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292. 5 Reliable Steps to Stop Classroom Behavior Problems · Teacher Approved: Elementary Teacher Tips & Strategies

0:01
Heidi: This is episode 292 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.
0:29
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 some quick ways to resolve classroom
0:43
behavior problems, and we've got a teacher-approved tip for how
0:46
to make your consequences more meaningful.
0:49
Heidi: But first, let's start with a try-it tomorrow, where we
0:52
share a quick win that you can try in your classroom right
0:54
away. Emily, what is our suggestion for this week?
0:57
Emily: This week, try setting up an appreciation station in your
1:00
classroom, so just set aside a spot in your room where students
1:04
can write quick notes to classmates or staff members that
1:07
they're thankful for.
1:08
Heidi: Oh, that is the perfect idea. As we are moving into
1:11
November soon, but one thing I learned from having a mailbox in
1:15
my classroom: you probably want to read the notes before they
1:18
get delivered. That way, nothing unexpected or hurtful gets
1:22
passed along.
1:24
Emily: Yeah, you got to act as the postmaster general here. If
1:28
you like this idea or anything else we share here on the
1:30
podcast, would you take a second give us a five star rating and
1:33
review in your podcast player?
1:36
Heidi: Well, can you believe that we are closing in on the
1:39
end of October? If your students are celebrating Halloween this
1:43
week, just know we are wishing you lots of patience and lots of
1:47
caffeine.
1:48
Emily: And at our school, it's also Red Ribbon Week with daily
1:51
dress-up days. And even though I'm the PTA president, I'm not
1:54
responsible for that decision. So I'm sorry to the teachers for
1:57
that one.
1:58
Heidi: Oh dang!
1:59
Emily: But it's already so hard to teach this week because it
2:02
feels like it's just like a classroom full of puppies. No
2:04
matter what, even if you don't have a week of dress up days, so
2:08
we will just give a sigh of relief that Halloween falls on a
2:11
Saturday this year.
2:12
Heidi: As it always should.
2:15
Emily: I agree. Why don't we do that?
2:16
Heidi: Who knows?
2:17
Emily: But this is the time of year we call the season of
2:20
settling in. Well, it will be for just a little bit longer.
2:24
This is when the kids are feeling right at home, and when
2:27
kids feel comfortable, they do our least favorite thing, which
2:30
is test boundaries. It is supremely annoying and often
2:35
frustrating, but that is just how kids roll, unfortunately.
2:38
But luckily, it is predictable.
2:40
Heidi: Yeah, we need an off switch on that particular
2:42
feature. So, if it is helpful, you can try reframing any
2:48
pushback that you're getting as a normal developmental pattern.
2:52
Kids learn what's acceptable and what's not acceptable by pushing
2:55
the limits that you set at the start of the school year. If the
2:58
limit holds, they stop testing it, but if the limit collapses,
3:02
they are compelled to keep pushing until they find a firmer
3:06
boundary.
3:07
Emily: I was just discussing this with my fifth grader
3:09
because she was talking about how the class was so crazy for
3:13
this sub they had, and it was a mom from the neighborhood. And
3:15
my daughter said, "I think she just didn't want to be mean, but
3:19
I don't know why the kids were acting that way. They know they
3:21
shouldn't," and I was like, because they're trying to find
3:23
out what the boundaries are with this sub, and they'll keep
3:26
trying until they find one.
3:28
Heidi: Yes, the worst.
3:29
Emily: But even if you know that's what the students are
3:31
doing, it can be a little hard to appreciate that fact in the
3:35
moment because at 2:30 on a Friday afternoon, you don't
3:38
really care about developmental theory. You just want the
3:41
talking to stop so that you can end the week in peace. So,
3:44
Heidi, what strategies can help us in that moment?
3:48
Heidi: Well, that is exactly what we're going to talk about
3:50
today. I bet nobody saw that coming, and we have got a
3:54
four-step framework that you can apply anytime things start
3:57
sliding off track. We kind of think of this as a ladder. You
4:01
start with the first intervention, and then you move
4:03
up rung by rung as needed.
4:06
Emily: And luckily, the first step is often enough to solve
4:09
most problems. So let's see what that looks like in action. So
4:12
tell us about it.
4:14
Heidi: Well, I wish I could do a Sophia Petrillo impression, but
4:19
I just want you to picture it. You're not in Sicily. You're in
4:21
the middle of a lesson. Most of the class is focused, but two
4:25
students in the back are whispering. The whisperers are
4:28
not really bothering anyone, but they're also not listening.
4:32
Emily: So one option is just ignoring it, and maybe it will
4:34
stop on its own, or maybe the talking will spread, social
4:38
contagion, and there's no way to know which one it's going to be.
4:43
Heidi: Or you could go the other way. Stop mid lesson, call out
4:47
the behavior, and announce that those two talkers will be
4:50
missing recess this afternoon.
4:51
Emily: When you're in this moment, you might be thinking
4:53
that your goal is to get the kids to stop talking, but that's
4:56
actually only half of it. The goal is to get the kids to stop
4:59
talking so that learning can continue.
5:02
Heidi: And those two extremes that we shared, ignoring the
5:05
problem and then shutting everything down to confront it,
5:07
will both inhibit that learning goal. So let's not do that.
5:11
Instead, we're going to step onto the first rung in our
5:14
ladder and try The Look.
5:17
Emily: And we talk about this in our book. And if you have our
5:20
book, you know that when we say The Look, we have turned it into
5:25
a proper noun, The Look.
5:28
Heidi: And that's because the look is so elegant and yet so
5:32
effective. It deserves to have some respect put on its name. So
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if you're not familiar, the look is that steady eye contact that
5:39
says, "I see you, you know I see you, and this is your chance to
5:43
do better."
5:44
Emily: The teacher look is probably something you are
5:46
already doing because I think we just come as teachers
5:48
pre-programmed to know that we need to do that. But maybe we
5:52
can elevate your technique with a few tweaks because actually
5:55
Heidi and I are experts at the look. So the big secret of an
5:58
effective look is remaining completely impassive while
6:02
delivering it. The second a student sees that they've
6:04
aggravated you, they've gained control of the moment.
6:08
Heidi: And at that point, your only option is to escalate your
6:10
response, which is exactly what we're trying to avoid. So, the
6:14
second you clock the whispering kids, the first thing to do is
6:18
take a slow, deep breath.
6:21
Emily: And then check your body language. You want to be
6:24
standing tall, relax your jaw, and let your arms hang
6:27
naturally. Slowly turn to face the students in question. And in
6:32
the book, we say to channel your inner Queen Victoria, Beyonce,
6:36
or Fred Rogers.
6:39
Heidi: And yes, we know that that is silly, but I found it so
6:42
helpful when I'm trying to channel another person's persona
6:45
in a moment that I could get a little heated. This helps me
6:48
focus on my actions instead of unleashing my frustration on the
6:51
children.
6:52
Emily: Yeah, so you got to do whatever it takes to maintain
6:54
that calm. Once you're facing the intended recipients of the
6:58
look, hold eye contact for a full six seconds. Mentally count
7:02
Mississippi's if it helps. We are not counting
7:05
Mississippilessly. Include the Mississippi's.
7:08
Heidi: And remember that the look is not a glare and it's not
7:11
a stare down. A stare down invites a power struggle. Do you
7:14
think Beyoncé gets involved in power struggles?
7:18
Emily: No, definitely not. She's always in control. So you really
7:21
just want to keep your face completely neutral. You are so
7:24
unbothered, but you're serious. But make sure you don't have
7:29
raised eyebrows, don't chin gesture, don't purse your lips.
7:34
The more stoic you are, the more authority the look carries.
7:39
Heidi: And at that point, if the kids stop, you're done, and you
7:42
can just get back to the lesson. It took what six seconds, but if
7:46
a chat about the behavior is needed, you can do that later in
7:49
private.
7:50
Emily: Now, let's say you give the look, and they're so deep in
7:53
their conversation that they never even notice. Then it's
7:55
time to move up a step on the ladder to the second rung, which
7:58
is the neutral cue.
8:01
Heidi: This is a calm statement that you make to the class in
8:03
general. You're not calling out the kids in particular. So you
8:07
might say something like, "Let's do a quick check and make sure
8:10
everyone is still in learning position. That means you're
8:13
sitting up straight, your mouth is quiet, and your eyes are up
8:15
here.
8:16
Emily: Or you can use a cue that doesn't mention the behavior at
8:18
all and just redirects the energy. So you could say, let's
8:21
take five seconds to stretch and shake out our arms and hands.
8:25
I'll count down from five, and when I get to zero, I need
8:28
everyone looking up here.
8:30
Heidi: And just like with the look, when giving a neutral cue,
8:33
we are just stuffing that annoyance way down inside and
8:37
radiating regal calm. The goal is to send the message that
8:41
here's the expectation, and I'm giving you a chance to meet it.
8:45
Emily: Going back to our chatty kids, let's say the look didn't
8:47
work, but the neutral cue did work, at least for one of the
8:51
two whisperers. The other one, annoyed that her buddy stopped
8:55
talking, starts tapping her pencil on the desk. In that
8:58
case, you need to get closer to the problem.
9:00
Heidi: And we we do mean that literally. The third rung in our
9:04
behavior response ladder is proximity. So without stopping
9:08
the lesson, you're going to start moving slowly toward that
9:11
student.
9:12
Emily: Because as we are fond of saying, proximity to the teacher
9:15
is the best deterrent to off task behavior. And since this
9:19
particular student is too far from you to be influenced by
9:22
your greatness, your job is to bring your influence to them.
9:26
Heidi: And now, moving around while you teach is a good idea,
9:29
even when nobody is misbehaving. That little bit of movement
9:32
creates novelty, and novelty cues the brain to keep paying
9:35
attention to what's happening.
9:37
Emily: Plus, it makes sure that everyone is spending more time
9:39
close to you, which helpfully curtails any misbehaviors that
9:43
might be secretly brewing.
9:45
Heidi: Okay, now we've reached the point where the look didn't
9:47
work, the neutral cue didn't work, and proximity didn't work.
9:51
We are getting pretty high on that ladder, and this is where
9:54
direct correction comes in.
9:56
Emily: And this doesn't mean that the first three steps
9:58
failed. It's just the point. Where a student is showing you
10:01
they don't have the skills to handle what they're dealing with
10:03
right now, and they need more support.
10:05
Heidi: So let's swing back to that pencil tapper. What are
10:08
your options now? Well, you could silently offer the tapper
10:12
a quiet fidget, but this only works if you've already taught
10:16
that student to use a fidget as a tool instead of a toy.
10:19
Emily: Yeah, let's not make the situation even worse by giving
10:22
the student something even more distracting. Another option is a
10:26
direct correction.
10:29
Heidi: That's the part that often threw me off as a teacher,
10:32
because now we've gone from playing checkers to playing
10:35
chess. Once you engage directly with the student, you're
10:38
throwing open the door to a potential power struggle.
10:42
Emily: And no one wants that. So, a good policy is to always
10:45
make your opening gambit a question. Asking a question
10:49
helps the student maintain some autonomy, so it lowers
10:52
defensiveness. So, you might address the behavior
10:54
specifically and ask, Are you able to stop your tapping, or do
10:57
you need my help?
10:58
Heidi: Or you could try a more general question that you can
11:00
use with almost any behavior, something like What do you think
11:04
I'm going to ask you to do? is a great one to have in your back
11:07
pocket.
11:08
Emily: In the whole scope of management concerns, being off
11:11
task is the most common issue, even if it doesn't always feel
11:13
like that. And these four steps will cover most of what you see,
11:17
probably something like 85 to 95% of your problems.
11:21
Heidi: But that still leaves you with five to 15% to deal with,
11:25
and that is where our next step comes in. That is to give
11:28
consequences that teach instead of punish. When the four steps
11:32
on that response ladder don't work, it's time for the teacher
11:36
to intervene.
11:37
Emily: And that shouldn't sound like a threat. We're not
11:39
bringing down the hammer of justice, but just like we would
11:42
intervene if a student were doing a math problem
11:44
incorrectly, it's appropriate to step in when students show that
11:47
they aren't able to make appropriate decisions right now.
11:51
Heidi: So, with that pencil tapper, you've tried the look, a
11:54
neutral cue, proximity, and you've asked the student what
11:57
she should be doing, but that pencil's still tapping away.
12:01
What would you do next, Emily?
12:03
Emily: Well, this is the point where you state what's about to
12:05
happen if you don't see a change. It might sound like
12:07
this: Ava, your pencil tapping is making it hard for others to
12:10
learn. If you choose not to keep your pencil under control, I
12:13
will have to hold on to it until it's time to work, or you'll
12:16
have to move to the desk at the back so you won't keep others
12:18
from learning.
12:19
Heidi: And then comes the part that everyone hates. If the
12:22
behavior continues, you have to follow through with the
12:25
consequence. Otherwise, students learn that you don't really mean
12:28
what you say.
12:29
Emily: Yeah, then it's just a threat instead of a consequence.
12:33
So you need to be careful to only choose consequences that
12:36
you are willing to enforce.
12:38
Heidi: Yeah, don't punish yourself with their
12:40
consequences. When I taught second grade, my go-to was
12:44
moving the student. If someone was causing a problem at their
12:47
desk, they moved to the back table. If we were on the carpet,
12:49
they moved back to their seat. My signal was to point at the
12:53
student and then point where I wanted them to go. I taught this
12:56
like a procedure at the start of the year, so I talked about it
12:59
and modeled it. Then everyone got a turn to be moved to a new
13:02
spot for a few seconds, and then we had a discussion about why
13:06
this is helpful for our class.
13:08
Emily: And I think this is really key because if you try
13:09
and implement this for the first time and you haven't ever taught
13:12
it to your class, it's probably likely to cause a lot more
13:15
commotion. But if they're familiar with the routine, I
13:18
think it will be a pretty smooth, quiet process. So, think
13:22
about the kinds of consequences that you can live with, moving
13:26
students, or something else that you're willing to follow through
13:29
on.
13:29
Heidi: Just makes sure that your consequence isn't taking away
13:32
recess. Kids who don't get that chance to blow off some steam
13:35
often behave worse later in the day, not better.
13:39
Emily: And don't feel bad if you've taken away recess in the
13:41
past, because we definitely have back when that was just the
13:44
expected thing to do, and now we know better. When you know
13:46
better, you do better.
13:48
Heidi: I do have regrets about that.
13:50
Emily: You also want to avoid taking away specialty classes.
13:53
For some kids, PE or art is the one time of the day that they
13:57
feel successful, and losing it can make them resentful instead
14:00
of teachable.
14:02
Heidi: I did have one exception to that, though. If the poor
14:05
behavior happened in the specialty class, I thought it
14:09
was logical for the student to miss that class the next time,
14:12
and then spend that time reflecting on the choices they
14:15
got them there. So I would have them, you know, write an apology
14:19
to that specialty teacher, explaining what they will be
14:21
doing better next time. My thinking is that specialty
14:24
teachers have a hard enough job, and my students are not going to
14:27
be making it any harder.
14:30
Emily: Yeah, I agree. And in this case, I think you are doing
14:32
such a service for that teacher because I think it's a lot
14:35
harder to have good classroom management when you only see
14:37
these kids once a week, and then you see all the other kids too.
14:41
So the least we can do is help them enforce some boundaries by
14:46
not sending the naughty kids back week after week without any
14:48
consequences.
14:49
Heidi: Yes, and I did get the sense from some of the specialty
14:51
teachers that other teachers didn't have that same
14:53
philosophy, so they did appreciate that I was willing to
14:56
help them manage.
14:58
Emily: So if you can't take away recess and you can't take away
15:00
specialty classes, what can you take away? Think about the
15:04
preferred activities in your room, like being the line
15:07
leader, choosing flexible seating, or getting technology
15:09
time. You can say, "If you're not doing your work, you're
15:12
showing me you're not responsible enough to handle
15:14
this today."
15:16
Heidi: And if none of those options work for your class, a
15:19
helpful little trick is to build in 5 to 10 minutes of free time
15:22
at the end of the school day. You can offer the class some
15:26
choices that you can live with, like coloring, reading, or
15:28
games, and then you have that little bit of time to chat with
15:32
any students who need to make a plan for what they can do better
15:35
tomorrow.
15:36
Emily: And those steps, our response ladder, and the logical
15:39
consequence work great. And in a perfect world, they would have a
15:43
100% success rate.
15:44
Heidi: But as we know, kids often have different opinions
15:47
about how things should run. So, what do you do when you give the
15:50
look or your neutral cue, and the kid says, "I wasn't even
15:54
doing anything."
15:55
Emily: And the stakes here can feel so high because this
15:58
showdown is likely unfolding with an eager little audience,
16:02
you might worry that if you lose this moment, you lose them all.
16:05
Heidi: But remember that you only lose if you get pulled into
16:08
a power struggle. So don't take the bait. You actually don't
16:12
have to prove anything. The student knows what they were
16:15
doing. They're just trying to deflect. So ignore that little
16:18
attempt to turn a consequence into a conversation.
16:21
Emily: And then work up a one-on-one version of the ladder
16:23
of responses. Start with a six-second look. Keep your face
16:27
completely neutral, even if your mind is racing. If the student
16:30
is still not changing course, slowly move closer if you're not
16:33
already nearby.
16:35
Heidi: And then we're going to restate the expectation and the
16:37
consequence if it's ignored. During work time, voices should
16:40
be off. If you choose to keep talking, you will be moved to
16:44
the table, so you won't distract other students.
16:47
Emily: And now the bonus step that we didn't mention, which is
16:49
an important one: give the student some space. Say, I'll
16:52
give you a minute to decide, and then walk away.
16:54
Heidi: If they get on task, perfect. Leave it alone for now.
16:58
You can talk about it later in a calmer moment, but that walking
17:01
away lets the student save face, which can be a huge help in
17:04
diffusing any big feelings that might erupt.
17:08
Emily: You also want to walk away if the student completely
17:10
shuts down. Trying to solve a problem with a kid who feels
17:12
under attack will only make things worse.
17:15
Heidi: But if you have a student who escalates to threats or
17:17
violence, just stop everything and get the front office
17:20
involved. Some students have needs that go beyond what these
17:24
four steps can address.
17:26
Emily: Right. You should always remember on our podcast when
17:29
we're talking about classroom management strategies, we're
17:31
sharing the strategies that will work for most students most of
17:35
the time. This framework is for responding to a behavior in the
17:38
moment. It is not a fix for larger unmet needs. If you're
17:42
repeatedly giving consequences to the same student, that's a
17:45
sign that you need to figure out what's really going on.
17:48
Heidi: This is where documentation matters. Yes, it's
17:51
a hassle, but it's the only way to get that student any real
17:54
help. Write down what you're seeing, what you've tried, and
17:58
what happened, and of course date it. And then when you call
18:00
home or you go to the principal, you can show that you've already
18:03
tried everything that they're about to suggest to you, and
18:06
it's time that they bring in some real support.
18:09
Emily: And if you're worried your principal won't back you
18:11
up, documentation is even more important. If things get more
18:14
serious, nobody can say you weren't doing enough.
18:17
Heidi: But hopefully, fingers crossed, everyone, that you do
18:19
not have too many of those cases to deal with, and for all the
18:22
little stuff, you know exactly what to do. Start with the look
18:25
and move your way up the ladder.
18:27
Emily: When students know you mean what you say and that you
18:30
respond fairly, they learn they can count on you. Correction
18:33
isn't about punishment; it's about giving students the
18:35
support they need to be successful.
18:38
Heidi: If this discussion gave you some things to think about,
18:40
you will be happy to know we cover all of this and much, much
18:43
more in our new book, Structure and Spark: A Flexible Framework
18:47
for Every Classroom Curveball. You can grab it anywhere that
18:50
you can buy books online.
18:52
Emily: Now for our teacher-approved tip of the
18:54
week, where we share an actionable tip to help you
18:57
elevate what matters and simplify the rest. This week's
19:00
teacher-approved tip is to have your students help draft your
19:03
classroom consequences. So tell us more about it, Heidi.
19:06
Heidi: Well, this one just seems like a perfect fit for our
19:08
discussion today. So to do this with your class, start by
19:11
talking about how far everyone has already come this year. Name
19:15
the great things that you've seen, and then we're going to
19:17
just pivot to some problems that also have started to crop up.
19:21
Emily: And be sure to keep this general, so no students feel
19:23
like they're being ganged up on.
19:25
Heidi: Oh yeah, you might want to try something like, "I've
19:28
noticed some talking during work time, and it's making it harder
19:31
for us to focus and learn. And then ask students what
19:34
consequences would be appropriate for problems that
19:37
keep us from learning, and then just write down what they say on
19:39
a chart or on that slide.
19:41
Emily: The funny thing is that the kids will definitely be much
19:44
harder than you would be.
19:46
Heidi: Yeah, for some reason they jump straight to going to
19:48
the principal or whatever your behavior management system at
19:52
the school is. So you know, walk them back to the gentler
19:56
consequences first, and then you can build from there. Make sure
20:00
that every consequence you adopt is practical, appropriate, and
20:03
something that you're actually willing to enforce.
20:06
Emily: And then, when a problem pops up, you are not making it
20:09
up on the spot. You can say we agreed on these consequences
20:12
together, which is much harder for kids to argue with. And
20:15
also, if you all agreed together, then they also know
20:18
what to expect. They know what's coming if they don't start with
20:21
the lowest intervention and stop their behavior.
20:24
Heidi: Yes, the predictability makes a big difference.
20:27
To wrap up the show, we are sharing what we're giving extra
20:29
credit to this week. Emily, what gets your extra credit?
20:33
Emily: I am giving extra credit to our automatic card shuffler.
20:38
So, Heidi and I, I'm sure we've mentioned this before, have
20:42
arthritic thumbs, which is the most embarrassing thing to say
20:46
when you're 40, or younger in Heidi's case. Well, I probably
20:51
knew I was younger too. I just didn't know what it was when I
20:53
was younger. I just thought that's how thumbs feel.
20:57
Heidi: Yeah, I was going to doctors for this in my 20s and
20:59
getting misdiagnosed for lots of years.
21:02
Emily: Yeah. So one of the bummers of the way your thumbs
21:07
hurt when your your CMC joint that joint right at the bottom
21:10
of your thumb doesn't work right is that a lot of normal things
21:14
you do with your hands, like gripping, really cause a lot of
21:17
pain. And I used to be a really good card shuffler, so it bums
21:20
me out to say that shuffling cards is very painful for me
21:24
now. I have a hard time keeping a good grip on it with my thumbs
21:27
being so messed up, and then it hurts.
21:29
And so I decided to invest in an automatic card shuffler. You
21:34
just split the deck into the two little trays on the side, and
21:36
then they push a little button, and then it super fast combines
21:40
them into the middle already shuffled, and of course we end
21:43
up doing it like four or five times because everyone wants a
21:45
chance to do it because it's so fun. It's especially nice when
21:48
you have big decks that like take a long time to get well
21:52
shuffled and integrated with each other. It's just handy to
21:55
have. I mean, even if you don't have broken thumbs like us, I
21:58
think it's just super handy to have if you like playing card
22:01
games, which we do at my house.
22:03
Heidi: Well, that's perfect. I want one just to play with.
22:06
Emily: You should. It's practically a fidget toy. What
22:10
are you giving extra credit to, Heidi?
22:12
Heidi: Well, I'm giving extra credit to Trashie bags, and
22:14
Emily, I know you're already familiar with this.
22:16
Emily: I sure am.
22:17
Heidi: How this works is you buy these like giant, how big are
22:21
they? They're like, they're big, like three foot bags that come
22:25
to your house, and then you fill them with all of the fabric
22:29
items that you don't want. You know the clothes. I should have
22:33
looked up the list before I started talking.
22:34
Emily: I think you can do like towels.
22:36
Heidi: Anything that's not soiled. I think they said so
22:40
nothing with stains.
22:41
Emily: But it can have like holes and things like that.
22:44
Heidi: They just ask that it be washed. Because my go-to used to
22:47
be just sending it to the thrift store, but a lot of stuff
22:50
doesn't get resold because it's too beat up. So then it just
22:52
ends up in landfills, which, as we know, is a problem because we
22:55
all have so many clothes. So this way, so they promise that
22:58
nothing will end up in the landfill. If they can't give it
23:00
to a thrift shop, they'll find a way to recycle it or give it a
23:03
new life somehow. So that is why it's worth it to me for the cost
23:08
of the bags. So you just load it up, and then you get a like a
23:11
barcode to scan. Unfortunately, you do have to take it somewhere
23:14
to send it in, but then it's out of your house and you're all
23:17
done. And I one thing I like about it is when I'm setting
23:20
aside stuff that I would give to the thrift store, it just kind
23:24
of is another pile of my house. But here it goes right in the
23:26
bag, and then I can just move it along.
23:28
Emily: Oh yeah, that's such a good point. And I used to have
23:30
things that I would feel really guilty about, of like, well, I
23:33
don't really want to send this to the thrift store because they
23:36
probably won't want it because it's beat up. But then throwing
23:39
it away just made me feel gross, so I really appreciate having
23:42
this option with Trashie Bags to be able to send anything fabric
23:45
as long as it's not gross and get it out of your house guilt
23:49
free. And I'll just add in that if you know you're going to be
23:53
going through like all your kids' bins of clothes that
23:56
you've saved or your whole closet, then it's definitely
24:00
worth it to sign up for the Trashie Unlimited because you
24:02
get a year and you can send as many bags as you want, and that
24:07
is pretty affordable. But oftentimes they have deals on
24:09
it, so I have had that this year, which has made it a lot
24:12
easier to just be sending lots of stuff away from my house.
24:16
Heidi: Yeah, I'm going to drop mine in the mail tomorrow, so.
24:19
Emily: I'll send mine with you.
24:23
Heidi: Well, that is it for today's episode. When kids get
24:26
off task, start with the look and work your way up the ladder
24:28
of responses. And don't forget to get the kids involved in
24:31
drafting your class consequences.
24:34
Emily: If this is the kind of thing you want help with, it's
24:35
what we do inside the Teacher Approved Club. We offer guidance
24:38
and resources to help you navigate each season of the
24:41
school year, and we're headed into the holiday ramp up. So we
24:43
are ready to support you there in the Teacher Approved Club.
24:46
You can check it out at secondstorywindow.net/club.
24:52
Heidi: We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm
24:55
Heidi.
24:56
Emily: And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
24:59
or subscribe in your podcast app, so that you never miss an
25:01
episode.
25:03
Heidi: You can connect with us and other teachers in the
25:05
Teacher Approved Facebook group. We'll see you here next week.
25:08
Bye for now.
25:09
Emily: Bye.