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276. The Real Reason Teachers Are Exhausted in August · Teacher Approved: Elementary Teacher Tips & Strategies

0:00
Heidi: This is episode 276 of Teacher Approved.
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You're listening to Teacher Approved, the podcast helping
0:09
educators elevate what matters and simplify the rest. I'm
0:13
Heidi.
0:13
Emily: And I'm Emily. We're the creators behind Second Story
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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
0:25
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 why back to school drains you in
0:43
a way that no other season does, and it's probably not for the
0:47
reason you think. Plus, we have a teacher-approved tip for
0:50
adding a little joy to a stressful time of year.
0:53
Heidi: But first, let's start with a try it tomorrow, where we
0:55
share a quick win that you can try right away. Emily, what is
0:58
our suggestion this week?
1:00
Emily: Okay, so this week, take a minute to consider your
1:03
teacher bag. I feel like most teachers have bags, but if you
1:07
haul back and forth with something besides a bag, think
1:09
about that too, and then think about is this bag or whatever
1:14
you're using something that you chose on purpose, or did you
1:17
just grab it because it was handy? And then, more
1:20
importantly, is it working for you? Because if it's not, we
1:24
want you to think about what would make it a better fit for
1:26
what you need.
1:28
Heidi: And if your bag is not working, decide if you need to
1:31
buy something new, or more likely, if there's something in
1:34
that stash of bags in the back of your closet that could work
1:37
even better.
1:38
Emily: Or maybe you don't even want a bag at all, and you would
1:41
rather have a bin or a tote that you can wheel around. I mean,
1:45
I've talked on here before, I freaking love my Hulken bag, and
1:48
if I had had this when I was in the classroom, it would have
1:52
been so amazing for hauling to and from my car and my house.
1:57
And now they do have a cheaper version from Costco. I will say
2:01
the reviews are mixed. Some say that the wheels are not as good
2:04
and they don't hold up as well, but it's affordable enough. It
2:07
might be worth a try. And there's just no right answer
2:11
here, though. The key is just knowing what works best for you.
2:14
So take a look at what you're using, decide if it's meeting
2:18
your needs or if something else would be better.
2:22
Heidi: And if you like this idea or anything else we share here
2:24
on the podcast, would you take a second and give us a five-star
2:27
rating and a kind review?
2:30
Emily: So, have you ever noticed that during back to school you
2:33
can work for eight hours in your classroom, but it feels like you
2:37
were digging ditches for 16 hours? You are so tired, but
2:42
somehow the rest of the year you can teach all day, answer
2:45
emails, you know, work with your team, and you're tired, but you
2:49
can still function after. It's not that kind of tired that you
2:52
are in the back to school season.
2:54
Heidi: Yeah, I know that feeling well, and yes, the start of the
2:58
year brings endless meetings, the room set up, and the work of
3:02
planning for kids that you have never even met, and that all
3:06
contributes to the exhaustion. But those things don't fully
3:09
explain it.
3:10
Emily: Yeah, right now it takes you out, but in a few months you
3:14
can have a week that's just as packed, and don't feel like you
3:17
come home and need to lie down on the floor.
3:20
Heidi: I've spent time on that floor. The couch is just too far
3:22
away. So I would say that it's more than just the workload
3:27
creating that back to school exhaustion. For example, for me,
3:31
the last week of October used to just knock me flat. It was the
3:34
end of our first term, and so after all of the work that goes
3:38
into teaching all day, I then had to manage conferences and
3:40
report cards, and inevitably spend several evenings panic
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grading because I was never on top of that task. Even as
3:49
overloaded as I was, that level of October tired could not touch
3:54
the exhaustion of the first weeks of school. You know, at
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least I made it to the couch before I collapsed.
4:00
Emily: Okay, so it's obviously not the workload. So what else
4:04
is contributing to that back to school collapse? It turns out
4:09
that the culprit is the lack of automaticity.
4:13
Heidi: Maybe you recognize that word from your literacy
4:15
training. Automaticity means being able to do a task without
4:19
having to think through every step. When we are teaching
4:22
reading, we want students to have a large bank of sight words
4:25
that they can read fluently. If they have to stop and figure out
4:29
every word they come to, it really hinders their
4:31
comprehension.
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Emily: But automaticity applies to more than just reading. If
4:36
you can brush your teeth without needing to stop and think
4:39
through every step, then that's automaticity in action. If you
4:43
can drive a car without having to consciously remember which
4:46
pedal is the gas and which is the brake, that's automaticity
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too.
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Heidi: And you've had experience with that teaching a new driver
4:52
this year.
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Emily: Yeah, she was having to think which was which for longer
4:57
than I preferred.
5:00
Heidi: But besides helping us drive safely, automaticity has
5:04
the benefit of freeing up our brains. When you don't have to
5:07
manage every minute step, you can focus on the big picture
5:10
stuff.
5:11
Emily: Okay, so what does all of this have to do with the start
5:13
of the year? Well, in the first few weeks of school, you are
5:16
missing the automaticity. You don't yet have internal
5:20
automaticity, which tells you exactly what to do next.
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Heidi: Plus, you're missing the external automaticity, where the
5:28
kids know the routine, because no one is in the flow of things
5:32
yet. Every single minute of the day has to be planned, prepared,
5:37
and explained by you.
5:39
Emily: Yeah, and that is a monumental task. You know, we
5:43
love to talk about the balance of structure and spark.
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Structure is all the predictability that makes your
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room run, and spark is the novelty that keeps it
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interesting.
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Heidi: Now, you might think that the back to school season is
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heavy on structure because you are spending so much time
5:58
teaching policies and procedures, but you have to
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spend all that time on those tasks, not because of structure,
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but because of spark.
6:05
Emily: Right. Everything is 100% new in those first few days,
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which means the level of spark is off the charts. It's as high
6:13
as it will ever be. And what do we do when spark is high? We
6:18
reset the balance by adding structure.
6:21
Heidi: And unfortunately, in the first few weeks, you are the
6:25
structure. There are no rules, expectations, or habits to hold
6:29
the day together. It's just you.
6:32
Emily: Well, just you, and then the herd of confused kids that's
6:35
waiting for you to shepherd them through every second of the next
6:40
six hours, anything that happens in those first days happens
6:44
because you are personally making it happen.
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Heidi: And that is why you go home and collapse. We often talk
6:50
about the toll and imbalance of structure and spark takes on the
6:53
kids, but it also takes a toll on teachers. Correcting an
6:57
imbalance takes a lot of effort from you.
7:00
Emily: Unfortunately, you're going to have to build a lot of
7:03
structure from the start of the school year. There's just no way
7:05
around that. But if we can't escape this problem, then we
7:09
need a way through it.
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Heidi: And that means making sure that you are not the sole
7:14
source of structure for an entire classroom. You need to
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borrow some external structure to get you through the first
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weeks, but unfortunately, this is another thing you're going to
7:23
have to build.
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Emily: But the good news is that this is all stuff you can do
7:27
ahead of time, maybe even from the comfort of your couch, so
7:31
that lifts the burden a little bit. You do all the thinking
7:34
before the big day, so you can concentrate on what's unfolding
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in front of you when you're actually there in the classroom.
7:41
Heidi: This is actually a principle used in a lot of
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high-performance fields. Pilots use pre-flight checklists. Event
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planners use run-of-show documents. Restaurants use
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opening and closing routines. None of these professionals rely
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on memory during their busiest, highest stakes moments.
7:58
Emily: And all this comes down to one idea: don't carry it in
8:01
your head if you don't have to. So the goal at the start of the
8:04
year is to get as much information as possible out of
8:07
your brain and into some kind of system.
8:11
Heidi: If you're not sure where to start, you are in luck
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because that is exactly what we're talking about today. We've
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got six systems that can help you create some external
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structure, so it's not all on your shoulders, and we're
8:23
starting with an oldie but a goodie. Write a first day
8:26
script. Tell us about this, Emily.
8:29
Emily: Well, if you've been with us for a while here on the
8:31
podcast, or if you joined us for Teacher Summer Talks and you
8:35
joined in on the first day plan challenge, then you've heard all
8:38
of this before, but it's worth a revisit. The idea is that you
8:43
need to write out everything that has to happen in order, in
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as much detail as possible for that first day. So everything is
8:51
ready to reference when you need it.
8:53
Heidi: This is an idea from Harry Wong's First Days of
8:56
School book, and it is a game changer. It's basically like
9:00
writing subplans for yourself, really the more detail you use,
9:04
the better. My first day script was usually eight pages.
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Emily: And that probably sounds like overkill until you start
9:12
listing out every detail you have to remember for the first
9:15
day, and then you're like, "Oh, okay, maybe I need 10 pages.
9:18
There's so many things."
9:20
Heidi: Yeah, you really don't realize how much goes into a
9:23
school day until you start listing it all out. You know,
9:26
because your students don't know the morning routine yet, you
9:29
need a detailed outline for your welcome activity. You need a
9:33
reminder to stop for a class bathroom break because the
9:35
bladders are still on summer break. You need to plan what
9:38
time to start teaching lunch procedures so you're not having
9:40
to rush through the 25 steps it takes to get everyone fed.
9:44
Emily: And then you also need to think of backup activities for
9:48
all of the planned activities in case things end really quickly.
9:52
We did a whole episode on how to build a detailed script back in
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episode 77, so go grab that for the full walkthrough of creating
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your first day plan.
10:01
Heidi: I'm kind of liking the idea of calling it a run of show
10:04
instead of a script. I think that paints a clearer picture of
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what it does. Teachers sometimes hear script and think it's
10:11
locking them into a rigid plan, but it's really doing the
10:14
opposite.
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Emily: Right. A script, or I guess we can call it a run of
10:18
show, lets you offload the details, like remembering which
10:24
pedal is the brake, so that you can focus on the important
10:27
stuff, like being present and connecting with your new
10:29
students.
10:30
Heidi: Yeah, it's really hard to build that connection with a kid
10:33
who's, you know, pouring their heart out about their pet dog,
10:37
but all you're doing is thinking through everything you need to
10:39
remember for dismissal. So do yourself a favor and just write
10:43
down the details.
10:44
Emily: And think how happy you'll be next year when you go
10:46
to plan the first day, and you already have a detailed list of
10:49
everything you did the year before. You just need to maybe
10:52
update a few things, and you're all ready to go.
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Heidi: I actually planned my whole first week in this kind of
10:58
detail. It was such a relief to be able to consult my list
11:02
anytime I needed a reminder. It really made the whole first week
11:06
a lot smoother.
11:07
Emily: And I am so guilty of thinking when I when I'm about
11:10
to teach something of like, I don't need the play by play. I
11:14
know what I'm going to do. I'm flexible. I'll wing it, and it
11:17
will be fine. And it's never fine. I always end up in some
11:21
awkward moment of like, oh shoot, I didn't think through
11:24
that. You know, like, just don't set yourself up for that,
11:26
especially at the beginning of the year, because you're out of
11:28
practice. The kids, everything's new to the kids. Do yourself a
11:32
favor and just get that external structure on your clipboard with
11:36
those daily scripts for as many days as you think it would be
11:39
helpful at the start of the school year.
11:41
Our next suggestion will not come as a surprise, but that is
11:44
to plan your procedures in advance. You knew that we were
11:48
going to mention that at some point in this episode.
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Heidi: Yeah, it's inescapable with us. Your goal at the start
11:55
of the year is to know the exact steps you need students to
11:59
follow, and then have a plan for how to teach them. It's a lot to
12:02
take on, but it is one of the best investments you can make at
12:06
the start of the school year.
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Emily: And if you want some help with this, we're here to help.
12:10
We've got a procedures and routines planning guide and
12:13
checklists to guide you through each step in the process.
12:16
Heidi: And there are links to all of that in the show notes.
12:19
And then we have maybe my favorite product we've ever
12:22
made, our Tell Try Tally Talk slide decks. This is as close as
12:27
we can get to showing up and teaching your procedures for
12:29
you. All you have to do is add the steps you want students to
12:33
follow, and then you can add a photo if you want. And then the
12:36
rest of the lesson is already prepared for you.
12:39
Emily: And make sure you come back to the podcast on Thursday
12:42
for our Can't Miss Classic episode, because this week it's
12:45
all about how to plan procedures step by step, and that is a
12:49
great resource if this is a new process for you.
12:52
Heidi: But also, don't forget to check out last week's Can't Miss
12:55
Classic episode where we talked about how to soften the back to
12:58
school landing. Simplifying and automating your personal life is
13:02
another way to get some external structure.
13:05
Emily: Anything that you can put on autopilot before school
13:08
starts becomes one less decision you have to make in a moment
13:12
when you are so overloaded with decisions. So if you can pick
13:16
out all your clothes for the first week or plan to eat the
13:18
same lunch for a few days, you free up time and energy that go
13:23
toward getting the school year up and running.
13:24
Heidi: So make sure to grab that episode if you missed it. All
13:29
right, you are working on your first day script. You're
13:31
planning your procedures. You're automating decisions in your
13:34
personal life. All of those systems are giving you a huge
13:38
boost of external structure, so you don't have to carry so much.
13:42
Emily, what is next on our list?
13:45
Emily: Our fourth system is to use checklists. This is
13:49
different from your to-do list. These checklists are to help
13:53
ensure you're remembering every step in your process. Even if
13:57
you're stepping into the same routines you were using last
13:59
May, it is still worth writing down each step.
14:02
Heidi: Yeah, because it's been a few months. You're probably a
14:05
little rusty, and if you're like me, it's really easy to overlook
14:08
a step or two. So consider these like your pre-flight checklist.
14:13
And a fair warning: I'm not a pilot. I'm basing this
14:16
information off the internet. But if Google is to be believed,
14:20
pilots are supposed to run through a checklist before every
14:23
flight, no matter how experienced they are.
14:26
Emily: Now, obviously, the stakes of forgetting a step in
14:29
your end of day routine are not quite as high as forgetting a
14:32
step before flying a plane, but you still don't want to be left
14:36
scrambling when a sticky note could have saved the day.
14:39
Heidi: So let's think about sometimes when one of those
14:41
checklists can come in handy. I am a big fan of having a morning
14:45
routine for tasks to do before the kids arrive, and then
14:48
another routine to do after they leave. And both of those are
14:51
great candidates for a step-by-step checklist.
14:54
Emily: And you can expand that to an end-of-week checklist for
14:57
everything you need to do on Friday to set up for Monday. Or
15:00
a checklist of what to remember when you start pulling small
15:03
groups or introducing centers.
15:05
Heidi: Remember, the goal is to keep from carrying details in
15:07
your head if you don't have to. So grab some post-its and draft
15:11
a few checklists. It's a simple way to keep everything on track.
15:15
And if you want some support with that, we have a whole set
15:17
of back-to-school checklists to help you walk through all of
15:20
this. Really, it's tons of details. Probably more
15:23
checklists than you need, so it can give you the right structure
15:26
to get your ideas all organized and in one place.
15:30
Emily: Plus, you'll get the satisfaction of going through
15:31
them, being like, "Oh, check, check, check! I don't need that.
15:34
I already thought of that, and that's just such a boost.
15:38
Okay, our next system is to put your room to work, like the
15:41
actual room, not the kids in it. Although they should definitely
15:45
be helping too. But the goal here is to make the structure as
15:49
visible as possible.
15:50
Heidi: So here we're going to think labels. These are a great
15:53
tool. Label the pencil cup and the lunchbox station and the bin
15:57
for homework folders. Label anything that has a designated
16:01
spot.
16:02
Emily: And even if you don't want to keep those labels up all
16:04
year, having them out for a few weeks can greatly reduce the
16:07
number of questions that you will be asked.
16:10
Heidi: And you can also get your walls involved, make lists for
16:13
how you want things done, and then post them. It's even better
16:17
if you can include an image, either clip art or a photo, of
16:21
exactly what's expected. That way, before it's time to line up
16:24
on day three, you can post the list as a reminder.
16:28
Emily: This is a great tip for any time of day. So pull out
16:31
your list and review the steps before having students turn and
16:34
talk during a lesson, or before walking through the halls to get
16:37
to music class. Again, you don't have to leave these up all year.
16:42
Heidi: But you will probably be really glad you have them all
16:45
year. In January, when the lineup routine is getting
16:48
sloppy, you're going to be so glad that you can reach for a
16:51
lineup poster that's already done, so you can review your
16:53
expectations right in the moment when it's needed.
16:57
Emily: All right, that brings us to our last system for getting
16:59
the details out of your head. One of the kindest things you
17:02
can do for yourself is to stop expecting future you to remember
17:06
everything. Future you will be busy teaching, redirecting,
17:11
answering questions, solving problems, and making 100 tiny
17:15
decisions. So leave behind some breadcrumbs to show future you
17:20
the path.
17:21
Heidi: Yeah, you can't assume that you're going to remember
17:24
the details when you are at max capacity, as Emily pointed out.
17:28
So think of breadcrumbs as trail markers in the woods. They are
17:31
small cues to help you stay on track.
17:34
Emily: An easy one here is to grab a highlighter in your first
17:36
day script. Ask what will future me have a hard time remembering.
17:41
Mark any key details like the time to switch between
17:44
activities or the steps for teaching students how to log
17:47
into their Chromebooks.
17:49
Heidi: Or the one I always forgot on the first day: submit
17:52
attendance. If you need something to jump off the page,
17:55
highlight it. You can even make it cute. Those mild liners come
17:58
in lots of fun colors if neon is not your thing.
18:02
Emily: Another breadcrumb is alarms. This is my go-to. You
18:05
probably need to offer more bathroom breaks in the first
18:08
days of school before anyone has an accident. Schedule some
18:12
alarms so that you remember to pause for a break.
18:15
Heidi: And I had to leave my lunch early for the first few
18:18
days so I could be outside before the bell ring because we
18:21
had to pick up our kids and take them inside. Otherwise, my
18:24
students would get nervous about when and where they were
18:26
supposed to line up because it was different than what they
18:28
were used to in first grade. So setting an alarm meant I could
18:32
inhale my sandwich in the 15 minutes I had for lunch without
18:35
having to watch the clock the whole time.
18:37
Emily: Or forget to go out early because you're so tired.
18:41
Heidi: Yes, and another breadcrumb is gathering your
18:44
materials. In the first few days of school you're probably using
18:48
a lot of supplies that you won't use during a normal school day,
18:52
so make it easier to stay in the flow by having everything you
18:55
need for the day in one place.
18:58
Emily: And if you really want a gold star for organizing. Try
19:01
stacking your materials in the order that you will need them.
19:05
So put end of day materials at the bottom and start of the day
19:08
at the top.
19:09
Heidi: And then after you do that, grab your end of day
19:12
checklist and add "put away today's materials" to the list.
19:16
We're not starting day two with a pile of clutter.
19:19
Emily: Yes, say no to clutter, at least at the start. There's
19:23
only so much you can do once the year starts going on.
19:27
Okay, those are our six systems for creating external structure,
19:31
so that you don't have to carry every detail in your head. Write
19:35
a first day script or a run of show document. Plan your
19:39
procedures in advance. Simplify and automate your real life
19:42
during back to school. Use checklists, put your room to
19:46
work, and leave breadcrumbs to show yourself the path.
19:50
Heidi: Each of these systems work because they reduce demands
19:53
on prospective memory. That's our ability to remember to do
19:57
something in the future. Prospective memory is especially
20:01
vulnerable when we are interrupted, stressed, juggling
20:04
multiple tasks, or in a new environment.
20:07
Emily: So yeah, all of that sounds like the first day of
20:09
school. And the goal here is not to become better at juggling all
20:13
of that. The goal is to stop juggling as much. So until the
20:18
automaticity is in place, do yourself a favor and create the
20:21
extra structure you need so that you can enjoy the magic of
20:24
getting to know your new students.
20:27
Heidi: If this discussion was helpful, you definitely want to
20:30
grab our soon-to-be-released book, Structure and Spark. In
20:33
it, we walk you through every season of the school year and
20:36
offer you all of our best tips for meeting the specific needs
20:39
of that season.
20:41
Emily: comes out august 18, and so you still have time to
20:44
pre-order. And once you do, come to secondstorywindow.net/book,
20:49
and there's a form there so that you can tell us you pre-ordered.
20:52
And then we have some really fun bonuses for you if you
20:55
pre-order.
20:57
Heidi: There's a link to the book in the show notes, and if
20:59
you have already pre-ordered, thank you so much. Pre-orders
21:03
tell booksellers that our book is worth recommending to
21:06
readers, so they really are a huge help, and we appreciate
21:09
every single one.
21:10
Emily: And if you pre-ordered but you haven't submitted the
21:13
form, go ahead and do that because you can still get your
21:16
bonuses.
21:18
Now for our teacher-approved tip of the week, where we share an
21:21
actionable tip to help you elevate what matters and
21:24
simplify the rest. This week's teacher-approved tip is to add
21:27
some joy. Tell us about it, Heidi.
21:30
Heidi: Well, if you remember a couple months ago, back to our
21:32
summer reading episode, I mentioned that the smallest of
21:35
joys by Diane Schiffer was on my TBR list. I have finished it
21:39
now, so gold star for that, I guess. And it is as lovely and
21:44
comforting as she is, but she has an idea that I want to
21:47
borrow for today. She recommends setting happy traps, and I'm
21:51
just going to read how she describes them because I can't
21:53
do it justice.
21:55
So she says, "Happy traps are little gifts to yourself. They
21:59
are sweet surprises you prepare for yourself, a gentle sort of
22:02
trickery meant to coax a smile on a hard day, or give your
22:06
weary spirit something kind to land on. Creating happy traps
22:09
isn't about buying expensive treats or curating someone
22:12
else's idea of the perfect lifestyle. It's about tuning
22:15
into what makes you feel light and warm and delighted. What
22:19
gives you relief from the stress, or the boredom, or the
22:21
heartbreak, or whatever it is that is blocking your own joy,
22:24
do that."
22:26
And I think that's such a beautiful way to show compassion
22:28
for yourself. And if anyone is in need of some self-compassion,
22:33
it's teachers at the start of the school year. So before you
22:35
get too lost in the thick of things, what surprises can you
22:39
tuck away to lift your heart on a long day?
22:41
Emily: Oh, I love this! It's so cute. It's like that feeling of
22:45
finding like $5 in your coat after you take it back out in
22:49
the fall and you put it on for the first time. And it's like
22:52
ooh! But you're just going to be creating that feeling on purpose
22:56
with your happy traps.
22:58
Heidi: And I think, like for me, an easy way to do this would be
23:01
to get one or two favorite treats and then hide them. You
23:05
could, you know, tuck them in the back of your desk or in a
23:07
closet where no one in your family is going to stumble on
23:10
them and take them. And then when you come home after 12
23:13
hours at school putting up bulletin boards and arranging
23:15
desks, you know you've got something lovely waiting for
23:18
you.
23:19
Emily: And it doesn't even have to be a physical treat. You
23:21
could create a folder on your phone and add all the photos
23:24
that make you smile, or write yourself a note of encouragement
23:28
to read on a hard day.
23:30
Heidi: I keep meaning to save like all those videos that make
23:33
me laugh, so I have them all in one place. You know, when I need
23:36
a little boost. So maybe this will be my my kick to get that
23:39
going.
23:40
Emily: Yeah, that's a good idea.
23:42
Heidi: All it takes is thinking about what you love and then
23:44
finding a way to add more of it to your life. Everyone needs
23:48
more of those kinds of tasks on their to-do list instead of what
23:51
we spend so much time on.
23:53
Okay, to wrap up the show, we're sharing what we're giving extra
23:55
credit to this week. Emily, what gets your extra credit?
23:58
Emily: Well, I'm giving extra credit to another boring thing
24:01
that proves that we're just old perimenopausal ladies over here,
24:05
because I'm giving extra credit to the new redesign of travel
24:10
tissues. So.
24:11
Heidi: You showed me these; they are fancy.
24:13
Emily: They are so smart. Like I can't believe it took this long.
24:17
So you know, those little travel packs of tissues are always the
24:22
worst because when you first like take one out, it's all
24:24
right, and the little flap will tape back. But before long, it
24:27
won't stick anymore. And then as more gets out of it, the more
24:30
like loosey goosey it gets, and so it just sort of falls apart
24:35
in your purse, and the tissues are half hanging out, and it's
24:38
just the worst.
24:39
Heidi: Or then all the crumbs at the bottom of your purse end up
24:41
in the bag with the tissue, so you go to pull out a tissue, and
24:43
it's already gross.
24:45
Emily: I know it's so stupid. So these are basically now they
24:48
look like itty bitty little baby wipes containers, is what I
24:52
would liken it to. They're so cute, and so the the shape of it
24:56
has been given a little bit more structure in the way it's
24:59
designed, to begin with, and then the top is like a baby
25:02
wipes opener, so it keeps it very firmly closed in your bag.
25:08
So you have the satisfying pop when you open it, then reach in
25:11
and get your nice little towel, and then snap it shut again.
25:15
This is so brilliant, considering that baby wipes have
25:17
been that way for quite a while with those kind of lids, I'm
25:22
surprised that it took travel tissues this long to get on
25:25
board. But I'm a fan.
25:27
Heidi: Well, we're glad they got there in the end.
25:28
Emily: All right, what are you giving extra credit to?
25:32
Heidi: Okay, well this is kind of niche, but I just finished
25:35
the audio book of When Gavin Met Stacy, and I I think I smiled
25:40
the whole time I was listening to it.
25:42
Emily: This is probably very niche. I don't know how much, we
25:46
watched this back in the mid 2000s, but I don't know if a lot
25:51
of Americans did. But hopefully, there's some out there.
25:54
Heidi: I debated it even saying this, but I thought if someone
25:56
has watched it and loved it, they would definitely love this
25:59
book. So I'd feel sad not saying it, or maybe this will be your
26:02
push to start watching it. If you got a BritBox subscription,
26:06
so you could watch the Other Bennett Sister, all of Gavin and
26:09
Stacey's on BritBox, so you could catch up.
26:11
Emily: Oh, but we should probably give a disclaimer that
26:13
this is very British humor, so the language and the jokes are a
26:17
little bit wild by American standards. So just go in with
26:20
that in mind and don't hold it against us.
26:23
Heidi: I think it's considered family viewing over there, like
26:26
everyone's sitting around on Christmas watching this. But
26:30
it's it's a little more grown up. Think Ted Lasso. I think
26:33
that's a very good comparison.
26:36
Emily: I'm remembering a few specific things from Gavin and
26:39
Stacy that might be a little farther over the line than Ted
26:41
Lasso.
26:42
Heidi: Well, Ted Lasso had way worse language, though.
26:45
Emily: Okay, true, true.
26:46
Heidi: Yeah. Anyway, let's come around all the way back to the
26:49
beginning here. Gavin and Stacy is a British sitcom, and it
26:52
started in 2006, and then true BBC fashion it ended in 2025.
26:57
Now, in 19 years, how many episodes do you think they made?
27:01
22. They made 22 episodes.
27:05
Emily: What is with British TV?
27:07
Heidi: Don't get it. But this is the love story of Gavin, who's a
27:12
boy from West England, and then Stacy is a girl from Wales. And
27:16
if you don't know your UK geography, that's on the
27:18
opposite side. And because these two fell in love, two very
27:22
different families now have to mesh their lives, and it's just
27:26
quirky with a big heart, which is my go-to. It's all written by
27:30
Ruth Jones and James Corden, who play the best friends to Gavin
27:33
and Stacy, and it's just it's just lovely.
27:36
Emily: It has a lot of heart, and it is just so funny.
27:40
Heidi: Yes. So if you enjoyed the show, I cannot recommend
27:44
this book highly enough. Ruth Jones and James Corden narrate
27:47
it, and it's basically like getting to eavesdrop on the two
27:50
of them chatting. I don't know if you would enjoy it as much if
27:52
you read it, because listening to them talk like they make each
27:56
other cry, they make each other laugh. Plus, in the audio book,
27:59
they include like snippets from the show when they're talking
28:01
about writing a scene or you know something like that. So it
28:04
was just it was the kind of experience you want from an
28:07
audio book about a favorite TV show. 10 out of 10, perfect.
28:10
Emily: Well, I will have to listen now because that sounds
28:12
amazing and I haven't read it.
28:14
Heidi: Yes, you're in for a treat.
28:16
Okay, that is it for today's episode. Make time to work on a
28:20
system that can lend you structure as you start the
28:22
school year, so you don't have to carry it all. And don't
28:24
forget to plan some happy traps, so you have some fun surprises
28:27
to look forward to.
28:30
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm Heidi.
28:34
Emily: And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
28:37
or subscribe in your podcast app so that you never miss
28:39
episode.
28:40
Heidi: You can connect with us and other teachers in the
28:43
Teacher Approved Facebook group. We'll see you here next week.
28:46
Bye for now.
28:47
Emily: Bye.