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226. The October Reset Every Teacher Needs · Teacher Approved: Elementary Teacher Tips & Strategies

• 0:01
  Heidi: This is episode 226 of Teacher Approved.
• 0:05
  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
• 0:17
  Window, where we give research based and teacher approved
• 0:20
  strategies that make teaching less stressful and more
• 0:22
  effective. You can check out the show notes and resources from
• 0:26
  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 the October reset, how to
• 0:43
  transition from back to school survival mode to sustainable
• 0:46
  teaching that actually feels good. Plus we're sharing a
• 0:49
  teacher approved tip for recharging your energy bank.
• 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 right
• 0:57
  away. Emily, what's our suggestion for this week?
• 1:00
  Emily: Well, this week, try the one minute check in with
• 1:03
  yourself right before students arrive. You just set a timer on
• 1:06
  your phone and spend 60 seconds just noticing how you're
• 1:10
  feeling—tired, excited, overwhelmed, ready. You don't
• 1:13
  have to fix anything or change anything. It's just a good
• 1:16
  moment to acknowledge however you're feeling.
• 1:19
  Heidi: I love this. I think this is so helpful, because sometimes
• 1:22
  we are so busy running on autopilot, especially as
• 1:24
  teachers, that we don't even realize we're exhausted until we
• 1:28
  have reached a point where we're completely depleted. Taking a
• 1:31
  minute to just pause and think about how you're handling things
• 1:35
  can really help you make better choices about your energy
• 1:37
  throughout the day, and hopefully save you from reaching
• 1:40
  that depleted point.
• 1:41
  Emily: Yes, love that. If you like this idea or anything else
• 1:44
  we share here on the podcast, we would love it if you would take
• 1:47
  a second and give us a five star rating and review in your
• 1:49
  podcast app.
• 1:51
  Heidi: Well, Emily, can you believe it? September is almost
• 1:54
  over.
• 1:55
  Emily: I don't know how the months just get faster as the
• 1:58
  year goes on, like January never ends, and then once we're
• 2:01
  hitting September, it's just like, zoom, zoom, zoom. But I'm
• 2:04
  hoping I can get my feet under me now that it feels like we're
• 2:07
  settling back into the old routine.
• 2:10
  Heidi: Oh, yes, totally the same. I swear the Fourth of July
• 2:14
  was, should have just been last week. And now we're talking
• 2:18
  about October.
• 2:18
  Emily: I know it's basically Christmas.
• 2:20
  Heidi: Yes, I've definitely got whiplash. I don't know what's
• 2:24
  going on. And I guess it makes sense, because we spend all
• 2:26
  summer prepping for back to school, and we have all the
• 2:29
  effort of trying to get the year off the ground, and that by the
• 2:31
  time we finally get through those weeks, we're just wiped
• 2:35
  out.
• 2:36
  Emily: Yeah, so tired. And unfortunately, at that point,
• 2:39
  there's not a break in sight, at least not in the near sight.
• 2:43
  That can feel pretty overwhelming. It's like trying
• 2:46
  to nap while pedaling a bike. The house projects, the family
• 2:50
  needs, the personal goals that you put on pause, they're all
• 2:53
  now clamoring for your attention all at once.
• 2:56
  Heidi: Not to mention that all of the school demands aren't
• 2:58
  going anywhere. So if no one is going to give us a break, we're
• 3:02
  going to have to manufacture one. And October is actually the
• 3:05
  perfect time for what Emily and I are calling the October reset.
• 3:10
  Emily: Everything's better with a title.
• 3:12
  Heidi: Yes.
• 3:13
  Emily: So if you think of it like gardening, September was
• 3:16
  the planting season. You're doing all that intensive back
• 3:20
  breaking work of getting everything established.
• 3:23
  Heidi: Right. There was all your room prep, procedure teaching,
• 3:26
  so much procedure teaching, relationship building. That was
• 3:29
  like preparing the soil and getting all your little seeds in
• 3:32
  the ground.
• 3:33
  Emily: And now you're in a different season, the intensive
• 3:36
  planting is done, but that doesn't mean the work stops.
• 3:38
  You're just in a different phase, the tending phase, and
• 3:41
  tending requires a completely different kind of energy.
• 3:44
  Heidi: Which this is actually good news, because you cannot
• 3:47
  sustain planting season energy for another eight months, you
• 3:51
  would just completely burn out. Oh, for sure.
• 3:53
  Emily: Even if you love your students and your work, teaching
• 3:56
  is super demanding. It takes energy and time every single
• 3:58
  day. So it's natural to feel a little drained and wonder, how
• 4:02
  am I going to sustain this?
• 4:05
  Heidi: That is the question. So today we're going to help you
• 4:08
  figure out how to shift from planting mode to tending mode,
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  and we've got five strategies for making this transition
• 4:14
  effective so that you can build something sustainable instead of
• 4:18
  just white knuckling your way to June.
• 4:21
  Emily: Our first strategy is to give yourself permission to feel
• 4:23
  the crash, and by crash I mean that drained battery feeling
• 4:28
  that shows up in October. This has a little different flavor
• 4:32
  than that end of school year exhaustion that I'm sure you're
• 4:35
  familiar with. Maybe it's pumpkin spice, or maybe it's
• 4:38
  knowing that there are still eight months to summer break.
• 4:41
  But either way, it is something we all face.
• 4:44
  Heidi: Oh, this is so important. When you are high on September
• 4:48
  adrenaline, running on four hours of sleep and still getting
• 4:51
  200 task cards laminated, just feels like a normal Tuesday
• 4:54
  afternoon. But October comes in with a hard dose of reality.
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  Emily: I used to think something was wrong with me when I felt
• 5:01
  tired and kind of flat after the excitement of the new year wore
• 5:04
  off, because I'd started so strong. Why couldn't I just keep
• 5:08
  going that way?
• 5:09
  Heidi: Right. And when we tell ourselves that operating at
• 5:12
  level 10 every day is normal, but all we can muster today is
• 5:16
  level 6 energy, it kind of feels like a failure. But the truth is
• 5:21
  that running on back to school adrenaline is not sustainable.
• 5:25
  Your body is actually doing exactly what it's supposed to by
• 5:28
  slowing down now.
• 5:29
  Emily: It's like how marathon runners don't try to maintain
• 5:31
  their sprint pace for all 26 miles. September was a sprint,
• 5:36
  and of course, you're tired now.
• 5:38
  Heidi: Yes, and the worst part is that while you are recovering
• 5:41
  from that sprint, you suddenly notice all of the plates that
• 5:44
  you dropped while you were in survival mode. Maybe your
• 5:47
  friends all think you're mad at them and you don't remember the
• 5:49
  last time you exercised.
• 5:51
  Emily: And there's a good chance all that produce you bought back
• 5:53
  when you were so sure that this was the year you were gonna pack
• 5:56
  a salad for lunch every day has just turned into a lovely
• 6:00
  science experiment in your fridge. All that to say, there's
• 6:04
  probably a lot that needs your attention.
• 6:06
  Heidi: Oh, all of the poor, poor lettuce that is lost in the name
• 6:09
  of back to school stress. It has lived its whole life just to end
• 6:13
  up as mush in the back of my fridge. For me, this was the
• 6:17
  most disheartening part. Well, not the lettuce part. But,
• 6:21
  although, that is sad, RIP lettuce, but the way that life
• 6:25
  just fell apart when school started. Honestly, as we were
• 6:28
  working on the notes for this episode, I got a little teary
• 6:31
  just thinking about it. When you're pushing through the
• 6:33
  exhaustion to try to maintain good momentum at school, and
• 6:37
  when you finally get a second to come up for air, and then the
• 6:40
  first thing you see is the laundry pile that's overtaking
• 6:42
  the bed. And once you see that, every other ignored task starts
• 6:47
  clamoring for attention, and that moment can feel so
• 6:50
  overwhelming, to say the least.
• 6:52
  Emily: But since you know that that rough moment of wake up is
• 6:55
  coming, you can plan for it. Decide now on a simple reminder
• 6:59
  you can repeat to pull yourself out of that spiral. So try
• 7:02
  something like, this is a normal part of the process. I've
• 7:05
  figured this out before, and I will do it again, or, it's okay
• 7:08
  to rest before I restore.
• 7:11
  Heidi: The chaos of regular life at the start of October is not a
• 7:14
  reflection of your worth or your competence. It's just the
• 7:18
  natural result of spending your energy on a very demanding
• 7:21
  season. Don't put pressure on yourself to have everything back
• 7:24
  to normal all at once.
• 7:26
  Emily: You will be much happier if you start small with just one
• 7:29
  or two neglected tasks and take it from there. So remember,
• 7:32
  you're not behind, you're not stuck, and you're definitely not
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  alone.
• 7:36
  Heidi: Yeah, I think most teachers feel this way in
• 7:38
  October, even the veterans who've been around the block a
• 7:41
  few times. The difference is whether you beat yourself up
• 7:44
  about it or you use it as information to make better
• 7:47
  choices going forward.
• 7:48
  Emily: And that's what we want to help you do today, use this
• 7:51
  awareness to build something better.
• 7:54
  Heidi: So that sets us up for our second strategy for October,
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  and that is to identify what's growing and identify what's just
• 8:01
  taking up space. So going back to our garden metaphor, by
• 8:04
  October, you can see which plants are thriving and which
• 8:07
  ones are struggling.
• 8:09
  Emily: And what does that mean in your classroom? Well, that
• 8:11
  means looking at your systems and routines and asking, what's
• 8:14
  working what's making my life easier, and what's just creating
• 8:18
  more work without any real benefit.
• 8:20
  Heidi: I love this, because it's not about throwing everything
• 8:22
  out and starting over, please don't do that, but it's about
• 8:25
  being strategic with your energy. Maybe your morning
• 8:28
  routine is running smoothly. That is so great. Keep watering
• 8:31
  that.
• 8:32
  Emily: But maybe your homework system is causing you more
• 8:35
  stress than it's worth. Maybe you're stressing over those
• 8:37
  anchor charts that none of your students even bother to
• 8:40
  reference, those might be weeds you need to pull.
• 8:43
  Heidi: Another place where weeds sneak in is with technology. If
• 8:46
  you have got a new tech tool or a program that seemed like the
• 8:49
  answer to all of your prayers but isn't living up to the hype,
• 8:53
  see if that's something you can shelf for now.
• 8:55
  Emily: Oh yeah, that shiny new app that was going to
• 8:57
  revolutionize everything, but is actually a daily headache. This
• 9:01
  is actually easier to see in October than it was in
• 9:03
  September, because now you have some real data. So you've lived
• 9:07
  with these systems for a few weeks now.
• 9:10
  Heidi: Right, in September, everything feels urgent and
• 9:13
  important, but now you can step back and ask yourself, Is this
• 9:16
  actually helping my students learn, or is it just something I
• 9:20
  think I should be doing?
• 9:21
  Emily: You can apply this same filter at home too. Look at what
• 9:24
  was truly essential for keeping your household running in
• 9:27
  September, and put time and effort into making those systems
• 9:30
  as supportive as possible.
• 9:32
  Heidi: And then take a good look at the rest of the demands on
• 9:35
  your time. Use the major life derailment that came with the
• 9:39
  start of the school year to get perspective on what is worth
• 9:42
  preserving and maybe what needs to go.
• 9:46
  Emily: The third strategy for your October reset is to build
• 9:48
  in micro recoveries. Think of these as little moments
• 9:52
  throughout your day where you can reset your energy instead of
• 9:54
  just pushing through until you collapse.
• 9:57
  Heidi: This approach is so different from the I'm just
• 10:00
  going to wait till winter break mentality. We are talking about
• 10:03
  tiny breaks that you can actually take during your
• 10:06
  regular school day.
• 10:07
  Emily: Even two or three minutes really can make a difference. So
• 10:10
  maybe it's drinking your coffee while looking out the window
• 10:12
  instead of grading papers, or taking three deep breaths before
• 10:16
  you pick up your students from specialty classes.
• 10:19
  Heidi: You might actually do a form of this naturally. Do you
• 10:22
  ever just sit in your car for a few minutes when you get home,
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  no phone, no to do list, just sitting? Maybe, if you're like
• 10:28
  me, you might beat yourself up a bit about taking this pause in
• 10:31
  the car, because there is a perfectly good, much more
• 10:35
  comfortable couch waiting inside. But sometimes having the
• 10:39
  space to breathe is the bridge we need between demands.
• 10:42
  Emily: I know I feel like the car is like this zone in between
• 10:47
  responsibilities, and so if you're sitting in your car with
• 10:49
  it not on, somehow you're like hidden from the responsibilities
• 10:55
  of your life if you're just in that secret space in your car.
• 11:00
  Heidi: Especially if you've got kids waiting inside who are
• 11:02
  going to want things from you.
• 11:03
  Emily: Oh, amen. I usually just stay there until someone comes
• 11:06
  looking for me. So this is creating little buffer zones in
• 11:11
  your day, instead of going from zero to 60 and then back again
• 11:14
  all day long.
• 11:15
  Heidi: Yeah, that is a sure fire recipe for exhaustion. The key
• 11:19
  is that these micro recoveries have to be realistic. As
• 11:23
  restorative as it would be to spend your planning time
• 11:25
  meditating.
• 11:27
  Emily: I almost laughed out loud.
• 11:29
  Heidi: Yeah, it's not very practical. So look for
• 11:33
  opportunities that fit in a real classroom with real constraints.
• 11:38
  Emily: Although if you do manage to meditate during your prep
• 11:41
  time, tell us your secret. So maybe you're going to do a 30
• 11:45
  second desk tidy at the end of the day as a micro recovery that
• 11:49
  can help you switch from teaching mode to prepare for
• 11:52
  tomorrow mode. Or you can try giving yourself a soft landing
• 11:55
  routine once you're home from school. Let your kids have 15
• 11:58
  minutes of screen time so you can reset before diving into
• 12:01
  making dinner. Transitions take work, so look for ways to make
• 12:05
  them a little gentler. And before I had kids, when I got
• 12:09
  home from school, I would lay on the couch and watch a rerun of
• 12:12
  The OC.
• 12:15
  Heidi: I love that as a reset.
• 12:19
  Our fourth strategy for your October reset is to protect your
• 12:22
  energy. This is about recognizing that your energy is
• 12:25
  not unlimited, and being strategic about where you spend
• 12:28
  it.
• 12:29
  Emily: I think teachers are really bad at this, because we
• 12:31
  just care so much. We want to give everything to everyone, and
• 12:35
  even if we just give the bare minimum, the list of demands is
• 12:39
  never ending. But it's also not sustainable to live like that.
• 12:43
  Heidi: Oh, right, so this is where you have to make some hard
• 12:46
  choices about where your energy goes. Maybe you spend less time
• 12:50
  on bulletin boards and more time on planning engaging lessons, or
• 12:54
  maybe you simplify your grading system so you have more energy
• 12:57
  for relationship building.
• 12:59
  Emily: One question I find useful is what are two or three
• 13:02
  things that will have the biggest impact on my students
• 13:04
  learning? Those are the things worth spending your energy on.
• 13:07
  Heidi: One way to make this more doable is to make it visual, and
• 13:11
  you can do this with a list. Write down your to do list for
• 13:13
  the week and circle the two or three tasks that have the
• 13:17
  largest impact on student learning. Those are your non
• 13:19
  negotiables. Everything else can bend, flex, or wait.
• 13:24
  Emily: We really can't give equally to every expectation, so
• 13:27
  we have to be strategic about identifying what truly matters,
• 13:30
  even if that might mean disappointing other people. Your
• 13:33
  principal might want you to volunteer for multiple
• 13:35
  committees. Your grade level team might want you to do the
• 13:37
  bulk of the planning, but you have to protect your core energy
• 13:40
  for what matters most.
• 13:41
  Heidi: I want to recognize that I understand that disappointing
• 13:44
  people does not come naturally to a lot of people, and by
• 13:46
  Emily: Yeah.
• 13:48
  Heidi: It will probably feel uncomfortable, but try reminding
• 13:48
  people, I mean women.
• 13:54
  yourself that saying no to an outside expectation means you
• 13:58
  get to say yes to your students needs and your own well being.
• 14:01
  Every time, good enough is still good.
• 14:04
  Emily: Which brings us to our final strategy for your October
• 14:07
  reset, and that is to focus on consistency over perfection.
• 14:11
  Going back to our gardening metaphor, plants don't need
• 14:14
  fireworks to grow. In fact, that sounds like a hazard.
• 14:18
  Heidi: Yes.
• 14:18
  Emily: They need steady sunlight and water, and classrooms are
• 14:22
  the same.
• 14:23
  Heidi: This is huge for teachers, because we tend to
• 14:25
  have grand visions, and social media definitely hasn't helped
• 14:28
  this. But putting too much effort into having
• 14:31
  Instagram-worthy organization and perfectly optimized routines
• 14:35
  and lessons that have students hanging on every word is how
• 14:39
  teachers burn out.
• 14:40
  Emily: So instead of striving for the most beautiful
• 14:42
  classroom, maximizing every moment or orchestrating a daily
• 14:46
  dog and pony show, just show up consistently where it matters.
• 14:50
  Make sure students have what they need, leave space for
• 14:52
  connection and reset, and teach the standards in engaging but
• 14:56
  low prep ways. That's what makes the difference for you and your
• 14:59
  students.
• 15:00
  Heidi: I think about this with things like grading. I know the
• 15:03
  expectation from your administration might be that you
• 15:06
  grade every assignment, but it's better for everyone if you're
• 15:10
  consistent about only assessing the work that can inform your
• 15:13
  teaching, and you can give everything else a pass or a fail
• 15:16
  and call that graded.
• 15:17
  Emily: Yeah, your students benefit more from steady,
• 15:20
  consistent effort than from extraordinary, sporadic effort.
• 15:24
  Heidi: The nice thing is that you are the one who gets to
• 15:26
  decide what works for your classroom and your life. That
• 15:29
  doesn't mean you have to cut everything down to bare bones
• 15:32
  and just do the minimum, but rather look at this as an
• 15:35
  opportunity to clear out what doesn't serve you so you have
• 15:38
  room to inject more joy into your day.
• 15:41
  Emily: A sustainable teacher life isn't just about doing less
• 15:44
  work, it's about adding fuel to what lights you up. Think about
• 15:47
  the things you love about teaching. Maybe that is the
• 15:50
  perfectly coordinated bins or big over the top lessons. If
• 15:54
  that's for you, then find ways to make that manageable.
• 15:57
  Heidi: But if what you love about teaching is quiet moments
• 16:00
  with your students, sharing a funny new book, or watching a
• 16:03
  student learn something new, find ways to slow down and be
• 16:06
  present in those experiences.
• 16:08
  Emily: Sometimes it's not about adding something new, it's about
• 16:10
  making sure we recognize the good stuff that's already
• 16:13
  happening.
• 16:14
  Heidi: And there is so much good stuff. Ultimately, the goal is
• 16:18
  to create something you can maintain, a happy little garden
• 16:22
  that you can tend without burning yourself out.
• 16:25
  Emily: Okay, so I'm going to recap our five strategies for
• 16:27
  the October reset. First, give yourself permission to feel the
• 16:31
  crash. Second, identify what's growing and what's just taking
• 16:34
  up space. Third, build in micro recoveries. Fourth, protect your
• 16:39
  energy, and finally, focus on consistency over perfection.
• 16:43
  Heidi: The beautiful thing about October is that you still have
• 16:46
  time to adjust. Your classroom routines aren't set in stone
• 16:49
  yet, your students are still learning what to expect from
• 16:53
  you. So this is actually the perfect time to make changes.
• 16:57
  Emily: And remember, this isn't about doing less or caring less.
• 17:00
  It's about doing things in a way that is sustainable, so you can
• 17:03
  actually make it to June feeling good about your year.
• 17:06
  Heidi: We would love to hear all about how you are handling your
• 17:09
  October reset. Come share with us in the Teacher Approved
• 17:12
  Facebook group.
• 17:14
  Emily: Now for our Teacher Approved Tip of the Week, where
• 17:16
  we share an actionable tip to help you elevate what matters
• 17:19
  and simplify the rest. This week's teacher approved tip is
• 17:22
  to create your October energy trio. Tell us more about it,
• 17:26
  Heidi.
• 17:27
  Heidi: Well, I love this tip. First of all, it sounds like an
• 17:29
  appetizer sampler, which everyone loves those.
• 17:33
  Emily: They'd probably be all pumpkin based if it's October.
• 17:35
  Heidi: But the good thing about this tip is it's creating your
• 17:39
  own personal energy management system, and it only takes about
• 17:43
  10 minutes to set up, but it can make a real difference in how
• 17:46
  sustainable your days feel. Think of it like having a
• 17:49
  toolkit ready to go when you need it most. So here's how it
• 17:52
  works. First, choose one energy gainer, something that actually
• 17:57
  brings life back into your day. We're looking for something that
• 18:00
  genuinely makes you feel more alive or connected to why you
• 18:03
  love teaching.
• 18:04
  Emily: That could be something like reading aloud to your
• 18:06
  students, playing music during transitions, or buying yourself
• 18:10
  fresh flowers once a week. The key is that it has to be
• 18:12
  something that taps into what truly energizes you, not just
• 18:15
  something you think you should enjoy.
• 18:18
  Heidi: After you choose your energy gainer, choose one energy
• 18:21
  saver, something that you're going to streamline or let go
• 18:24
  for now, maybe it's switching from elaborate bulletin board
• 18:27
  displays to simple functional ones. Or maybe it's giving
• 18:31
  yourself permission to use the same math warm up routine for
• 18:33
  two weeks instead of planning something new every day.
• 18:36
  Emily: This might be something you'll do every day all year,
• 18:39
  but if you're struggling, focus on something to help you through
• 18:41
  just the next few weeks. The goal is to free up energy during
• 18:44
  this transition time so you can focus on what matters most. You
• 18:48
  can always add complexity back later, when you're feeling more
• 18:51
  grounded.
• 18:51
  Heidi: And the third part of our energy trio is to choose one
• 18:55
  energy transformer. This is a simple ritual that helps you
• 18:59
  soften transitions throughout your day. This could be a mantra
• 19:02
  you repeat when you unlock your classroom door in the morning,
• 19:04
  or playing a specific song while you tidy up your desk at the end
• 19:07
  of the day.
• 19:08
  Emily: That car sitting that we talked about earlier is a
• 19:10
  perfect example of an energy transformer. Think about a
• 19:14
  transition that's draining for you and create a buffer zone
• 19:17
  that helps you shift from one demand to the next with a little
• 19:20
  more grace.
• 19:21
  Heidi: Write these down where you'll see them, because when
• 19:24
  you're having a tough day, it's really easy to forget that you
• 19:24
  Emily: And here's the beautiful part, once you start paying
• 19:27
  have these tools available. Having them visible reminds you
• 19:30
  that you have choices about how you spend and restore your energy.
• 19:32
  attention to what actually gives you energy versus what drains
• 19:39
  it, you'll get better at making those kinds of choices naturally
• 19:42
  throughout your day.
• 19:43
  Heidi: So here's your challenge. Take a few minutes this week to
• 19:46
  identify your energy trio—one thing that fills your tank, one
• 19:50
  thing you're going to simplify, and one ritual that helps you
• 19:53
  transition more smoothly. Your October self will definitely
• 19:57
  thank you.
• 19:57
  Alright, to wrap up the show. We are sharing what we're giving
• 20:02
  extra credit to this week. Emily, what gets your extra
• 20:06
  credit?
• 20:06
  Emily: I'm giving extra credit to the book Atmosphere by Taylor
• 20:07
  Jenkins Reid. So I really knew very little going into this book
• 20:10
  other than that it was set in the early 1980s space program.
• 20:14
  But if anybody, if you haven't heard anything about this, maybe
• 20:17
  just go into it that way, of just just knowing sort of the
• 20:20
  setting. And it really did blow me away, like I had heard really
• 20:23
  good things about it, but I wasn't sure what I was gonna
• 20:26
  think. But oh yeah, I loved it so much. And of course, it's
• 20:29
  getting tons of buzz. So I will just add my voice to say that
• 20:32
  everyone should add it to their TBR if they haven't.
• 20:36
  Heidi: She writes such unique settings, and they're all so
• 20:39
  varied.
• 20:40
  Emily: Yes, and I feel like I have no interest in tennis, and
• 20:44
  I loved Carrie Soto is back, and I maybe have a little more
• 20:47
  interest in space, but even still, I don't know that it's
• 20:50
  like something I'm super into, but I was completely engrossed
• 20:54
  in the whole thing. And there's so much more to the story than
• 20:57
  just the fact that the main characters are astronauts.
• 21:00
  Well, I'll have to add it to my list. What are you giving us
• 21:04
  credit to this week, Heidi?
• 21:05
  Heidi: Well, I'm also giving extra credit to a book. This is
• 21:07
  the Ornithologist Field Guide to love by India Holton.
• 21:11
  Emily: Ooh.
• 21:13
  Heidi: It sounds like a dry, dusty textbook, but it is not,
• 21:16
  it is very funny. So it's set in, like, 1880s I think London,
• 21:20
  1870s, 1880s, something like that. And it follows two rivals
• 21:24
  to lovers, academics Devin and Beth, who are trying to win the
• 21:30
  birder of the year competition. It's normal Victorian London,
• 21:33
  except they have magical birds, so it's just kind of a weird
• 21:37
  little touch. And so the world of birding in this London is
• 21:42
  cutthroat, to say the least. So they're having all these hijinks
• 21:45
  of people out to sabotage them. And of course, they have to go
• 21:49
  on the road to find this one special bird. And they get to a
• 21:51
  small town and there's only one room left at the inn.
• 21:56
  Emily: I love that trope.
• 21:57
  Heidi: And guess what happens.
• 21:58
  Emily: Do they have to share a bed?
• 22:00
  Heidi: Oh no, there are seven beds.
• 22:02
  Emily: Oh!
• 22:04
  Heidi: So if you think that's funny, you would like this book.
• 22:08
  Emily: I think I'm gonna like it.
• 22:09
  Heidi: It just takes all the little tropes and turns them on
• 22:13
  their head. It's very funny. There was a line where she says,
• 22:16
  like her mind let out a thought she didn't know it was holding.
• 22:21
  So it takes all of the normal things and just puts a funny
• 22:24
  little spin on it. It was very funny.
• 22:25
  Emily: Our romance readers will get those references.
• 22:29
  Heidi: Well, that is it for today's episode. Try out our
• 22:32
  strategies for the October reset, and don't forget our
• 22:35
  teacher approved tip for recharging your energy.
• 22:37
  Emily: We are cheering you on as you transition from planting
• 22:40
  season to tending season. And if you enjoyed this episode, please
• 22:44
  consider giving us a five star rating and review.
• 22:48
  Heidi: We hope you enjoyed this episode of teacher approved. I'm
• 22:52
  Heidi.
• 22:52
  Emily: And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
• 22:56
  or subscribe in your podcast app so that you never miss an
• 22:58
  episode.
• 22:59
  Heidi: You can connect with us and other teachers in the
• 23:01
  Teacher Approved Facebook group. We'll see you here next week.
• 23:05
  Bye for now.
• 23:05
  Emily: Bye.