Latest / Teacher Approved: Elementary Teacher Tips & Strategies / 196. The 3 Step Plan to Park Those School Thoughts and Enjoy Your Summer Break

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196. The 3 Step Plan to Park Those School Thoughts and Enjoy Your Summer Break · Teacher Approved: Elementary Teacher Tips & Strategies

• 0:01
  Heidi: This is episode 196 of Teacher Approved.
• 0:06
  You're listening to Teacher Approved, the podcast helping
• 0:09
  educators elevate what matters and simplify the rest. I'm
• 0:13
  Heidi.
• 0:14
  Emily: And I'm Emily. We're the creators behind Second Story
• 0:17
  Window, where we give research based and teacher approved
• 0:20
  strategies that make teaching less stressful and more
• 0:23
  effective. You can check out the show notes and resources from
• 0:26
  each episode at secondstorywindow.net.
• 0:29
  Heidi: We're so glad you're tuning in today. Let's get to
• 0:32
  the show.
• 0:37
  Emily: Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today's
• 0:40
  episode, we are sharing our simple three step approach to
• 0:43
  help you mentally wrap up the school year without carrying a
• 0:46
  bag of stress into your summer.
• 0:49
  Heidi: Let's start with a try it tomorrow, where we share a quick
• 0:51
  win that you can try right away. Emily, what is our suggestion
• 0:54
  this week?
• 0:55
  Emily: Our try it tomorrow is to designate a school task cutoff
• 0:59
  date and stick to it. So before the final bell rings, decide on
• 1:04
  a specific day and time when all school related work must cease.
• 1:08
  Communicate this to colleagues, if necessary, and most
• 1:11
  importantly, commit to it yourself.
• 1:13
  Heidi: Absolutely. You deserve to firmly shut the door on
• 1:17
  school life as you head into the wonderful world that is summer
• 1:21
  life. If you need some accountability, make sure to
• 1:24
  communicate your cutoff date to people who will hold you
• 1:27
  accountable for sticking to it, and then shut the door on school
• 1:30
  and enjoy your time off.
• 1:32
  Emily: If you like this idea or anything else we share on the
• 1:34
  podcast, would you do us a favor and give us a five star rating
• 1:37
  and review in Apple podcasts?
• 1:41
  Heidi: It is that time of year where one foot is still in the
• 1:43
  classroom and the other is already halfway into summer
• 1:46
  break. Mentally, you're probably clocked out, and emotionally,
• 1:51
  you might be riding that roller coaster between, I can't wait to
• 1:54
  be done and I still have a million things to do.
• 1:57
  Emily: If that sounds familiar, you are absolutely not alone. We
• 2:01
  all know that feeling, and what makes it even harder is that our
• 2:04
  teacher brains never really shut off.
• 2:06
  Heidi: Oh, my goodness, yes, you're supposed to be relaxing,
• 2:09
  but there's always that voice saying, if you don't get it done
• 2:12
  now, you're going to regret it in August. Meanwhile, you are so
• 2:15
  exhausted you can barely remember to bring your lunch to
• 2:18
  school, let alone plan for next fall.
• 2:20
  Emily: The good news is that you don't have to stay stuck in
• 2:23
  those feelings. We want you to finish the year feeling grounded
• 2:26
  and confident, not like you're limping to the finish line,
• 2:29
  dragging your to do list like a strip of toilet paper stuck to
• 2:33
  your shoe. With a few simple mindset shifts and practical
• 2:38
  tools, you can leave school feeling more done than undone.
• 2:42
  Heidi: We are calling this our May/June crossover plan. It's
• 2:45
  not about adding more to your plate. It's about giving you
• 2:48
  permission to wrap things up with intention so you can
• 2:51
  actually enjoy your summer.
• 2:53
  Emily: You deserve a real break, not one where you're constantly
• 2:56
  checking email or waking up in a cold sweat because you dreamed
• 2:59
  you forgot to turn in your textbook inventory.
• 3:02
  Heidi: The May/June crossover plan has three parts: capture
• 3:05
  and contain, prep for the pause, and close the loop. Our goal is
• 3:10
  to give you a simple framework that will allow you to mentally
• 3:13
  clock out without dropping any balls or carrying your teacher
• 3:16
  guilt into summer.
• 3:18
  Emily: Man, we do love a list. So let's dive into part one of
• 3:22
  our list, which is capture and contain. So this is all about
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  giving your brain some breathing room. If you're like most
• 3:28
  teachers right now, your brain is trying to tie up a lot of
• 3:31
  loose ends at once. It's like having a very full, very chaotic
• 3:36
  parking lot inside your head. There are cars everywhere, some
• 3:39
  are parked in actual spaces, and some are double parked, and then
• 3:42
  some are just abandoned in the middle of the lane, which is
• 3:45
  kind of how it feels like when everybody's at the school for a
• 3:48
  band concert and the parents have just given up trying to
• 3:51
  find a place to park, and it's just mass chaos. So if you've
• 3:54
  been there, you can visualize what I'm visualizing.
• 3:58
  Heidi: Those cars are all your thoughts, worries, and to do's.
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  Did I remember to submit my supply list? What if I tried a
• 4:04
  different seating arrangement next year? I should really
• 4:07
  laminate those anchor charts before I leave.
• 4:09
  Emily: So what if we could park some of those thought cars? The
• 4:13
  thoughts aren't the problem. The problem is that the thoughts
• 4:16
  have nowhere to go. They're stuck in gridlock and taking up
• 4:20
  valuable mental real estate when your brain desperately needs a
• 4:24
  vacation,
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  Heidi: The solution is simple, but it is powerful. Create an
• 4:29
  actual physical parking lot for all of those thoughts. You
• 4:32
  sometimes call this a brain dump, but, you know, I kind of
• 4:35
  like thinking of it as a summer parking lot. You're not getting
• 4:38
  rid of the cars, you're just giving them an organized place
• 4:41
  to hang out while you're away.
• 4:43
  Emily: Your parking lot can be as simple as a stack of sticky
• 4:45
  notes or a dedicated notebook, or you can just have a Google
• 4:48
  doc titled For August. Whatever system helps you breathe easier
• 4:53
  is the right one for you.
• 4:54
  Heidi: The key is to have one specific place where you capture
• 4:58
  every random thought, every idea or worry that pops into your
• 5:01
  head over the next few weeks, and we do mean everything. I
• 5:06
  need to move the bookshelf to the other wall. Or consider a
• 5:08
  new morning routine. Ask about that grant for the garden
• 5:11
  project.
• 5:12
  Emily: So because we want to capture those thoughts
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  immediately, your parking lot needs to be where you are. So
• 5:17
  using a notebook for your thoughts is great unless you
• 5:20
  find yourself wide awake in the middle of the night with an
• 5:22
  urgent thought and nowhere to write it down because you left
• 5:25
  your notebook at school.
• 5:27
  Heidi: Oh, that is a guaranteed way to ensure that you're not
• 5:30
  gonna be getting back to sleep anytime soon. So make sure that
• 5:33
  whatever you use for your thought parking lot is something
• 5:36
  that you can easily access anytime you need it.
• 5:39
  Emily: It may seem too good to be true, but we promise that
• 5:42
  writing down your thoughts is kind of a magical way to
• 5:45
  decrease your anxiety level. Our brains are great idea machines,
• 5:50
  but they are not built to be remembering machines, but once
• 5:53
  you write something down, your brain can let go.
• 5:56
  Heidi: This strategy helps you gently shift into summer mode
• 5:59
  with peace of mind. I started doing something like this years
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  ago, and it completely changed how I transitioned into summer.
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  Instead of carrying this invisible backpack of things
• 6:09
  that I should be thinking about, I just dumped it all in a
• 6:12
  document and then closed my laptop.
• 6:14
  Emily: Yeah, and using a document is a better idea than
• 6:17
  what I do, which is just send myself emails where the thought
• 6:20
  is the subject line, because then sometimes the next day, I'm
• 6:23
  like, what and what even was this? And my inbox is a mess.
• 6:28
  Don't, don't do that. Use a doc.
• 6:31
  Heidi: And then you have to do something with that email and
• 6:33
  put that information somewhere where you can use it.
• 6:36
  Emily: And then it gets buried in my email by other emails, and
• 6:38
  then I see it, like, a month later, I'm like, Oh my gosh, I
• 6:41
  forgot about that. So that's not a good approach. Use a doc. And
• 6:45
  what's great about this approach is that you're not ignoring
• 6:48
  these thoughts or or like pretending that they don't
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  matter. You're just containing them so they don't take over
• 6:53
  your well deserved break.
• 6:55
  Heidi: Right now is not the time for action. We're just
• 6:59
  committing to remembering. That's the limit of what we can
• 7:02
  handle right now. This gives your brain the comfort of
• 7:05
  knowing it's not going to lose thoughts without forcing you to
• 7:08
  act on them immediately before they're forgotten.
• 7:11
  Emily: And then when you come back in August, you will have
• 7:14
  this gift waiting for you—all your end of your insights and
• 7:17
  ideas captured when they were fresh in your mind.
• 7:20
  Heidi: Now, if you want to take this to the next level, we have
• 7:22
  several different to do pages in our end of year roadmap. There's
• 7:26
  a general brain dump page called my summer to do list, plus there
• 7:30
  are pages for May through August, so you can schedule when
• 7:34
  you might want to try to do some of those tasks on your to do
• 7:37
  list.
• 7:38
  Emily: All roads lead back to the end of year roadmap at this
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  time of year.
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  Heidi: No joke.
• 7:43
  Emily: If you want to organize that brain dump list, there's a
• 7:45
  sheet called tasks by location, and this helps you maximize your
• 7:49
  energy and time. And then there's a task status list,
• 7:52
  where you can identify each task's first steps. Writing down
• 7:56
  the first step for each task can lift a huge weight off your
• 7:58
  shoulders. When it's time to do some school work, you'll already
• 8:01
  know exactly where to start, which is often the hardest part.
• 8:05
  Heidi: There is zero expectation that you should use every one of
• 8:08
  those lists, but there's enough there that there should be
• 8:11
  something that helps you build the system that you need. The
• 8:14
  link to our free end of year roadmap is in the show notes.
• 8:18
  But even if you just grab a notebook and start scribbling,
• 8:20
  you are still giving yourself a huge gift.
• 8:23
  Emily: Okay. So with all of those swirling thoughts
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  captured, it's time for part two of the May/June crossover plan,
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  prep for the pause. This is where we set the stage for a
• 8:34
  real break.
• 8:35
  Heidi: The question to ask yourself here is, what can I put
• 8:38
  in place now so I can fully pause later? The goal isn't to
• 8:43
  pretend that teaching doesn't exist for two months. As nice as
• 8:46
  that would be, it's just not realistic for most of us.
• 8:50
  Instead, it's about creating clear boundaries so that when
• 8:53
  you do think about school, it is intentional rather than
• 8:56
  intrusive.
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  Emily: One simple way to make space for your summer pause is
• 9:00
  to move your teacher bag and put it out of sight. You can put it
• 9:03
  in your closet, and keep it in the trunk of your car, out of
• 9:07
  sight, out of mind, but still easy to get if you do need it.
• 9:12
  Heidi: Another game changer is setting your out of office
• 9:14
  message, something simple like, thanks for your email. I'm
• 9:17
  currently on summer break, and I will respond when school resumes
• 9:20
  in August. If this is urgent, please contact the school. This
• 9:24
  sets a clear boundary that protects your time and it also
• 9:27
  manages expectations.
• 9:29
  Emily: While you're at it, delete or hide those school
• 9:33
  related apps on your phone. You can temporarily remove any
• 9:37
  school email, grading, or communication apps and reinstall
• 9:40
  them when school nears, if you really have to have those on
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  your phone.
• 9:44
  Heidi: And now's the time to batch any lingering to do tasks.
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  If you know you need to submit final receipts or purge that
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  drawer of mystery supplies, try and tackle it now. Don't let
• 9:57
  these tasks bleed into your first weeks of summer.
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  Emily: It may be helpful to block off specific time, like
• 10:03
  maybe a day or even just an afternoon after the students
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  leave, to knock out all those tasks at once. It's so much
• 10:11
  better to stay late one day in June than to have these tasks
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  hanging over your head in July.
• 10:16
  Heidi: You could even try scheduling a classroom cleanup
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  day with your work besties team up for mutual accountability and
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  make classroom cleanup social, rather than isolating. Having
• 10:26
  others help makes tasks more enjoyable and efficient and
• 10:29
  bonus points if you bring some snacks.
• 10:32
  Emily: In episode 194 we talked about the three bin system for
• 10:35
  breaking down your classroom. So you set up one bin for any
• 10:39
  summer work you know that you will actually do, one for your
• 10:43
  classroom setup materials, and one for the first week of school
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  essentials. Label them, stack them where you can get to them
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  and walk away.
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  Heidi: Being intentional about preparing for summer isn't about
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  doing more. It's about doing just enough to allow your brain
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  to actually shut off and your body to rest, because you
• 11:02
  deserve a real break.
• 11:04
  Emily: And that brings us to the third part of our May/June
• 11:08
  crossover plan, which is close the loop. This is where we give
• 11:12
  ourselves emotional closure on the school year. We often talk
• 11:15
  about student closure, but like we mentioned last week, teacher
• 11:18
  closure matters just as much.
• 11:20
  Heidi: I think this might be one of the most overlooked parts of
• 11:23
  transitioning to summer, but it's so important. Teaching
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  isn't just a job, it is personal. Each year is a journey
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  with its own highs and lows, victories and challenges.
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  Without some kind of closure, it's easy to carry those
• 11:38
  emotions, especially the heavy ones, like frustration or
• 11:41
  disappointment, right into your summer.
• 11:44
  Emily: Small rituals can make a big difference. So on the last
• 11:47
  day of school, I liked to take a photo of my empty classroom, all
• 11:50
  tucked up for summer hibernation. There's something
• 11:53
  so satisfying about seeing that clean slate and knowing it's
• 11:56
  ready for a fresh start in the fall.
• 11:58
  Heidi: And don't underestimate the power of simply saying
• 12:00
  goodbye to your room. Walk around, touch the walls, sit at
• 12:03
  your desk, lean into the Marie Kondo woowoo-ness of it all,
• 12:08
  thank your room for all of the wonder that it held this year.
• 12:12
  Even though the carpet is old and it doesn't have enough
• 12:14
  outlets and you never know what the temperature will be, you and
• 12:18
  your classroom are a pretty good team.
• 12:20
  Emily: Another idea is to write a quick note of encouragement to
• 12:23
  your future self, highlighting what went well this year and
• 12:26
  what you hope for next year, and then you could tuck it into your
• 12:28
  desk drawer to read on your first morning back at work.
• 12:32
  Heidi: In episode 195 we talked about closing the school year
• 12:35
  with heart. The idea is to honor what you've accomplished and
• 12:38
  acknowledge any difficulties before moving on. You deserve to
• 12:42
  start somewhere with a sense of peace and not panic or regret.
• 12:45
  These small rituals help you draw a line between the school
• 12:48
  year and your break.
• 12:50
  Emily: And that is our May/June crossover plan. Capture the
• 12:54
  thoughts swirling in your brain, prep for your exit so you can
• 12:57
  truly pause, and close the loop with simple emotional closure.
• 13:01
  It's not complicated, but it makes a world of difference.
• 13:04
  Heidi: You don't have to be perfectly planned. You just need
• 13:07
  a clear exit ramp and a little compassion for yourself.
• 13:10
  Emily: Do you want a little help making that exit smoother? Well,
• 13:13
  then download our end of your roadmap. It's totally free and
• 13:17
  full of simple prompts and checklists to help you finish
• 13:20
  strong without the stress. You'll find a link in our show
• 13:23
  notes.
• 13:24
  Heidi: But if you're feeling the pull to rest and the tug to
• 13:28
  regroup, you are absolutely not alone. That's why the teacher
• 13:32
  summer talks are coming in June, to help you gently shift into
• 13:35
  summer reflection and feel ready for what's next without the
• 13:38
  pressure. So stay tuned. You are going to love this.
• 13:42
  Emily: Oh, you really are. So go give future you the gift of a
• 13:45
  peaceful start to summer, because you have earned it.
• 13:49
  Heidi: We would love to hear your end of year rituals, or how
• 13:52
  you mentally transition to summer. Come join the
• 13:54
  conversation in our Teacher Approved Facebook group.
• 13:57
  Emily: Now for our teacher approved Tip of the Week, where
• 14:00
  we share an actionable tip to help you elevate what matters
• 14:03
  and simplify the rest. This week's teacher approved tip is
• 14:07
  create a classroom closing checklist. Tell us more about
• 14:10
  this. Heidi.
• 14:11
  Heidi: Well, make a comprehensive list of everything
• 14:14
  that must be done before you leave your classroom at the end
• 14:16
  of the year. For example, all of the fun stuff, like inventorying
• 14:21
  your cleaning supplies, organizing textbooks, checking
• 14:23
  in all the technology, maybe hiding that coffee maker you're
• 14:27
  not supposed to have in your room. Check off the items
• 14:30
  systematically so you can mentally release those
• 14:32
  responsibilities.
• 14:34
  Emily: And don't forget to turn your grades in, because Heidi
• 14:36
  knows from experience, they'll chase you down in during summer
• 14:39
  if you forget to do that.
• 14:41
  Heidi: Did have that problem one year.
• 14:44
  Emily: To help you out with this, we've added some pages to
• 14:46
  our end of your roadmap freebie. Yes, we're talking about it some
• 14:49
  more. You can't trust us with digital products because they're
• 14:52
  just too easy to extend. So give us a couple years, and this will
• 14:55
  be a 75 page freebie, and you'll be glad you have it. But for
• 14:59
  what we just added, there's a checklist for packing up your
• 15:02
  room, there's a page to write a letter to your future self for
• 15:05
  back to school encouragement, there's an inventory sheet for
• 15:09
  any classroom items you need to inventory at the end of the
• 15:11
  year. And then there's a sheet so you can keep track of what
• 15:14
  you put in your three bins. Remember your classroom
• 15:17
  resources bin, your need first bin, and your first week of
• 15:20
  school bin.
• 15:21
  Heidi: Now if you've already downloaded the end of your
• 15:23
  roadmap, you might be thinking, great ladies, I already have
• 15:26
  this. But don't worry, it is so easy to add these new pages. I
• 15:29
  promise it's so easy. If you have downloaded the roadmap, but
• 15:33
  you haven't filled anything out yet, just delete the old version
• 15:35
  and download the new version.
• 15:37
  Emily: That's for sure the easiest way. But if you have
• 15:39
  written a few things in your roadmap, but not a lot, download
• 15:42
  the new version and copy and paste anything you've written
• 15:45
  into the new document, and then delete your old one.
• 15:48
  Heidi: If you have written a lot in your roadmap and you don't
• 15:51
  feel like copying and pasting, go ahead and download the new
• 15:54
  roadmap and then look at the pages we've just added. For any
• 15:58
  pages that you want to add to your current roadmap, just click
• 16:02
  the little tab at the bottom of the page on the new download.
• 16:05
  This will bring up a bunch of options like delete and
• 16:08
  duplicate, but the option you want is copy to. So when you
• 16:12
  click that, it'll bring up option and you want copy to
• 16:15
  existing spreadsheet. And then you can select your roadmap
• 16:19
  file, and it will copy it right in there. Once you have copied
• 16:22
  over any of the new sheets that you want, you can just delete
• 16:25
  the file that you downloaded.
• 16:26
  Emily: I promise it's way easier than it sounds, and there's so
• 16:30
  much good stuff in there. We just don't want you to miss any
• 16:33
  of it as we keep adding really awesome new additions to it. So
• 16:37
  make sure to head to the show notes so you can grab your own
• 16:39
  copy or update your copy if you need the latest one.
• 16:42
  Heidi: To wrap up the show we're sharing what we're giving extra
• 16:44
  credit to this week. Emily, what gets your extra credit?
• 16:47
  Emily: Well, I'm giving extra credit to something super sexy.
• 16:50
  It's my new dandruff comb. I was like, why does it have to be
• 16:55
  called that?? I told you it was super sexy. The thing about this
• 17:01
  comb is that it has hollow teeth, so it exfoliates your
• 17:05
  scalp when you comb it across your scalp. And then what's cool
• 17:08
  about it is it has a little button that cleans it out after.
• 17:11
  Heidi: Gross.
• 17:12
  Emily: No, it's not gross. It's not gross. I promise it's not
• 17:15
  gross. It's not, it's less gross than having your scalp flakes
• 17:19
  end up your clothes.
• 17:21
  Heidi: That's very true. Yeah.
• 17:22
  Emily: So it gets it out of your hair very easily. It feels
• 17:25
  really good. And I feel like my scalp has been like, extra clean
• 17:29
  since I started using this.
• 17:30
  Heidi: Well, that does sound like a win.
• 17:31
  Emily: I'm gonna turn you into a fan instead of a hater.
• 17:38
  Heidi: We'll see.
• 17:38
  Emily: I know that dandruff scales run in our family, so
• 17:41
  don't try to pretend you're better than my dandruff comb.
• 17:45
  Heidi: Don't out our dirty laundry on a national podcast!
• 17:51
  Emily: Sorry mom for bringing shame on our family. What are
• 17:55
  you giving extra credit to you, Heidi? Better bring something
• 17:57
  really good after that mocking.
• 18:00
  Heidi: Oh, it is excellent. It is so lovely and centering and
• 18:04
  healing. So I'm giving extra credit to JaxKelly's shower
• 18:10
  affirmation cards. These are really just such a simple way to
• 18:13
  add a little brightness to your day. These cards are made from
• 18:17
  like, some special material, probably plasticky, so it makes
• 18:22
  them waterproof. So you just choose one, I like to choose one
• 18:25
  at random, and then you get your shower wall a little wet, and
• 18:27
  the card just sticks to it. And then while you're showering, you
• 18:30
  can remind yourself that I am creating a life of passion and
• 18:34
  purpose, or I am open and ready to receive amazing
• 18:37
  possibilities.
• 18:38
  They have several different sets for things like abundance,
• 18:38
  So you can use the dandruff comb and then take a shower, and
• 18:39
  anxiety and positivity and lots more than that. And they have
• 18:40
  sets for kids and teens as well. I think these are really unique
• 18:42
  then, if you're lucky, you'll pull out one that's like, I'm
• 18:43
  gifts, especially if you have someone who might be going
• 18:45
  still worthy, even though I have dandruff sometimes.
• 18:49
  through a hard time. And I also think these are really helpful
• 18:51
  They have some pretty specific ones, so they probably have
• 18:55
  if you happen to be in a place right now where that thinking
• 18:59
  time in the shower might lead to spiraling thoughts. So I give
• 19:03
  these 10 stars out of 10 stars, I don't know, how many stars do
• 19:07
  you think can get? This gets all of them. They're just really
• 19:10
  lovely, a little bit of brightness in a world that can
• 19:13
  that.
• 19:13
  sometimes feel overwhelming.
• 19:19
  Emily: If not, you can just make your own card to add to the set.
• 19:36
  Heidi: That is it for today's episode. Use our May/June
• 19:39
  crossover plan to mentally clock out without dropping the ball,
• 19:43
  and don't forget our teacher approved tip to create a
• 19:46
  checklist for packing up your classroom.
• 19:49
  We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm Heidi.
• 19:53
  Emily: And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
• 19:56
  or subscribe in your podcast app so that you never miss an
• 19:59
  episode.
• 20:00
  Heidi: You can connect with us and other teachers in the
• 20:02
  Teacher Approved Facebook group. We'll see you here next week.
• 20:06
  Bye for now.
• 20:06
  Emily: Bye.