Latest / Teacher Approved: Elementary Teacher Tips & Strategies / 282. 3 Ways to Hold Students Accountable to Your Classroom Expectations

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282. 3 Ways to Hold Students Accountable to Your Classroom Expectations · Teacher Approved: Elementary Teacher Tips & Strategies

0:01
Heidi: This is episode 282 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
0:19
teacher-approved strategies that make teaching less stressful and
0:22
more effective. You can check out the show notes and resources
0:26
from each episode at secondstorywindow.net.
0:28
Heidi: We're so glad you're tuning in today. Let's get to
0:31
the show.
0:36
Emily: Hey there! Thanks for joining us today. In today's
0:39
episode, we are talking about how to respond when it seems
0:43
like your class has forgotten everything you taught them in
0:46
week one. Plus, we have a teacher-approved tip to help the
0:49
little lefties in your life.
0:52
Heidi: But first, let's start with a try it tomorrow, where we
0:55
share a quick win that you can try in your classroom today.
0:57
Emily, what's our suggestion for this week?
0:59
Emily: This week, why don't you try having your students work
1:02
together to write a short class affirmation, and then it can be
1:07
something that you repeat together every day. This type of
1:11
project is ideal for building community early in the year, and
1:14
it's a great way to convey to students what matters in your
1:18
classroom.
1:19
Heidi: Plus, this is something that can easily grow with your
1:22
class. If you wanted to start off the year with something
1:25
simple like a sentence or two, you can add to it as the year
1:28
goes on. Doing this every day will help it become an important
1:31
part of your class's identity.
1:33
Emily: If you appreciate our teacher-approved episodes, we
1:36
would love it if you took 30 seconds to rate and review the
1:39
show on your podcast player.
1:42
Heidi: So we're in the middle of August, and it's always such a
1:44
weird time. I swear, the whole month feels like one long Sunday
1:49
night.
1:50
Emily: Well, that's exactly what it feels like because it's this
1:53
sense that like something's about to change, things are
1:56
changing, but nothing has started yet.
2:00
Heidi: And then it's kind of hard to really talk about
2:03
because the timing of things varies so much depending on
2:06
where you live. Some of our listeners are heading into their
2:10
second or even third week of school, and some of our
2:13
listeners will still have two weeks of summer break ahead of
2:15
them.
2:16
Emily: And if you live in the southern hemisphere or you teach
2:19
year round, we don't even know what you guys are doing, but
2:22
we're so glad you're here.
2:23
Heidi: Yes, thank you for joining us anyway. But if you
2:27
are in the barely back in school or the not quite back in school
2:30
camp, you can listen to this episode and just file it away
2:34
under stuff I will be glad to have in a few weeks.
2:37
Emily: And if you're already well into your first month of
2:40
school, buckle up because this episode is for you.
2:43
Heidi: So imagine you are in the middle of your third week of
2:47
school, and you walk past the backpacks. Three weeks ago,
2:51
every backpack was zipped shut and hanging from its assigned
2:53
hook. The floor was tidy. Nobody's Capri Sun had popped
2:57
and stained everything. It was so well organized it could have
3:00
been a stock photo.
3:02
Emily: But that was then, and this is now. It's a different
3:06
story now. Some backpacks are hanging. Some are on the floor,
3:11
propped against the wall. A couple are just nowhere near the
3:14
hooks. The zippers are gaping open. Papers and broken pencils
3:19
are littering the floor, and you're just standing there
3:22
thinking, "I could have sworn that we spent the entire first
3:27
week practicing this."
3:29
Heidi: And you did. Don't gaslight yourself about that.
3:32
You taught a whole lesson about this. You even had slides, and
3:36
your kids knew exactly what to do. They could manage it just
3:39
fine.
3:40
Emily: Well, for a little while, I guess, but now whether they
3:43
realize it or not, they're checking to see if you meant
3:47
what you said in the beginning. Because given the option, they
3:50
would really prefer not to have to take care of their backpacks.
3:53
That would be way easier.
3:55
Heidi: So let's talk about why that happens. The first few
3:58
weeks of school are full of novelty. Kids are figuring out
4:01
who you are and how your classroom works, and then after
4:04
a few weeks, they settle in.
4:06
Yeah, they finally know where things go and what you expect of
4:10
them, and that's how you know you are officially in the season
4:13
of settling in. Now, this is a special golden stretch of the
4:17
year because you can finally focus on teaching content
4:21
instead of all the effort on procedures, the routine finally
4:25
starts feeling like a routine, and you and your new class are
4:28
finding your rhythm.
4:30
But comfort brings a new challenge, and students start
4:33
testing boundaries. It's not that they're trying to be bad,
4:37
you know, at least most of them. It's just that it's easier to
4:41
ignore an expectation that they don't feel invested in yet.
4:45
Emily: And can you blame them? It's so much easier to just
4:49
leave your backpack wherever, and it doesn't affect them. At
4:53
least they don't think it affects them until they can't
4:56
find their jacket before recess.
4:58
Heidi: Oh yeah, that panic jacket hunt. So when your kids
5:01
seem to push back on every single standard you taught in
5:04
the first weeks, they're not telling you that they forgot
5:06
what to do. They're telling you they need you to make sure they
5:09
remember.
5:11
Emily: And that brings us to the hardest part of this season.
5:14
It's not teaching your expectations, as tedious as that
5:17
is. It's holding students accountable for meeting them,
5:21
because just like with the kids and their sloppy backpacks, it
5:24
is easier not to deal with it. I mean, in the short term, it
5:29
feels easier.
5:31
Heidi: Yet, what nobody prepares you for in college is that when
5:34
you see the mess or the kids chatting in line, your brain
5:37
starts negotiating. It's not that big of a deal. You tell
5:40
yourself we're already running behind. I don't want to cause a
5:43
distraction. I'll just deal with it next time.
5:46
Emily: And of course, sometimes letting it go is the right call,
5:48
depending on the day and what's happening. But what matters most
5:51
here is why you're letting it go. Is this a thoughtful
5:55
decision about what you want students to learn, or are you
5:58
just avoiding the discomfort of dealing with it?
6:02
Heidi: And this is in no way a guilt trip. Sometimes the honest
6:05
answer is, I cannot deal with this right now. We cannot be our
6:09
best all of the time. Sometimes you just have to let the little
6:12
stuff go.
6:13
Emily: Yeah, the problem isn't making that call. Sometimes it's
6:16
making it every time without ever noticing you're making it.
6:20
Every time a student misses an expectation, you've got a
6:22
decision to make. If you address this now, it means losing time,
6:27
resetting, interrupting the flow, and spending energy that
6:31
you probably don't have.
6:33
Heidi: So that's why letting it go feels easier. You're saving
6:37
time and energy in the moment, but letting it go has an
6:41
expensive cost that shows up later. Students learn that your
6:44
expectations are flexible, and next time they're going to push
6:48
a little farther.
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Emily: And then you're just in a loop because you let it slide.
6:53
They push again, and then the behavior gets harder to address,
6:56
and you're more frustrated because now the problem has
6:59
grown.
7:00
Heidi: And what's extra frustrating is that there's no
7:03
shortcut past this. Kids are designed to test the edges of
7:07
their environment, and until science invents a way to
7:10
uninstall that particular feature, it means our job is
7:14
making sure that the edges are solid enough to hold when the
7:18
kids are leaning against them.
7:20
Emily: And we've said this before, but the standard of
7:22
behavior in any classroom is whatever students can get away
7:26
with.
7:27
Heidi: Or to put it another way, your expectations are whatever
7:31
you allow. Which means holding students accountable has to
7:35
happen more often than not.
7:37
Emily: Accountability can sound really harsh, like we're a judge
7:41
and jury, but it's important to separate the idea of
7:45
accountability from the idea of punishment. Punishment is saying
7:50
how do I make this painful enough that the student decides
7:53
it's not worth doing again.
7:55
Heidi: But accountability takes a different route. It asks how
7:59
do I help the student understand why their behavior matters, so
8:02
they can make a better choice next time.
8:05
Emily: Or you can think of it like this: punishment is about
8:07
paying a price. Accountability is about learning. So let's say
8:10
a student is upset and kicks over the trash can.
8:13
Heidi: Now punishment would be pick up the trash and you've
8:16
lost five minutes of recess. But accountability is what happened,
8:21
how are you going to fix it? What will you do differently
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next time?
8:26
Emily: So both responses get the trash picked up, which
8:28
definitely needs to happen. But in the accountability example,
8:31
the student walks away having learned about themselves and
8:34
their choices, and I guess your expectations of their behavior.
8:38
Heidi: Yes, and hopefully gained a little more skill with
8:42
noticing when there's a problem and solving it. That's the big
8:45
goal here, right? So let's take a look at three strategies you
8:49
can use to make sure that you are holding students
8:51
accountable, and each strategy fits a different kind of
8:54
situation.
8:55
Emily: So the first strategy is to reteach what you expect. Use
8:59
this when a procedure has gotten sloppy, like our backpacks.
9:04
Heidi: Now, the mistake that most of us make here is giving a
9:07
reminder. Remember, we hang our backpacks neatly. A reminder
9:11
just restates what students already know, but it gives them
9:15
no reason to change anything.
9:17
Emily: Holding students accountable requires action, not
9:20
reminders. Let's look at these backpacks. What do you notice?
9:24
Let's try it again. Then have them reset their backpacks and
9:28
pick up the floor. Then end by asking students what they'll do
9:31
differently tomorrow.
9:33
Heidi: And if the sloppy procedure has become a chronic
9:36
problem, you may need to reteach a full tell try tally talk
9:40
lesson. Tell them what's expected and model it. Let them
9:44
try it while you watch. Tally or discuss whether they hit the
9:47
mark, and then talk about what they will remember going
9:50
forward.
9:51
Emily: And if you made procedure slides with our tell, try, tally
9:54
talk at the beginning of the year, then you'll want to dig
9:57
those back up.
9:58
Heidi: And unfortunately, there will be a fair amount of
10:00
reteaching, so make it as easy on yourself as you can.
10:04
Now, normally we are all about increased student engagement,
10:07
but a reteach lesson should feel a little boring. We want to send
10:11
the message that we don't have time for the fun stuff when we
10:14
are stuck practicing the stuff that we already learned.
10:17
Emily: And the lesson we teach by reteaching expectations is
10:21
what my teacher says goes, and it's more enjoyable to do it
10:24
right the first time than have to practice it later.
10:28
Heidi: Our second accountability strategy is for when kids aren't
10:31
following directions. Imagine you tell your class, "Get out
10:35
your math workbook, turn to page 48, solve problems one through
10:38
five, and then bring your book back to the table so I can check
10:41
it."
10:42
Emily: Before you've even said turn to page. Half the class
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starts moving, and 30 seconds later they're all asking, "Wait,
10:49
what are we supposed to be doing?"
10:51
Heidi: I hate that question so much.
10:52
Emily: I know.
10:53
Heidi: So when confusion strikes, start by making sure
10:57
that you didn't accidentally create the problem. Consider if
11:01
you had everyone's attention before you started talking.
11:04
Students can't follow directions they didn't hear.
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Emily: And oh, it feels awkward. But don't be afraid to pause
11:10
after your attention signal and wait until all eyes are on you
11:14
before you say a word. We talked all about troubleshooting your
11:18
attention signal in episode 98, so you can check that out if you
11:22
need some support there.
11:23
Heidi: I can't believe that episode was so long ago. I
11:25
thought it was last year.
11:26
Emily: That feels very recent.
11:29
Heidi: But if you know you had everyone's attention before you
11:31
started talking, the next question is: Did you use an
11:35
action cue? Kids start moving the second they think they know
11:40
what you want, which means that they might miss the rest of your
11:43
directions.
11:44
Emily: An action cue heads that off. It's a word or phrase
11:47
students listen for as their signal to start moving. I always
11:51
used the when I say go, I'd give the full set of directions, make
11:56
sure everyone was with me, and then I'd say go.
11:59
Heidi: Yeah, that was my standard action cue too, but
12:02
this is also an easy place to sprinkle in a little spark. So
12:06
sometimes instead of when I say go, it was when I say banana
12:10
pajamas or, you know, the kids' favorite when I bawk like a
12:14
chicken.
12:15
Emily: Are you going to showcase your chicken bawking?
12:17
Heidi: No, I don't think, that's that's a paid subscriber thing.
12:21
Emily: Okay, if we make a VIP tier, she will show her chicken
12:25
bawking.
12:26
Heidi: Okay, but if you do want some more details about this
12:28
strategy, we talked all about action cues and everything else
12:32
that goes into efficient transitions back in episodes,
12:35
yes, episodes multiple, 48, 49, and 50 because we needed three
12:41
episodes to talk about transitions, and you know what?
12:43
I stand by it. Those are three of our best episodes. So go back
12:47
and check out those episodes for some extra tips.
12:49
Yeah, you really cannot say too much about transitions because
12:52
that is the wild west every day.
12:55
Okay, assuming you used your attention signal and an action
12:58
cue, the next question is: Did you give students a way to
13:02
reference the steps on their own?
13:04
Emily: Now, the easiest fix for this is writing the list on the
13:07
board. Adding icons or photos helps too, especially for
13:10
younger kids or English learners or anyone still building their
13:13
reading skills.
13:15
Heidi: If this is a transition you do all the time, make it a
13:18
poster or a slide so that you're not having to rewrite it every
13:20
single day.
13:22
Emily: Okay, then, and this is the accountability part. You
13:25
have to expect them to do it. If a student asks, what page are we
13:29
on, don't answer. Just point to the list.
13:32
Heidi: And obviously, if they are still stuck after that, help
13:35
them. But don't train them that you are the only source of
13:38
answers in the room.
13:40
Emily: Yeah, because kids are so happy to use your brain rather
13:43
than their own, but we really don't want to encourage that.
13:47
Then it becomes one of the hardest parts of teaching if
13:49
you're constantly having to answer questions all day long
13:52
that you already answered. So the lesson we want them walking
13:55
away with is that they are capable of figuring out the next
13:58
step themselves because you give them all this information in a
14:01
way that they can easily reference.
14:03
Heidi: So, so far, our first strategy for holding students
14:08
accountable is reteaching expectations. The second
14:11
strategy is to give directions clearly and expect follow
14:14
through. And now, our third strategy is to help students
14:18
take ownership.
14:19
Emily: This is how you use accountability to help manage
14:22
behavior problems. When a student is openly pushing back
14:25
against your expectations, it's tempting to think your job is to
14:29
take back control.
14:30
Heidi: But that is not what accountability looks like. If
14:34
you want the behavior to change next time, the question has to
14:37
shift from, how do I stop this, to, how do I help the student
14:41
learn from it?
14:43
Emily: For example, imagine you have a shoe kicker. Your class
14:46
is walking to lunch, and one kid is lightly kicking the shoes of
14:50
the kid in front of him, and of course, an argument breaks out.
14:53
So, what's your next move?
14:55
Heidi: Now, it is okay to wait until the student is calm before
14:58
engaging, because after an argument, there's probably some
15:00
heated feelings. So you can say something like, "We don't kick
15:04
people's shoes. Go eat your lunch, and after recess, we'll
15:06
talk about how you can fix this."
15:08
Emily: And I think teachers often worry that if they don't
15:11
address the issue right then, that they're letting the student
15:14
get away with something. But if the student is keyed up, there's
15:18
nothing you can say that will get through to them. You're
15:20
probably just going to make things worse.
15:22
Heidi: Plus, I think maybe this is an experienced teacher tip. I
15:25
always think that the waiting adds a little more meaning to
15:28
the discussion because it's giving kids that extra time to
15:31
really consider what went wrong.
15:34
Emily: Yes. So when the moment's right, you can ask what
15:38
happened. Do you understand why your classmate is frustrated?
15:41
How can you fix it? What will you do better next time? And
15:45
what do you need from me?
15:47
Heidi: Try to keep your own opinions out of this as much as
15:49
you can, and let the student do most of the talking. That's what
15:53
turned this type of situation from a mumbled "I'm sorry" into
15:57
actual ownership.
15:58
Emily: So when students fall short on an expectation, but
16:01
you're behind schedule, or you don't want to stop the lesson,
16:03
or you're just tired, pause and ask yourself, what do I want
16:06
students to learn from this situation?
16:08
Heidi: Sometimes the answer is to reinforce the expectation. If
16:12
kids are chatting in line because they're excited for
16:13
recess, the lesson we want them to learn is we save our talking
16:17
for outside. So you send them back to try lining up quietly.
16:21
Emily: Sometimes the answer is to support the value underneath
16:24
the behavior. Kids are chatting in line because one student had
16:27
a rough morning and the others are checking on her. The
16:30
timing's not ideal, of course, but the bigger lesson there is
16:33
we take care of each other.
16:35
Heidi: So that's probably a moment where the relationship
16:37
matters more than the rule. So as the year shifts from back to
16:41
school season to the season of settling in, be prepared for the
16:45
pushback.
16:47
Emily: And remember that holding firm isn't about being strict.
16:50
It's about being trustworthy. Every time you calmly reinforce
16:54
an expectation you're telling a kid, you can count on me to mean
16:57
what I say.
16:58
Heidi: So the next time a student misses the mark. Don't
17:00
ask, is this worth dealing with? Ask, what do I want the student
17:04
to learn from this moment? And let that answer be your guide.
17:08
Emily: If you found this season-specific discussion
17:11
helpful, you are in luck because our brand new book, Structure
17:14
and Spark, provides the same level of support for each season
17:18
of the school year.
17:19
Heidi: And for those of you who were kind enough to pre-order,
17:22
thank you so much, so so much. We are sending you a million
17:27
high fives.
17:28
Emily: And if you left us a kind review on Amazon, we will send
17:31
you a million more high fives.
17:34
Heidi: But if you don't have your copy of the book yet, this
17:36
is your moment to grab it. You don't want to miss out on even
17:39
more of our tips for the season of settling in, plus the other
17:43
six seasons of the school year.
17:46
Emily: There is a link to Structure and Spark in the show
17:48
notes, or you can find it at your favorite online bookstore.
17:52
Now for our teacher-approved tip of the week, where we share an
17:55
actionable tip to help you elevate what matters and
17:58
simplify the rest. This week's teacher-approved tip is make
18:01
your class lefty friendly. This has been on our list to talk
18:06
about since basically the beginning of the show. So you
18:09
know, four and a half years later, we're finally getting to
18:12
it.
18:13
Heidi: That's about the speed we work around here, but it's fine.
18:15
It's fine. We lefties are used to being overlooked, but please
18:20
don't overlook the lefties in your class when it comes to
18:23
assigning seats. If you're a righty, have you ever sat next
18:26
to a lefty at crowded dinner table and then you just end up
18:29
bumping elbows the whole meal?
18:31
Emily: Ah, yeah, I do have experience with that with my
18:34
sister.
18:34
Heidi: Thank you for your patience with my infirmity. But
18:41
the same thing happens when a lefty is crammed in next to a
18:44
right-handed student. If your desks are wide enough or your
18:48
students are small enough, this might not be an issue. But just
18:51
double check that everyone can write without elbowing their
18:54
neighbor. And if it is an issue, try seating your lefties at the
18:58
end of a row or to the left of their neighbors.
19:01
Now, the second suggestion for making your classroom lefty
19:04
friendly is for anyone who teaches younger grades, and this
19:08
is important. Watch how your lefties are writing. Watch for
19:12
that hooked grip, where the kid positions their arm above the
19:16
line and then kind of curls their wrist into write. This is
19:19
a really common pattern for left-handed writers. When I was
19:22
in fourth grade, my mom got me like a button that said "Hire
19:26
the left-handed. It's fun to watch them write," and it had
19:29
someone with that pencil grip. But over time, that grip can
19:34
cause pain and fatigue, especially as handwriting
19:37
demands increase. So please help your lefties straighten out
19:40
their wrists.
19:42
Emily: And if you teach older students, it might be too late
19:44
to fully correct without real intervention. But you can still
19:47
talk with the student about it and explain why that hand
19:50
position could cause problems down the road, and ask if they
19:53
would want reminders from you to adjust their form. And now I'm
19:57
wondering if my lefty child writes like this, I've never, I
20:02
don't think I've ever looked to see. I don't think he does, but
20:05
maybe he does.
20:05
Heidi: I think he would notice. It's pretty dramatic.
20:08
Emily: You know, how often am I sitting there watching him write
20:10
at this age?
20:11
Heidi: It's true. Well, I guess you'll have to test it out now.
20:13
Emily: I guess I'll have to pay attention.
20:15
Heidi: Okay, and then our third suggestion is to let them be
20:18
adaptable. Don't force a fix onto something that isn't
20:21
broken. This is speaking from my experience, but I had teachers
20:26
who insisted that I use left-handed scissors, which
20:29
drove me crazy because I could never make them work. I still
20:31
can't cut with left-handed scissors, and so I used to wait
20:34
till the teacher wasn't paying attention and then sneak
20:36
right-handed scissors out of the caddy because I had already
20:39
learned to use right-handed scissors with my left hand. And
20:42
it's the same story with tilting my paper to the right, the
20:45
direction you're supposed to tilt it when you're writing. I,
20:47
I can't do that, or using a left-handed mouse, which I can
20:51
do, but I don't.
20:52
Once I had already figured out my own workaround, being forced
20:55
to use left-handed tools just caused frustration over
20:58
something that wasn't hurting me. It's not like the pencil
21:00
grip, this wasn't a big deal.
21:02
Emily: Right. My son's kindergarten teacher reached out
21:05
to me really early in the year and was like, I'm ordering some
21:07
left-handed scissors, which I thought was funny. I'm like,
21:09
surely you've had a lefty before now. But also, I was like, he
21:12
doesn't need left-handed scissors. He knows how to use
21:15
the right ones. But I think she got them anyway. But I know he
21:18
uses the regular scissors because he's just, and honestly,
21:21
because of you, I think I encouraged him often to just
21:23
adapt. It would make his life easier. Like with the mouse, it
21:26
was like, well, we can get you a left-handed mouse, but it'd
21:29
probably be easier if you just learned to use the right one.
21:31
Heidi: Yeah, we're just used to adapting to a world built for
21:35
other the other side of the body. If you want to try this
21:38
out for yourself, try using a can opener, one of those turny
21:41
kind, with your left hand sometime, if you want to know,
21:44
because it's it's not built for that. It's probably part of why
21:48
lefties tend to be such creative problem solvers because we've
21:50
just had to adapt our whole lives.
21:52
Emily: Well, that's why you're all geniuses.
21:55
Heidi: Maybe I shouldn't bring this up, but also there's a
21:57
higher rate of murderers of left handed people too, so we're just
22:01
frustrated by the can openers.
22:03
Emily: It's a lifetime of repressed anger that just comes
22:07
spilling out. Maybe if we gave our lefties some consideration
22:12
in elementary school, we could be preventing all these murders.
22:16
Heidi: Please, someone, please study that.
22:18
Emily: Yeah, so please take a minute to watch your lefties
22:21
work and make sure they have what they need to be able to
22:23
work efficiently, and don't force a tool on them that they
22:27
don't want or need.
22:29
Heidi: To wrap up the show, we are sharing what we're giving
22:31
extra credit to this week. Emily, what gets your extra
22:33
credit?
22:34
Emily: I'm giving extra credit to some trays.
22:37
Heidi: Giving extra credit to trays.
22:39
Emily: Yes, I love a tray. So I got these trays from Amazon, and
22:44
they're just kind of like school lunch trays, but a little bit,
22:47
well, they're cuter colors for starters, and they're not as
22:50
heavy. Well, maybe I'm remembering our childhood lunch
22:54
trays. I bet these days, if they even have real trays, they're
22:57
Heidi: No, I think they use styrofoam trays. But I have a
22:57
not heavy.
23:00
set of like school lunch trays that are metal, and they're
23:02
heavy duty.
23:03
Emily: The metal ones are heavy. And then you have the plastic
23:05
ones that we used to use in preschool. This is in the
23:07
middle, it's wheat straw, so it's sturdy, and you know you
23:11
can wash it and all of that. But it's not very heavy, so that's
23:14
nice. But I got this at the start of summer, so that when my
23:18
daughter was doing diamond painting here and slime there
23:23
and rock painting here, I could put a tray for each of the
23:26
projects she's working on, and it has been a game changer.
23:29
It's so nice every time somebody's working on something
23:31
to be like, "Oh, here's a tray to contain all of the pieces to
23:34
that Lego set you're working on." So I'll link them in the
23:38
show notes. They were, I had seen a much more expensive
23:41
version of these somewhere. I don't even remember what website
23:44
that was like the most amazing color scheme, and I was like, I
23:49
have to have those. And then I was like, oh no, those are very
23:51
expensive. So I'm like, what's available on Amazon? And you
23:54
know what? These are pretty decent and very well priced. So
23:58
I will link them in the show notes.
24:00
Heidi: And they're just going to get covered in paint and glue,
24:02
so it's not worth the investment.
24:03
Emily: So true. All right, what are you giving extra credit to,
24:06
Heidi?
24:07
Heidi: Well, I'm giving extra credit to instrumental piano
24:10
music. It's a new thing in my life. I started listening to it,
24:15
specifically piano music, when we were writing our book because
24:19
I needed something in the background, and now I find that
24:22
I'm listening to it all the time when I work. My Spotify day list
24:25
is all instrumental piano, and it's really going to mess up my
24:29
wrap for the year.
24:30
Emily: It is, although I think you can go in and exclude it
24:32
from your taste profile. So maybe that would help your wrap.
24:34
Heidi: I'll try that. Okay, but some of my favorite artists so
24:37
far are Ophelia Wilde, Lysander, and then I'm not sure how to say
24:41
this name. Is it Moronus, Morunis? I'm not sure. But if
24:46
you want some instrumental piano for yourself or for your
24:48
classroom, I have been building a Spotify playlist. It's called
24:52
Teacher Approved: Calming Piano, and you can search for that
24:56
title. The image is a piano with flowers coming out of it. Or you
25:01
could just use the link in the show notes, and I add new songs
25:04
to this playlist every time I come across one that has the
25:07
right kind of just mellow, chill vibe. So so far, there's more
25:10
than four hours of music, and I'm sure it will get longer.
25:13
Emily: Okay, I'll have to check that out because I did the same
25:15
thing when we were writing. Like I couldn't handle silence, but
25:19
anything with words was too distracting, and now I'm finding
25:23
anytime I'm working, I'm like, oh, this music is distracting
25:25
me. So I had been listening to a lot of the Bridgerton
25:28
soundtracks.
25:29
Heidi: Oh, that'd be good too.
25:29
Emily: But the problem was those are all covers of like pop
25:32
songs, so then the songs would get stuck in my head. So I
25:36
stopped doing that. But I have needed something, so I'll have
25:39
to check this out.
25:40
Heidi: I've got four hours for you. And after you listen a
25:44
little bit, Spotify will just start suggesting it.
25:46
Emily: Lucky me.
25:48
Heidi: Well, that is it for episode 282. If today gave you
25:52
something to try tomorrow, we would love to hear about it. You
25:55
can find us in the Teacher Approved Facebook group or on
25:58
Instagram @2ndstorywindow, and that's spelled with a two.
26:02
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm Heidi.
26:07
Emily: And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
26:10
or subscribe in your podcast app so that you never miss an
26:13
episode.
26:14
Heidi: You can connect with us and other teachers in the
26:16
Teacher Approved Facebook group. We'll see you here next week.
26:19
Bye for now.
26:20
Emily: Bye.