Latest / Teacher Approved: Elementary Teacher Tips & Strategies / 234. How to Plan Teaching in December So January Feels Easy

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234. How to Plan Teaching in December So January Feels Easy · Teacher Approved: Elementary Teacher Tips & Strategies

• 0:00
  Heidi: This is episode 234 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.
• 0:14
  Emily: And I'm Emily. We're the creators behind Second Story
• 0:17
  Window, where we give research based and teacher approved
• 0:20
  strategies that make teaching less stressful and more
• 0:22
  effective. You can check out the show notes and resources from
• 0:26
  each episode at secondstorywindow.net.
• 0:29
  Heidi: We're so glad you're tuning in today. Let's get to
• 0:31
  the show.
• 0:35
  Emily: Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today's
• 0:38
  episode, we're laying out a plan for how to stay on top of your
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  December essentials and still find time to prep for January,
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  and we're sharing all of our best tips for work packet
• 0:48
  success.
• 0:48
  Heidi: But let's start with a try it tomorrow, where we share
• 0:51
  a quick win that you can try in your classroom right away. So
• 0:54
  Emily, what do we have this week?
• 0:55
  Emily: Tomorrow, invite your students to write a quick thank
• 0:58
  you note. It can be to a classmate, another teacher, a
• 1:02
  school staff member, or even to themselves.
• 1:05
  Heidi: I love that. You can keep it simple. You know, just fold
• 1:08
  up a piece of paper and let them write one or two sentences. The
• 1:12
  act of showing appreciation helps kids slow down, reflect
• 1:15
  and connect with others.
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  Emily: It's such a great way to infuse a little more gratitude
• 1:19
  into the day. And bonus, it only takes two minutes.
• 1:22
  Heidi: If you like this idea or anything else we share here on
• 1:25
  the podcast, would you take a second and give us a five star
• 1:28
  rating? Ratings and reviews are one way that new listeners find
• 1:31
  us, so every one is actually a huge help to us.
• 1:34
  Emily: December in the classroom is a strange mix of joy and
• 1:39
  chaos. On one hand, there's so much to love about this time of
• 1:42
  year, the excitement, the traditions, the sparkle in the
• 1:45
  kids eyes. Being a teacher in December can be so much fun.
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  Heidi: But on the other hand, you're juggling performances,
• 1:53
  assemblies, half days, absences, and a level of collective energy
• 1:57
  that makes you wonder if someone filled the water fountain with
• 1:59
  Red Bull.
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  Emily: In the past, maybe you've tried white knuckling your way
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  through lessons while half the class is absent and the other
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  half is bouncing off the walls, or maybe you just gave up
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  entirely.
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  Heidi: But there is a smarter way to approach December, one
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  that keeps students engaged, protects your sanity and
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  actually set you up for an easier January.
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  Emily: That's what we're talking about today, how to plan content
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  that works with the realities of teaching children in December.
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  Heidi: So if you joined us last week, you'll remember that we
• 2:28
  shared the smooth December framework to help you get ready
• 2:31
  for January. Instead of trying to prep it all, focus on four
• 2:34
  specific things: your pockets of prep, your classroom reset plan,
• 2:38
  your student engagement hook, and your teacher comfort plan.
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  Emily: If you missed that episode, definitely go back and
• 2:43
  check it out, because it lays the groundwork for what we'll be
• 2:46
  diving into today. Now that you've identified your pockets
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  of prep, we'll make a plan for using them to tackle your
• 2:52
  December tasks.
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  Heidi: And planning December starts with an important
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  decision. When are you going to stop teaching new content? We
• 3:01
  call this, cleverly enough, your stop new content date, and it's
• 3:06
  basically what it sounds like. It's the last day that you'll
• 3:09
  introduce anything new to your students before winter break.
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  Emily: Despite what your pacing guide may say, at some point in
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  December, teaching new content really just stops being
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  productive because kids are too distracted and the absences are
• 3:21
  too frequent.
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  Heidi: And then you end up reteaching everything in January
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  anyway, which means you aren't actually saving time by pushing
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  through. You're just creating more work for yourself.
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  Emily: So how do you figure out when that stopping point should
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  be? A good rule of thumb is to plan to stop teaching new
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  content about two to four school days before your winter break
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  starts.
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  Heidi: Now to figure out your specific day, ask yourself a few
• 3:43
  questions. First, what is your last full week of school? That's
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  probably when you want to wrap up any new units.
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  Emily: Second, when do interruptions start piling up?
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  If you've got concerts, assemblies or parties scheduled,
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  those are likely to eat up a lot of your instructional time.
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  Heidi: And third, which units absolutely must be finished
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  before break? You might have to teach double math lessons for a
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  day or two so that you're not starting January already behind,
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  but that is doable.
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  Emily: So take a look at what has to happen before the end of
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  the month, and work backwards from there. Then choose your
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  official stop teaching new content date and write it in
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  your planner. Circle it and make it official.
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  Heidi: That's the finish line. Everything before that date,
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  you're covering your regular content. Everything after that
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  date, you are in a different mode.
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  Emily: And that shift is where the magic happens, because once
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  you're past that date, your goal isn't to teach new material,
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  it's to reinforce, review, and reset.
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  Heidi: This time of year, your schedule is as full of
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  interruptions as Swiss cheese is full of holes, and that's why we
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  call these Swiss cheese weeks.
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  Emily: We did have a cute name for that. Those are the weeks
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  where there's a regular day of school planned, but the day is
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  anything but regular.
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  Heidi: And you know that makes planning really tricky. You
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  can't pretend it's business as usual, but you also can't just
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  throw everything out the window.
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  Emily: Because you just aren't going to have the same amount of
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  instructional time that you normally do, you need a clear
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  picture of what's essential. Take a look at your pacing
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  guide, your scope and sequence, and anything else that informs
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  your planning. What content absolutely has to be covered
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  before you start winter break?
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  Heidi: These are your must do's. This is what has to be done
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  before you hit your stop new content date. When time gets
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  short or your kids are distracted, focus on the must
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  do's and be flexible with everything else. Knowing what
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  you absolutely have to cover helps you recognize where you
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  can make a cut without getting completely behind.
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  Emily: Of course, no matter how well you plan, the day can still
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  go off the rails if student behavior does too. So next week
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  we will talk about how to keep expectations alive and your
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  classroom running smoothly all the way to break.
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  Heidi: Okay, are you with us so far? You have now identified
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  your stop new content date, you've got a strategy for
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  covering essential content. And now the big question, what do
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  you actually do during those last few days before break if
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  you're not going to teach any new content?
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  Emily: So those days are for review, reflection, and reset.
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  Plan as many independent activities as your students can
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  handle, and look for ways to limit how much time you have to
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  spend teaching whole group or small group lessons.
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  Heidi: Obviously, this is not a long term plan. Your students do
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  need lessons, but two days before a break, is another math
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  lesson really gonna make the difference in their achievement
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  this year?
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  Emily: No, I think not. In fact, it may make things harder,
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  because your class will be checked out, and trying to force
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  them to focus will lead to resistance and behavior problems
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  and resentment and reteaching later, all the stuff they didn't
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  absorb. So adopt a Plan B schedule and make everyone's
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  life happier.
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  Heidi: Now, to be clear, this is not about time filler. You're
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  not wasting learning opportunities. You're just
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  restructuring how that learning happens. Think review
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  worksheets, games, digital practice or educational videos.
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  This is the time to revisit everything that you have covered
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  in the last four months.
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  Emily: One of my favorite meaningful time fillers was
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  setting up stations and having kids rotate through all the math
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  games that they had learned this year. It got kids moving, it
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  gave them a chance to review, and I got to sneak in a little
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  pocket of prep for my own tasks.
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  Heidi: You can also use these post new content days to refresh
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  procedures. By December, some of your routines have probably
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  gotten a little sloppy. Tighten these up now so that you can hit
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  the ground running when you return in January.
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  Emily: Also consider if you want to reset your class jobs,
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  reorganize your classroom library, or have kids clean out
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  their desks, because future you will be so grateful to walk into
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  a tidy, organized classroom in January.
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  Heidi: And you know, our favorite thing is helping out a
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  future you. And in your planning, don't forget some
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  joyful structure. These are activities that feel festive and
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  special, but they are still structured and calm. Work
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  packets are one of our favorite forms of joyful structure, and
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  we will talk about those in our teacher approved tip, but also
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  consider seasonal read alouds, kindness challenges or simple
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  art projects.
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  Emily: The goal is to sprinkle in some seasonal spark while
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  still keeping the structure high and preventing overwhelm.
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  Heidi: Okay, let's pull everything together so you know
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  exactly what to do next. Step one, identify your stop, new
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  content date and put it on the calendar. That's your finish
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  line. Everything before that date is new learning. Everything
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  after that date is for review, reflection, and reset.
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  Emily: Step two, figure out your December must do's. These are
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  the lessons and assessments you absolutely need to finish before
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  that date.
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  Heidi: Inside the December teacher survival kit, there are
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  two pages to help you with this. One is the December content to
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  cover page, and that's where you list all of the lessons,
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  activities and assessments that you would like to teach. And
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  then, based on that list, you create your must do's and could
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  do's page.
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  Emily: That step alone is a game changer, because it helps you
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  see what really matters and what can wait until January.
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  Heidi: Step three is to make a list of meaningful activities
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  for those post content days. Think review, projects, or calm
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  seasonal activities that your students can do independently.
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  And there's a page for this in the survival kit too. It's
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  organized by categories like review, learning games and
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  videos, so that you can gather all of your ideas in one place.
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  Emily: In these last few days before the break, plan as many
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  independent activities as your students can handle. This is how
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  you get ahead without adding to your stress. While your students
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  are busy doing their independent work, you've created a little
• 9:28
  pocket of prep time where you can tackle your independent
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  work, meaning all the tasks it takes to wrap up December and
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  plan the start of January.
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  Heidi: Step four is to make a master list of all of the tasks
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  needed to plan and prepare your December content, your
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  meaningful time fillers, and the first few days back in January.
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  The list will be long, but don't worry, our next step is our
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  secret weapon. Step five is to use your pockets of prep
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  planner.
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  Emily: This is the key to the whole system, and here's why.
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  The pockets of prep planner helps you match every task to
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  your situation. It's organized around where you are working:
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  digital tasks, classroom tasks, workroom tasks, and by how much
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  time and energy you have.
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  Heidi: Now, obviously you could do this with just a piece of
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  paper if you don't have the survival kit, but the survival
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  kit has cool drop down menus so you can quickly tag each task
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  based on priority and the effort that it requires to complete.
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  Emily: Yeah, it's a pain to fill it out, but this sheet is the
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  most teacher approved of all our teacher approved tips. We cannot
• 10:32
  overstate how helpful this is. Let's say your students are
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  watching a short video. You've got 15 minutes, you're in your
• 10:38
  classroom and you're running on low energy. You open your list
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  and see create January welcome slides. Boom, that's the perfect
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  15 minute low energy classroom based task for that moment.
• 10:48
  Heidi: Without that list, you're going to be spending your
• 10:50
  limited pocket of prep thinking, oh, what should I do now? But
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  this way, you can just look at your list. You can see exactly
• 10:57
  what fits the moment. No decision fatigue, no wasted
• 11:00
  minutes and no wondering what's important. You just pick, do,
• 11:03
  and move on.
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  Emily: And truly, those small moments add up. A 10 minute
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  pocket here, a 15 minute pocket there, that's how you're going
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  to make real progress without working nights or weekends or
• 11:13
  winter break.
• 11:14
  Heidi: Yes. So let's recap. Step one, pick your stop new content
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  date. Step two, decide your December must do's. Step three,
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  plan meaningful time fillers. Step four, make your December to
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  do list. Step five, plug those tasks into your pockets of prep
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  planner.
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  Emily: Follow these steps and you will walk out in December
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  knowing that everything for January is ready to go, and that
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  winter break actually gets to be a stress free break.
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  Heidi: So now you've got a full plan for how to get through
• 11:45
  December with your sanity intact. But before we wrap up,
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  we want to leave you with one final reminder. The reason that
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  all of this matters.
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  Emily: This isn't just about checklists and planners. It's
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  about protecting your future self. As you're planning your
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  December, keep in mind what future you needs. What would
• 12:02
  make walking into your classroom in January feel calm instead of
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  chaotic?
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  Heidi: Maybe it's having a stack of January materials already
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  copied and waiting in that January ready bin that you
• 12:12
  prepared last week. Maybe it's making sure all of the December
• 12:15
  decorations are taken down before you leave. Or maybe it's
• 12:18
  clearing the stack of papers on your counter so your room feels
• 12:20
  fresh and organized.
• 12:22
  Emily: Use those last few days strategically. While kids are
• 12:25
  working on their goal setting activity, you're gathering books
• 12:27
  for your next read aloud. While they're doing a work packet,
• 12:30
  you're setting up your January math slides.
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  Heidi: Small bits of prep now save you so much stress later.
• 12:36
  Future You deserves to walk into January feeling ready, not
• 12:39
  behind.
• 12:40
  Emily: We'd love to hear how you're preparing for teaching in
• 12:43
  December. Come join the conversation in our Teacher
• 12:45
  Approved Facebook group.
• 12:47
  Now for our Teacher Approved Tip of the Week, where we share an
• 12:50
  actionable tip to help you elevate what matters and
• 12:53
  simplify the rest. This week's teacher approved tip is prepare
• 12:56
  some work packets. Tell us about it, Heidi.
• 12:59
  Heidi: A work packet is exactly what it sounds like, a
• 13:02
  collection of worksheets stapled together, but the magic is in
• 13:06
  how you put it together and how you present it to your class.
• 13:10
  Emily: And look, I can hear some eye rolls out there.
• 13:12
  Heidi: That's a skill.
• 13:14
  Emily: This is our unpopular opinion. Work packets are not
• 13:18
  all wrong, and they may sound like boring, busy work. But hear
• 13:21
  us out, because when you do them right, kids genuinely love them.
• 13:25
  Heidi: And we're not exaggerating, they do get
• 13:27
  excited.
• 13:27
  Emily: Yes.
• 13:28
  Heidi: So let's start with what goes in a work packet. The focus
• 13:32
  should be on reviewing academic content, but you want to
• 13:35
  sprinkle in a few just for fun pages to keep the kids engaged.
• 13:40
  A packet can be any size, but we have found that 12 page packets
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  are really ideal. So you would maybe have four pages of festive
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  math review, four pages of language arts review and four
• 13:50
  pages of fun.
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  Emily: That amount of work easily keeps students busy for
• 13:54
  90 minutes to two hours. But, and this is the important part,
• 13:58
  don't try to do it all in one sitting. The first work session
• 14:01
  can be longer because the interest is really high. So you
• 14:04
  could maybe do 30 to 40 minutes in one go. But after that, 20
• 14:08
  minute stretches are about as long as kids can manage before
• 14:10
  they need a break.
• 14:11
  Heidi: And the longer you're doing a packet, you might need
• 14:13
  to, like, make those stretches a little bit shorter.
• 14:15
  Emily: Yeah.
• 14:16
  Heidi: So here's how this might look in your day. After your
• 14:19
  morning routine, you introduce the work packet, and you give
• 14:21
  kids 30 or 35 minutes to work on it, and then you know, you take
• 14:25
  a break for recess.
• 14:26
  Emily: When they come back, you could do another 15 minutes of
• 14:29
  work. And then you do something different, a video, a read
• 14:31
  aloud, a movement break, and then later in the day, you give
• 14:35
  them another 20 minutes to keep working on their packets.
• 14:38
  Heidi: Now let's talk about how to make your work packet feel
• 14:40
  special instead of like a punishment. First try organizing
• 14:44
  it around a theme. It could be something as broad as winter or
• 14:47
  December, or something more specific, like gingerbread or
• 14:50
  penguins.
• 14:51
  Emily: The content on each page doesn't have to be about the
• 14:54
  theme. You could have a page of two digit subtraction practice,
• 14:57
  but if there's a snowman graphic on the page, it feels festive
• 15:00
  and fun.
• 15:01
  Heidi: Yeah, clip art makes it all exciting. Besides giving it
• 15:04
  a theme, mix up the content. Alternate between math, language
• 15:08
  arts and fun pages so that it doesn't feel like a workbook.
• 15:11
  Emily: And third, leverage the power of choice. When you
• 15:14
  introduce the packet to your class, make a big deal about
• 15:16
  this. You get to decide what order you work in. You can start
• 15:19
  wherever you want and do the pages in any order.
• 15:22
  Heidi: Kids feel so much more invested when they have control
• 15:25
  over their work. That simple choice transforms this whole
• 15:29
  experience.
• 15:30
  Emily: Now, if there is a specific page you need everyone
• 15:32
  to complete, like, maybe you want to use one page for a
• 15:35
  grade, you can include that in the directions, like everyone
• 15:38
  needs to do the multiplication practice on page three. But
• 15:41
  after that, you can do the pages in any order.
• 15:44
  Heidi: And here is our copy saving tip. Reduce your master
• 15:47
  pages to 50% and then copy two activities onto one page. Now,
• 15:53
  if you run those copies double sided, you can fit four
• 15:56
  activities onto a single sheet of paper.
• 15:58
  Emily: And obviously that does reduce the amount of room for
• 16:01
  writing, and we've done this successfully with students as
• 16:04
  young as second grade, but if you teach first grade or
• 16:06
  kindergarten, you might want to test out the reduced page size
• 16:09
  first. In second grade, I feel like some of them enjoy the
• 16:13
  challenge of having to write in these tiny little spaces.
• 16:17
  Heidi: The beauty of work packets is that they are
• 16:19
  engaging for students, and they give you time to work. While
• 16:23
  your class is quietly reviewing two digit addition and solving
• 16:26
  winter themed word searches, you can be preparing materials for
• 16:30
  January, organizing your classroom and tackling anything
• 16:33
  else on that pockets of prep list.
• 16:35
  Emily: It's a total win win. Students are doing meaningful
• 16:38
  review work, and you're getting ahead instead of falling behind.
• 16:41
  So if you're looking for a simple, low stress way to fill
• 16:44
  some of that post content time in December, give work packets a
• 16:45
  try. Your students might surprise you with how much they
• 16:45
  enjoy them.
• 16:45
  To wrap up the show, we're sharing what we're giving extra
• 16:47
  credit to this week. Emily, what get your extra credit?
• 16:52
  I'm giving extra credit to the coconut milk bath soak from
• 16:59
  Herbivore.
• 16:59
  Heidi: Okay.
• 17:00
  Emily: Listen, this stuff is not cheap. In fact, I've had two
• 17:04
  jars of this for years that I've been hoarding because it's too
• 17:07
  special. I didn't want to just use it on any old bath. But I
• 17:10
  finally decided that was stupid, because they were literally
• 17:12
  getting dusty. I'm like, I'm going to use them. I'm just
• 17:16
  going to use them. And then I figured I'd use it up, and then
• 17:18
  forget all about it. But the bad news is that it actually is
• 17:21
  amazing, and now I want to buy more. But it smells incredible
• 17:26
  and it makes your skin feel so soft. So put this on a splurge
• 17:29
  list for yourself, or a really nice gift for a bath loving
• 17:33
  friend. And I just saw it's on a lightning deal on Amazon, so I'm
• 17:36
  gonna have to go grab a couple more jars.
• 17:38
  Heidi: Yeah, that's a good idea. And think about how you might
• 17:40
  want to pamper yourself during winter break. Everyone deserves
• 17:44
  a long, luxurious bath, so might want to grab those.
• 17:47
  Emily: That's why I'm sharing it right now. I figured it would be
• 17:49
  good for self care or a really good gift idea.
• 17:51
  Heidi: Perfect.
• 17:52
  Emily: Check it out. Link's in the show notes. What are you
• 17:54
  giving extra credit to, Heidi?
• 17:56
  Heidi: I guess this is self care, but it's much less
• 17:58
  exciting. I'm giving extra credit to the Nexcare max hold
• 18:03
  waterproof bandages.
• 18:05
  Emily: Ooh, la, la.
• 18:05
  Heidi: And that's a mouthful to say. I will put a link to them
• 18:09
  in the show notes. But if you are at the store and you're
• 18:12
  looking at the all of the bandages, these ones have black
• 18:15
  writing on the front of the box that says max hold. And they
• 18:18
  definitely live up to the name. It says they hold for up to 48
• 18:22
  hours, but literally, after 48 hours, I had to get out my
• 18:26
  sharpest little craft scissors and do Band Aid surgery to get
• 18:29
  it off. Like I just couldn't peel up any of the edges. They
• 18:32
  were too secure. But the thing is, this hasn't given me any
• 18:35
  kind of allergic reaction that I normally get from wearing band
• 18:38
  aids for a long time. And I actually did try switching over
• 18:41
  to regular band aids, and by the end of the day, half my leg was
• 18:43
  covered in hives, so.
• 18:44
  Emily: It's the worst.
• 18:45
  Heidi: If you have a need for waterproof band aids, definitely
• 18:48
  grab a box of bees. I have been very impressed.
• 18:51
  Emily: Well, I'll have to add them to the stash.
• 18:55
  Heidi: That is it for today's episode. Figure out your stop
• 18:58
  new content date and work backwards from there. You have
• 19:01
  got this.
• 19:04
  We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm Heidi.
• 19:08
  Emily: And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
• 19:11
  or subscribe in your podcast app so that you never miss an
• 19:14
  episode.
• 19:15
  Heidi: You can connect with us and other teachers in the
• 19:17
  Teacher Approved Facebook group. We'll see you here next week.
• 19:20
  Bye for now.
• 19:21
  Emily: Bye.