communication as well.
- 1:35Heidi: Well, if you like this idea or anything else that we
- 1:37share on the podcast, would you take a second and give us a five
- 1:40star rating? Ratings and reviews are one way that new listeners
- 1:43find us. So really, truly, every rating and review is a huge help
- 1:47to us.
- 1:48Emily: So if you've been listening for a while, you know
- 1:50that we are big believers, that almost seems like an
- 1:53understatement, huge fans of strong classroom procedures. We
- 1:58have talked a lot about how to design them, how to teach them,
- 2:02using our tell try tally talk method, and how to course
- 2:05correct when they slide.
- 2:07Heidi: But, this might be hard to believe, there is actually
- 2:10one part of procedures that we have never tackled. How do you
- 2:14take all of those individual procedures that you have been
- 2:17working so hard to teach and link them into routines that
- 2:20your students can actually follow? And today we're going to
- 2:23tell you how to make those routines stick without having to
- 2:26turn into the nagging police.
- 2:28Emily: So think of a single procedure as one Lego brick. It
- 2:32does what it needs to do, but if you want something that really
- 2:34works for you, like a smooth morning start, you need to snap
- 2:39those bricks together.
- 2:40Heidi: I love that analogy, and that's perfect for your Lego
- 2:43family.
- 2:43Emily: Yes.
- 2:45Heidi: A routine is a string of procedures in a set order that
- 2:48is done so often that it runs on autopilot. The goal is that the
- 2:52brain doesn't have to think. It just does.
- 2:55Emily: Think back to how you taught your individual
- 2:57procedures. If you used our tell try tally talk method—are we
- 3:01going to start calling that the 4T method? Are we going to, I
- 3:03don't know, but we'll stick with tell try tally talk. If you used
- 3:07our method, you clearly explained the procedure and
- 3:09modeled each step. You had your students try it out with your
- 3:12guidance, you tallied how everything went and celebrated
- 3:16progress, and then you talked over what worked, what was
- 3:19tricky, what practice was needed.
- 3:20Heidi: That method works beautifully for individual
- 3:24procedures, but let's dive into how to connect those procedures
- 3:27into a seamless routine. This time we will use a three step
- 3:31process of anchoring, expanding and reinforcing.
- 3:35Emily: Wait, but there's no alliteration in that one.
- 3:37Heidi: I feel like we're really letting the side down. It all
- 3:40has an "ing," does that count?
- 3:41Emily: Okay. That is something, I guess. But you know we love a
- 3:45process, so let's look at the first step in this new process,
- 3:48which is anchoring. This is where you pick one solid
- 3:51procedure that's already working well and use it as the
- 3:54foundation for the whole routine. Think of this as the
- 3:57core of your routine. It's the one thing that, when it's in
- 4:00place makes everything else easier.
- 4:03Heidi: For a morning routine, this might be students unpacking
- 4:06their backpacks correctly. For transitions, it could be having
- 4:09students respond quickly to your attention signal.
- 4:12Emily: So the key here is to choose something that's already
- 4:14pretty solid. Don't try to anchor a routine to a procedure
- 4:18that is still wobbly. You want your strongest procedure as your
- 4:21foundation.
- 4:22Heidi: And here's where a lot of teachers get tripped up. They
- 4:25try to teach the entire morning routine as one giant procedure.
- 4:30And I have done this myself, but let me tell you friends, that's
- 4:33like trying to swallow a watermelon whole.
- 4:36Emily: Oh, that sounds miserable. That's gonna end
- 4:39badly. If your morning routine includes coming into the
- 4:42building, entering the classroom, unpacking backpacks,
- 4:45making lunch choices, getting materials, starting morning
- 4:48work, and knowing what to do while waiting for others, that
- 4:51is not one procedure. That's like seven procedures that have
- 4:55to happen in sequence.
- 4:56Heidi: And when you look at it that way, it's no wonder that
- 4:59your kids are having a hard time following through. They just
- 5:02can't master that many steps in one go. A good rule of thumb is
- 5:06that if a procedure has more than about five steps or so,
- 5:10give or take, it's time to break it down. The smaller you can
- 5:14make each task, the more deeply students can internalize it.
- 5:17Emily: And when they're shorter, they're faster to teach too. So
- 5:20that's just a little win. Okay, so identify the Keystone
- 5:24procedure in each routine and go all in on making it run like
- 5:28clockwork. That is the first step. Then you can start
- 5:31expanding. This means adding the next logical step in the
- 5:34sequence.
- 5:35Heidi: If unpacking backpacks is your anchor to your morning
- 5:38routine, the next step might be making your lunch choice without
- 5:41having to be reminded. That used to kill me every day. How many
- 5:45days are we in school? Anyway, you want that to be automatic,
- 5:49and then you would teach that procedure separately, right?
- 5:51Tell try tally talk, until it's solid.
- 5:54Emily: Then you'd start connecting them in your
- 5:56student's mind. The students already know how to do each
- 5:59piece, but you're helping them see how it all flows together.
- 6:03So first unpack your backpack using our five steps, then make
- 6:06your lunch choice using our three steps.
- 6:09Heidi: Keep expanding one procedure at a time until you
- 6:11have built the full routine. You know, plan on this taking at
- 6:15least two weeks. That is totally normal, and it's to be expected.
- 6:19Emily: If things start to fall apart as you're connecting
- 6:21procedures, pull back for a minute and try to pinpoint the
- 6:24issue, instead of plowing ahead, because you want this all done
- 6:28and out of your hair.
- 6:30Heidi: Oh, yes, figuring out a problem now will save you from
- 6:33having to deal with it for nine more months.
- 6:35And that brings us to the final step, which is reinforcing. This
- 6:40is where the magic happens, because this is when your
- 6:42routine moves from something we do because the teacher told us
- 6:45to, to something we just do.
- 6:48Emily: This is the point where your routine will either take
- 6:50off or fizzle out. The goal is to train your students brains to
- 6:54run this sequence without you prompting them every step of the
- 6:57way, and that only happens with intentional, repeated
- 7:00reinforcement.
- 7:02Heidi: Think of it like teaching kids to tie their shoes. If
- 7:04you've ever lived through that, you don't just show them once
- 7:07and then expect them to do it perfectly every time. You have
- 7:10to practice a lot.
- 7:13Emily: Yep, and it's going to take a lot of practice with your
- 7:15routines too. But that doesn't mean it has to be drudgery. Have
- 7:18some fun with it. You could set up a bingo board or a tic tac
- 7:21toe board with all of the different procedures that make
- 7:24up your dismissal routine. Every time they complete one part of
- 7:27the routine without needing instructions from you, they get
- 7:31to cross off a square. If they get a bingo or a tic tac toe,
- 7:34they get a small reward, and when the whole board is full,
- 7:37they get a larger reward.
- 7:39Heidi: Yeah, we want to make sure that practice doesn't start
- 7:41feeling like a punishment. Another thing that I like to do
- 7:44with my students was to time them. I would say something
- 7:47like, okay, yesterday, it took two minutes and 28 seconds for
- 7:51everyone to get their notebooks put away and come to the rug. I
- 7:53think we can do it faster. Can we do it in two minutes? Kids
- 7:57love racing. And the nice thing about this is that it can
- 8:00motivate them to kind of push each other to move more quickly,
- 8:03so you're not the one having to, you know, nudge them along.
- 8:07Let's let that positive peer pressure work in your favor.
- 8:11Emily: If you are doing whole class rewards for practicing
- 8:13routines or anything else, don't let a few kids ruin it for
- 8:16everyone. If you've got one or two little ones with some
- 8:19special behavior challenges, like maybe they'll go slow on
- 8:22purpose, just because everyone else wants them to hurry, then
- 8:25you can just kind of take them out of the equation.
- 8:27Heidi: Right. If all but your two most challenging darlings
- 8:31are at the carpet, count that as a win. Way to hustle, everyone,
- 8:35you made it to the carpet in one minute and 58 seconds. And then
- 8:39when someone raises their hand to point out that Dimitri still
- 8:41isn't at the carpet, just make it a non issue. You know what,
- 8:44you worry about you and I will worry about Dimitri.
- 8:47Emily: Yeah, especially because getting attention for it is
- 8:49probably exactly what Dimitri wants. And it's just a good
- 8:54reminder that most of our management plans will work for
- 8:56most of our kids most of the time. So put your focus there.
- 9:00You can set up a personalized plan for Dimitri at a different
- 9:03time, but it will only make things worse if we turn him into
- 9:06the class scapegoat. That's not good for anyone.
- 9:09Heidi: And besides making routine practice fun, you can
- 9:11also reinforce your expectations by turning it over to the
- 9:15students. Try assigning helpers for routine checks. Have a
- 9:18materials monitor who reminds classmates about getting their
- 9:21pencils, or a line leader who models proper hallway behavior.
- 9:25Emily: That's nice, because then you're not having to oversee
- 9:27everything that happens. And when routines start to slide,
- 9:31because they will, especially after a long weekend or a
- 9:34holiday, go back to practicing them just like a sports team
- 9:37runs drills.
- 9:39Heidi: Don't feel like you have failed if you need to reteach a
- 9:41routine. This is something honestly that I struggled with.
- 9:45I used to see this as a failure as a teacher, but it is just a
- 9:49predictable part of dealing with kids. They need repetition, and
- 9:53sometimes you need to refresh those neural pathways to get
- 9:56everyone back on track.
- 9:58Emily: Now you likely have dozens of routines needed to
- 10:01make your classroom run, but it's important that you're
- 10:03putting a lot of time and energy into streamlining what we call
- 10:06the core four, and these are the routines that truly make or
- 10:10break your school day.
- 10:11Heidi: And if you have taught before, you can probably guess
- 10:13what these are, but they are a calm morning start, orderly
- 10:18hallway movement, controlled transitions, and efficient end
- 10:21of day routines. If you can master these four, everything
- 10:25else in your day becomes so much easier.
- 10:28Emily: So let's walk through what it looks like to anchor,
- 10:30expand and reinforce our core four routines. And we'll kick
- 10:33things off with a calm morning start.
- 10:36Heidi: For your morning routine, your anchor might be getting the
- 10:39backpack procedure down. Once that's solid, you expand it with
- 10:42lunch choice, then getting materials, then starting morning
- 10:45work. Each step gets taught and practiced separately before you
- 10:49try to link them.
- 10:50Emily: When it comes to reinforcing your morning
- 10:52routine, visual supports are your best friend. Post the steps
- 10:55of each routine where students can reference them, or where you
- 10:59can send students to check if they've forgotten something.
- 11:02Heidi: Yeah, you definitely want to outsource the work of keeping
- 11:04kids on track as much as possible. So let a display help
- 11:07you out. You could make a chart or project slides each morning
- 11:11with the steps that you want students to follow. I was very
- 11:14analog. I used sentence strips and magnets to put them on my
- 11:17board because I didn't want to have to write it out every day.
- 11:20Emily: Yep, I did the same thing, and it definitely does
- 11:23not need to be fancy. So just make sure you're posting them
- 11:25where kids can see them every single day, even in the middle
- 11:28of May, and that they're going to know exactly where to look
- 11:31each time. It's always going to be in the same place.
- 11:34Heidi: And if they ask you what they're supposed to be doing,
- 11:36point them to the display, so they get in the habit of
- 11:38checking that instead of turning to you for the answers.
- 11:42Emily: Exactly.
- 11:42Heidi: Morning routines have to run without much teacher input
- 11:46because you're busy handling your own routine of getting the
- 11:49day started. Those posted steps give kids a way to stay on track
- 11:53without needing you to prompt every single thing.
- 11:56Emily: If you want a deeper dive, maybe the deepest of
- 12:00dives, on morning routines, check out our three part Morning
- 12:04Routine series, which is in episodes 93, 94 and 95 where we
- 12:08talk about how to set up your own morning routines, as well as
- 12:11your students.
- 12:13Heidi: For the next in our core four routines is hallway
- 12:16movement, and you might anchor this one with the signal to line
- 12:19up. Then you can expand to walking without talking, then
- 12:23how to walk while you're carrying supplies, and then what
- 12:25to do when you arrive at your destination.
- 12:27Emily: Reinforcing your hallway routine can be a lot of fun. So
- 12:30try announcing that you've chosen a mystery walker. If this
- 12:33student remembers your procedures as you travel to your
- 12:36destination, they'll get a prize, and it's easier to watch
- 12:39this if you like our strategy for walking at the back of your
- 12:42class instead of at the front.
- 12:44Heidi: That does make it simpler, or you can get real
- 12:46good at walking backwards.
- 12:47Emily: Yes, you know, both are good skills to have.
- 12:49Heidi: The prize for the mystery walker can be as simple as a
- 12:53high five or a sticker. It's the mystery of it all, not the prize
- 12:57that is going to be most influential on getting your
- 12:59students to meet your expectations. And another fun
- 13:03idea is called line freeze. Ashley from Rainbow Skies for
- 13:06Teachers, shared this with us back in episode 120.
- 13:10Emily: Oh, and you should definitely go back and listen to
- 13:12that so you can hear it in her delightful Australian accent.
- 13:16But basically it's a bit like red light, green light. You lead
- 13:19your line down the hall normally at the front of the line, but
- 13:22every once in a while, you flip around and look at the kids.
- 13:24Their goal is to freeze in place as soon as you turn.
- 13:27Heidi: That is a really fun game, and it's perfect for the
- 13:29hallway because it can be done silently. Ashley says that she
- 13:33has done it with kids from kindergarten to sixth grade, and
- 13:35that they all enjoy it. So give that one a try if you want to
- 13:38add a little whimsy to your hallway routine.
- 13:40Emily: And go back to check out episode 89 if you want even more
- 13:44hallway tips.
- 13:45But for now, let's look at how to handle your transition
- 13:48routines. A good place to start here is by anchoring your
- 13:51attention signal. When that's solid, expand into listening for
- 13:54all the directions before they start moving, cleaning up
- 13:57workspaces, then getting materials for the next activity,
- 14:01and then transitioning to the new location quickly.
- 14:04Heidi: And we did another three part deep, deep dive in episodes
- 14:0848, 49 and 50. This one happened to be on transitions this time
- 14:12because, as you may have noticed, they are tricky, and
- 14:15they can eat up a lot of your learning time. So revisit those
- 14:18episodes, and also check out episode 160 if you want tips for
- 14:23our final core routine, dismissal.
- 14:26Emily: This one is hard because you are so tired by this point
- 14:29in the day. So do what you can to automate this routine as much
- 14:33as possible. You could anchor it with your procedure for tidying
- 14:36up desks, then expand to getting take home materials, then
- 14:40packing backpacks and then getting ready for dismissal.
- 14:43Heidi: The end of the day is a great time to add in some
- 14:45student ownership as reinforcement. Besides regular
- 14:48class jobs like sharpening pencils, you can assign students
- 14:51to hand out papers, pass out lunch boxes, check that everyone
- 14:54cleaned under their desk, and really, anything else that the
- 14:57kids are capable of doing, make them do it.
- 15:00Emily: For sure, don't take it on yourself to do all of the
- 15:02work. And the beauty of this approach is that once these
- 15:05routines are solid, your classroom really does start to
- 15:07run like clockwork.
- 15:09Heidi: Now this does take a lot of time and energy and
- 15:12intention. I want to be clear about that, because we know how
- 15:16much work this is, but we promise solid routines are worth
- 15:19it, even if they're not your favorite thing to teach.
- 15:23Emily: I know, no one goes into teaching because they love
- 15:25procedures. Although maybe we do. Do we? We talk about them a
- 15:29lot, maybe we do.
- 15:30Heidi: I didn't start out loving procedures, like, I got there
- 15:31once I saw what they could do for me.
- 15:31Emily: That's I was gonna say. I think we love procedures because
- 15:36we love what they give you as a teacher. And obviously, no
- 15:40student says their favorite part of school is your efficient
- 15:42dismissal routine.
- 15:44Heidi: But it would be nice if they pointed that out. But it's
- 15:48procedures and the routines that they create that are going to
- 15:51make the good parts of teaching, the stuff you like, possible.
- 15:55They enable you to be the kind of teacher you want to be.
- 15:58They're what create consistency so students feel safe and know
- 16:00what to expect. They prevent problems by minimizing
- 16:03opportunities for kids to test your limits, and they free you
- 16:07up to focus on your students instead of logistics.
- 16:10Emily: So let's wrap up with a quick recap of how to turn
- 16:13procedures into routines that stick. First, anchor your
- 16:17routine to one solid procedure that's already working well,
- 16:20then expand by adding one procedure at a time until you've
- 16:23built the full sequence. Finally, reinforce the routine
- 16:26as a whole, not just the individual steps.
- 16:30Heidi: Focus on your core four routines—morning start, hallway
- 16:33movement, classroom transitions, and end of day. These make or
- 16:38break your classroom flow. So look for opportunities to
- 16:41reinforce your expectations, so students will want to meet them.
- 16:45Emily: And remember that this will take time. Plan on at least
- 16:48two weeks for the basic structures to stick, but there
- 16:51will still be a period of watching and reinforcing before
- 16:54it becomes truly automatic.
- 16:56Heidi: And we would love to hear how you're building routines
- 16:59this year. Come join the conversation in our Teacher
- 17:02Approved Facebook group.
- 17:04Emily: Now for our Teacher Approved Tip of the Week, where
- 17:06we share an actionable tip to help you elevate what matters
- 17:09and simplify the rest. This week's teacher approved tip is
- 17:13to create your own routines. So tell us about this, Heidi.
- 17:16Heidi: Well, have you ever noticed how satisfying it is
- 17:19when your own personal routines just click? Like when you
- 17:22develop that evening routine where you prep everything for
- 17:25the next day, and then morning you feels like you have gained a
- 17:29superpower. Well, let's lean into that. This week, pick one
- 17:34routine in your personal life that's feeling a little chaotic
- 17:37and apply the same anchoring, expanding and reinforcing
- 17:40approach we talked about today.
- 17:42Emily: So maybe that'll be your after school routine, or your
- 17:45Sunday meal prep, or even just how you unwind in the evening.
- 17:49Start with one solid step that's already working and then build
- 17:52from there.
- 17:53Heidi: And we did talk about teacher morning routines as part
- 17:55of our morning routine deep dive. So the ones that focus on
- 17:58teachers specifically are episodes 93, which is your
- 18:03getting out the door morning routine, and episode 94 that's
- 18:06like, once you get to school morning routine. So definitely
- 18:09check those out. And just like with your students, give
- 18:12yourself time to practice and adjust. Those neuronal pathways
- 18:16need repetition at home, too.
- 18:17Emily: The best part is that when your personal routines are
- 18:20running smoothly, you'll have more mental energy for all of
- 18:23the amazing teaching you want to do.
- 18:23Heidi: All right, to wrap up the show, we're sharing what we're
- 18:24giving extra credit to this week. Emily, what gets your
- 18:29extra credit?
- 18:31Emily: I'm giving us credit to the Good Hang podcast with Amy
- 18:34Poehler. Have you listened to this, Heidi?
- 18:36Heidi: I haven't. It keeps showing up in my feed, so I've
- 18:38been meaning to, I just haven't had a chance yet.
- 18:40Emily: Same, and I just barely started listening a couple days
- 18:43ago, and it has exceeded my expectations. I think Amy might
- 18:47have been born to be a podcaster, not an actress. I
- 18:50like her as an actress, too, to be clear.
- 18:52Heidi: I keep getting ads for her master class on improv, and
- 18:56she's so delightful. I keep thinking, do I need to take a
- 18:59master class on improv? I don't want to do improv, but she's so
- 19:02fun.
- 19:03Emily: Be worth it to hang out with Amy. And usually I don't
- 19:07care to watch video podcasts. I just want to listen to a
- 19:09podcast. But I got fed one of these on YouTube, and I was
- 19:13like, Oh, this is so fun. And so now I just kind of have it on in
- 19:16the corner while I'm working the last few days, and it's been so
- 19:18fun. And seriously, every episode is genuinely a good
- 19:22hang. And one thing I love that she does is at the beginning of
- 19:25each episode, she does a video chat with someone she knows who
- 19:28also knows her guest for the episode, and then they say good
- 19:31things about the guests behind their backs.
- 19:33Heidi: That is so fun!
- 19:34Emily: It's so cute. So like, before she talked to Andy
- 19:36Samberg, she called Seth Meyers, and they talked about him, and
- 19:41like, how they got to know him and what they love about him.
- 19:44And then Seth, like, gave her an idea for a joke to play on Andy.
- 19:48And it was just fun. It was so cute.
- 19:50Heidi: That's such a fun way to introduce a guest.
- 19:52Emily: I know, it just felt so, it's just wholesome and fun, and
- 19:56it just makes me smile. So if you need a mood booster, check
- 19:59out the Good Hang podcast.
- 20:00Heidi: Well, I'll definitely have to try that out, because
- 20:02I'm going to be working for quite a while today.
- 20:04Emily: Yeah, pull it up. Start with the Adam Scott episode,
- 20:08because you're a Parks and Rec-er. So start with that one,
- 20:11even though you haven't watched Severance, so you won't get all
- 20:13the Severance talk, it's still worth it to hear them talk about
- 20:17Ben and Leslie is just so cute.
- 20:19Heidi: They're so good. I do love that. Okay, I'll definitely
- 20:21have to check that out.
- 20:22Emily: Okay, let me know what you think. What's getting your
- 20:24extra credit?
- 20:25Heidi: Well, I'm giving extra credit to the Lady Stacks
- 20:28Ultimate Book Tracker.
- 20:30Emily: Ooh, it sounds fancy.
- 20:31Heidi: Now, I haven't been someone who keeps track of my
- 20:34reading, because when I tried, I would get too caught up on how
- 20:38much or how little I was reading, and then it would start
- 20:41to feel like a chore, or that I was being graded and I was
- 20:44failing somehow. So I had to stop doing that. But I kept
- 20:48seeing ads. I'm so susceptible for ads, apparently.
- 20:51Emily: Apparently.
- 20:51Heidi: But I kept getting ads for this digital reading
- 20:55tracker. And 100% I have to say, I only bought it because I was
- 20:59trying to figure out how this person, Lady Stacks, how she
- 21:04managed to get the images to work well in Google Sheets,
- 21:08because it's a whole, you get a whole little like library image,
- 21:11but it's all in Google Sheets. And I have to say, I could not
- 21:15figure it out, because those tabs are locked.
- 21:17Emily: Oh, dang it.
- 21:18Heidi: But it turns out that it has been fun to play around with
- 21:21just putting in my own reading. So what you do is you type your
- 21:24book titles on one tab and then a little book is added to your
- 21:28cute library picture on the next tab.
- 21:30Emily: Oh, cute.
- 21:31Heidi: It's very satisfying. I love seeing my little library
- 21:34grow, and there's lots of info, like page totals and graphs. I
- 21:38haven't been on story graph because I know a lot of people
- 21:39use that instead of good reads, so I think it might be similar
- 21:43to that. But I don't know that you get to make a cute library
- 21:45in story graphs.
- 21:46Emily: I bet not. And I the reason I haven't switched to
- 21:48story graph is I don't think it's free, and I don't want to
- 21:52pay.
- 21:52Heidi: Oh, that's annoying.
- 21:53Emily: Well, not, I'll pay for something. I just don't want to
- 21:55pay continuously for a tool. I could be wrong, though. The
- 21:59people listening may be like, No, it's, you don't have to pay
- 22:02for it. I have no idea. I should have probably checked that
- 22:04before I made that statement, but it sticks in my head that
- 22:07that's why I didn't switch over, was like, Oh, I don't want to
- 22:09pay for it.
- 22:10Heidi: That's good to know. Well, I did have to pay for the
- 22:13book tracker, but it has been fun. I thought, Oh, I could make
- 22:16a new sheet for each year and have my little library just
- 22:18built up, so.
- 22:20Emily: That's so cute. I'm definitely gonna check it out. I
- 22:22do use Goodreads, but there isn't an easy, satisfying way
- 22:26to, like, see everything you've read. It's kind of utilitarian.
- 22:29And I also get stressed out in Goodreads about the reviews,
- 22:34because I feel I overthink the stars, because sometimes, well,
- 22:40I really enjoyed this. So it's like a four star, but really
- 22:43it's the writing's not that great, the story's not that
- 22:45great. It's probably more like a three star, but I liked it. So,
- 22:48you know, I just spend too much effort on that. Plus, I feel so
- 22:50guilty ever giving anybody.
- 22:52Heidi: I know it's hard.
- 22:53Emily: Like, less than, yeah, I feel bad every time I give even
- 22:56a three star. I'm like, Oh, I'm such a jerk. So.
- 22:59Heidi: Well, now you can rate lowly in private. No one will
- 23:03ever see it.
- 23:03Emily: There we go. Okay, I'll check it out.
- 23:05Heidi: And there's a link in the show notes if anyone else wants
- 23:08to check it out.
- 23:09That's it for today's episode. Remember our three steps for
- 23:12connecting your individual procedures into smooth running
- 23:15classroom routines, and then you can try out those same steps to
- 23:19your own routines.
- 23:22We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm Heidi.
- 23:26Emily: And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
- 23:29or subscribe in your podcast app so that you never miss an
- 23:32episode.
- 23:33Heidi: You can connect with us and other teachers in the
- 23:35Teacher Approved Facebook group. We'll see you here next week.
- 23:38Bye for now.
- 23:39Emily: Bye.