Latest / Teacher Approved: Elementary Teacher Tips & Strategies / 244. The Teacher-Approved Way to Leave School Earlier and Get Back Your Evenings

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244. The Teacher-Approved Way to Leave School Earlier and Get Back Your Evenings · Teacher Approved: Elementary Teacher Tips & Strategies

0:01
Heidi: This is episode 244 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 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.
0:36
Emily: Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today's
0:39
episode, we are talking about the art of leaving school at
0:42
school, how to actually end your work day with intention so you
0:46
can go home and have a life. And we're sharing a teacher approved
0:49
tip for protecting your personal time each week.
0:53
Heidi: But first, let's start with a try it tomorrow, where we
0:55
share a quick win that you can try right away. So Emily, what
0:57
do we have for this week?
0:59
Emily: This week, try setting up an errand basket by your
1:01
classroom door. So find a basket or a tray or a box, who cares,
1:05
and put it somewhere near your door if you have the space. And
1:09
then anytime you have something that needs to go to another part
1:12
of the building, you can drop it there. So if you need to return
1:15
a book to the library, put it in the basket. If you borrowed some
1:18
math manipulatives from the teacher down the hall, into the
1:21
basket they go.
1:23
Heidi: I love this. It gives all of those random items a
1:26
designated home so they're not getting lost in the clutter of
1:29
your room or adding to the clutter of your room. And then
1:32
you can grab everything when you are headed in that direction
1:35
anyway, instead of having to make a bunch of separate trips.
1:38
Emily: Yes, so smart. You can even ask a student to add things
1:41
to the basket for you so it's out of your hair as soon as
1:44
you're done with it. And it's really a small thing, but it
1:46
keeps those little tasks from piling up and eating into your
1:49
time, and, you know, helps cut down on the clutter in your
1:51
room.
1:52
Heidi: If you like this idea, or anything else that we share here
1:55
on the podcast, would you take a second and give us a five star
1:58
rating? Ratings and reviews are one way that new listeners find
2:01
us, so every single one really is a huge help.
2:04
Emily: All right, let's talk about something that so many
2:06
teachers struggle with, that moment at the end of this school
2:09
day when the kids leave and you look around your classroom, and
2:12
you think, Okay, now what?
2:14
Heidi: And then somehow, it's 5:30 and you're still there, or
2:18
you finally leave, but you've got a bag full of papers and a
2:21
mental to do list that follows you all the way home.
2:24
Emily: Yeah, it's like, you know that scene in A Christmas Story?
2:27
And maybe if you haven't watched A Christmas Story as much as we
2:30
have watched A Christmas Story over the years, this won't
2:32
immediately come to mind. But if you too watch this a lot at
2:36
Christmas time, like our family, you can picture this. It's when
2:38
the family's sitting down to dinner and Ralphie's mom is
2:41
like, finally getting ready to take a big bite of food. And
2:44
then the dad asks for more, like, cabbage, wasn't it?
2:47
Heidi: Yes, I think it was cabbage.
2:48
Emily: And so she gets up and takes care of that, and then she
2:51
sits down again, and Ralphie asked for more potatoes. And
2:54
grown up Ralphie narrates, "My mother had not had a hot meal
2:58
for herself in 15 years."
3:01
Heidi: Yes, yes, that is exactly what trying to leave school
3:04
feels like. And you know, you can always count on us to have
3:08
the most current cultural references.
3:10
Emily: I mean, A Christmas Story is timeless, Heidi. But you do
3:15
know how it goes. You tell yourself, I'm gonna leave at
3:18
four o'clock today. And then as you're walking out the door, you
3:20
notice the class library books are a mess, so you stop to fix
3:23
them, and that'll be quick, right? And then when that's
3:26
taken care of, and you go to leave again, a co-worker stops
3:29
by, needs to borrow something, and by the time everything gets
3:32
handled and all your distractions, it's 4:30.
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Heidi: And just like Ralphie's mom, you are making sure
3:38
everyone has what they need, but at a huge personal cost.
3:43
Emily: Exactly. But here's the thing about that scene, if
3:45
Ralphie's mom had just put the food on the table so everyone
3:48
could serve themselves, it would have been a completely different
3:51
story, and that's what we're talking about today. If you can
3:54
create a system that supports efficient planning, you can
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leave school at a reasonable hour.
3:59
Heidi: I think that every time I watch that scene, like, woman
4:02
just put the pot on the table. You know, because teaching work
4:06
does not have a natural stopping point, like a lot of jobs do,
4:09
there's no finished, right? There's just, I guess I'm gonna
4:12
go home now. And if you don't decide when your work day ends,
4:16
it will not end on its own.
4:18
Emily: And we do know this from experience, because neither one
4:20
of us was good at this when we were teaching. We had no system
4:24
for knowing what was actually a priority. We just stayed until
4:27
we were too tired to function, because there wasn't a way to
4:30
know if we were ever, like, quote unquote, done with work,
4:34
because you'll never be done with work.
4:36
Heidi: Yeah, and I, I, honestly, I had co-workers who literally
4:40
worked through the night.
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Emily: Oh gosh.
4:43
Heidi: More than once, and multiple co-workers, like, more
4:47
than 24 hours straight in the building.
4:49
Emily: Oh my gosh. And I was gonna say that I had co-workers
4:51
that were leaving the minute that they could possibly leave
4:54
every single day. And I was thinking, Man, how do you go to
4:57
that? So I guess we've got both extremes. But let's see if we
5:03
can figure out how to be somewhere in the middle, because
5:06
it's so easy to let the work expand to fill whatever time you
5:09
give it.
5:10
Heidi: Yeah, and teaching work is just notorious for that.
5:14
Emily: Yeah, and remember how we were gonna, we set up a time
5:17
that we were gonna go after school to the gym, to our ladies
5:22
gym.
5:23
Heidi: We don't need to get into that.
5:28
Emily: Yeah, we are getting into that. Heidi and I decided that
5:32
we were going to meet at the gym after work a few days a week,
5:35
and that way we could hold each other accountable and get some
5:37
exercise. We could catch up while we're working out. It was
5:40
gonna be such a good plan.
5:41
Heidi: Well, it was a great plan in theory.
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Emily: Yeah, because I would get there and I'd be waiting.
5:47
Eventually, I'd be like, girl, are you coming? And you'd be
5:50
like, Yeah, I'm gonna leave in just five minutes. I just have
5:53
to finish this one thing!
5:55
Heidi: Because I hadn't even left by that point.
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Emily: Oh, I know.
6:00
Heidi: But in my defense, like it was just one more thing, and
6:03
then, you know, the one thing turned into another thing, and
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I'd look up and Emily had been sitting there for like, 20
6:08
minutes. I'm really sorry.
6:09
Emily: I'm sure I was an absolute delight about it too.
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Heidi: And it's not like we had the smartphone. So it's not like
6:15
she could have been reading Instagram or something.
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Emily: Nope. But come on, that just one more thing trap is so
6:22
real, and that's exactly why having a system matters, not
6:25
because you're bad at time management, although maybe Heidi
6:28
is, but because teaching will always ask for more. There's
6:32
always one more thing, so you have to be the one who decides
6:35
when enough is enough.
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Heidi: Which is what we are calling a shutdown ritual. We
6:40
are always telling teachers to use routines with their
6:42
students, because routines reduce decision fatigue and they
6:45
help things run so smoothly. But often we skip this step for
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ourselves.
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Emily: Yeah. So today we're going to walk you through a step
6:52
by step process for closing out your school day so you can
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actually leave, and not just physically leave, but mentally
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leave, too. So we've got six steps because, gosh, we love a
7:01
step, a system with steps, so good, and we're going to break
7:05
each one down for you.
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Heidi: Well, let's dive in with step one, which is to close the
7:10
school day in a way that sets you up for success. And this
7:13
starts before the kids even walk out the door. You know that 10
7:17
to 15 minutes at the end of the day when the kids are packing
7:19
up, that is your time too. You can't leave school on time if
7:23
you haven't packed up already.
7:25
Emily: So instead of just standing there monitoring and
7:27
waiting, try to use that time strategically. Assign class jobs
7:31
for anything that students can manage. If a kid can sharpen
7:34
pencils, change over the calendar, or reset the
7:36
attendance board, let them do it. Your time should be spent
7:39
doing the things only you can do.
7:42
Heidi: And make sure your students know your expectations
7:45
for how the room should look before they leave. If you're
7:48
coming in after dismissal, and then you have to spend 20
7:51
minutes cleaning up after them, that's a problem we can fix.
7:55
Emily: While the kids are tidying up, you can be tidying
7:57
your desk, putting away any resources you had out, closing
8:00
computer tabs you don't need anymore. It would be tricky to
8:03
do anything more complicated than a few light tasks, but
8:06
getting even one or two things done before the bell rings helps
8:10
you start your planning time with positive momentum.
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Heidi: And really a bit of momentum can make all the
8:15
difference in how your after school prep goes. If it helps,
8:18
you could create a class end of day checklist, things like
8:22
blinds down, projector off, desks clear, library neat, all
8:25
of that. When everyone has a clear picture of what's
8:27
expected, you can hold the kids accountable to those standards.
8:32
Emily: All right, step two, once the kids leave, you need what
8:34
we're calling a reset, a way to switch modes on purpose.
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Heidi: This is something most teachers skip, and it costs
8:41
them. When you're in teacher mode, you are on. You know how
8:45
it is. You're busy and responding to whatever's
8:48
happening in the room. You're making 1000 tiny decisions every
8:51
minute. Planning mode, though, is completely different. It's
8:55
reflective, focused, quieter, and it's really hard to just
8:59
flip a switch between them.
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Emily: Oh yeah. If you try to jump straight from one to the
9:03
other, your brain is very likely still going to be buzzing from
9:06
the day, and that's when it becomes really tempting to grab
9:09
your phone and scroll for a few minutes to decompress.
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Heidi: It's a trap. Don't do it, because that is how you end up
9:16
losing 20 or 30 minutes of your after school time before you've
9:20
even started working, then you're behind before you begin,
9:24
which makes everything harder.
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Emily: And we're not going to shame anybody for needing to
9:28
scroll your phone, but if you focus now, you can go home and
9:31
scroll your phone on your couch. So let's pivot. Okay, try giving
9:35
yourself a real reset, something that helps your nervous system
9:38
transition without sucking you into a time vortex. This could
9:42
be listening to two or three calming songs with your eyes
9:45
closed, or taking a couple laps around the building to get your
9:48
blood moving and let the stress of the day go.
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Heidi: You could also try answering a couple reflection
9:54
questions, something like, what went well today? What actually
9:57
needs my attention now? You know the key is just to keep it
10:00
simple, this is a bridge, not another task you have to keep up
10:03
with. Think of it like putting the cabbage on the table. It's
10:08
how you take care of yourself so you can actually focus when it's
10:11
time to work.
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Emily: And it's probably easiest to pick one ritual to start
10:15
with, but you may find you need different resets on different
10:17
days. If you're extra tired or carrying a lot of stress, the
10:21
walk might be perfect. If you're feeling scattered, the breathing
10:24
and music might be better. Try keeping a little list in your
10:27
desk so you don't have to think about it in the moment.
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Heidi: All right. Step three. Once you've reset, it's time for
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what we are calling the triage question. And it's it's just one
10:38
question, what must be done today so students will be okay
10:42
tomorrow? Usually, this is the things like making copies,
10:45
prepping materials, maybe entering a critical grade, or
10:48
writing an important note. Just stick to the absolute essentials
10:52
to start with.
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Emily: If it doesn't affect tomorrow, it doesn't actually
10:55
have to happen today. Hopefully you have some time and energy
10:58
left after handling the essentials. But if you don't, at
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least you can leave knowing tomorrow is covered.
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Heidi: Which brings us to step four, the power block. This is
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where any extra time gets used intentionally.
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Emily: So your power block is just going to be a single focus
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work session where you tackle one category of task instead of
11:17
a little of this and a little of that, and trying to multitask a
11:20
bunch of things at once, which is how I usually work, and then
11:23
I'm like, gosh, I didn't get anything done.
11:25
Heidi: I know that feeling. And we talked about this in last
11:28
week's episode, Episode 243, about protecting your planning
11:32
time. We called it choosing your lane. You don't have time or
11:35
energy to be hopping all over the road. Pick one lane and stay
11:38
in it.
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Emily: So your power block might be grading or planning or
11:43
organizing and prepping, but avoid doing all three in one go
11:46
if you can. Switching between task types drains your energy
11:50
and leaves you feeling like, I worked so hard, but nothing's
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done.
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Heidi: You might even want to assign one type of task to each
11:57
day of the week. I know this is a really common hack for you
12:00
know, business people. Mondays are for making copies. Tuesdays
12:04
are catching up on grading. On Fridays, you plan out the next
12:07
week, just whatever makes sense with your schedule.
12:09
Emily: And we talked about this last week, about how you could
12:11
do the same kind of thing with your planning time during the
12:15
day, and so it could be the same task after school to just
12:19
continue whatever you didn't get done during planning time, or
12:21
maybe you want it to be different, but that is a great
12:23
strategy to make sure you know what you want to focus on every
12:26
day. And if you have regular after school meetings like
12:29
Heidi's school did faculty meetings on Mondays and
12:31
collaboration on Wednesdays, you might need an adjusted routine
12:35
for those days.
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Heidi: Yeah, that schedule really made things tricky,
12:39
especially when I had after school bus duty. Some days it
12:42
could be like 30 minutes. So you might need to get creative with
12:45
your plans. On meeting days, maybe you only focus on what
12:49
absolutely has to be ready for tomorrow, and then you go home.
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On other days, you build in extra time to make up for it.
12:55
Emily: It will likely take some experimenting to find a system
12:58
that works, but the time you spend figuring it out will pay
13:01
off.
13:02
Heidi: To make the most of your power block, before you start
13:04
decide what "done" looks like. It might help to finish the
13:07
sentence, At the end of this block, I want blank to be
13:11
finished.
13:12
Emily: That needs to be a specific, measurable task, not
13:15
"catch up on grading," because that's so vague, doesn't give
13:18
you a clear endpoint. Something specific, like grades entered
13:22
for one subject, or slides done for this week's math lessons.
13:26
That helps you know exactly what needs to get done during this
13:29
time, and when you're done.
13:30
Heidi: Yes, because if you don't know what finished looks like,
13:33
you'll just keep working until you run out of steam, and then
13:36
it'll be tomorrow morning.
13:38
Emily: Okay, step five is the hard stop. This one sounds
13:41
simple, but if you've tried it, you know, it can actually be
13:43
really hard to maintain. Definitely the hardest for me.
13:46
Heidi: Yeah, we know how it is.
13:49
Emily: I do know.
13:51
Heidi: This is where you set a non negotiable leaving time, and
13:55
when that time comes, you leave. Theoretically. Yes, absolutely
13:58
do it, set an alarm if you need to, you know, set it on your
14:02
phone.
14:03
Emily: And when the alarm goes off, give yourself like, five
14:05
minutes to wind down. So save your work, close your tabs, turn
14:09
off your computer, pick up your bag and then walk out the door.
14:12
Heidi: And if you find yourself thinking, Ah, just five more
14:14
minutes, that's a red flag. That five minutes turns into 15,
14:18
which turns into 30. Ask Emily how many times she waited for me
14:21
at the gym.
14:21
Emily: I don't even want to talk about it. I'm still mad. It's
14:23
been a decade, at least. Something that might help with
14:28
this is having a permission phrase you can tell yourself,
14:30
something like, I've done what I can with the time and energy I
14:32
had today, and that's enough.
14:34
Heidi: Because, honestly, it is enough. You showed up, you did
14:37
the work, you're ready for tomorrow, so you're allowed to
14:40
stop.
14:41
Emily: Which brings us to our final step, which is step six,
14:44
the closure ritual. That's what I call closure. Oh, no, more
14:52
really recent cultural references! For some of you
14:57
young'uns listening, that's from a TV show called Friends. Okay,
15:03
so the closure ritual, this is about signaling to your brain
15:07
that the day is actually done. Before you leave, make sure your
15:10
room is reset for the morning. Maybe write an intention for
15:13
tomorrow or the top three tasks that you want to get done in the
15:16
morning. And then this part is important, leave the list at
15:19
school. Do not carry it out with you.
15:23
Heidi: Physical actions can also help signal a clear shift in
15:25
your energy. Turn off the computer, turn off the lights,
15:28
close the door. This helps your brain know that work time is now
15:32
over.
15:32
Emily: And then think about what happens when you get home.
15:34
What's your transition ritual for closing the door in school
15:37
and opening the door to the rest of your life? This could be
15:41
taking a walk, doing some yoga, dancing to your favorite song,
15:45
playing with your kids, taking a hot shower, doing a puzzle. I'm
15:48
only laughing because I know realistically that a lot of
15:51
these are going to be hard to do when you get home and you have
15:54
to do your real life, but if you can, have something that you're
15:57
going to do right away that will help you release the stress of
16:00
the day and reconnect with another part of your life, it
16:03
will make that transition so much easier.
16:05
Heidi: Yeah, and it doesn't have to be a 30 minute thing. It can
16:07
be a 10 minute thing, but it just helps your nervous system
16:10
reset and helps you engage with the life that's in front of you,
16:14
instead of having your brain halfway back in your classroom.
16:16
Emily: Right.
16:17
Heidi: Because when your brain knows the work is contained and
16:20
tomorrow is handled, it can just actually relax.
16:23
Emily: And then, if you find yourself thinking about school
16:25
stuff anyway, just open the Notes app on your phone and jot
16:27
it down, or send yourself an email reminder. That's my go to.
16:31
And then your brain knows that that thought is captured
16:34
somewhere, and so you don't need to think about it anymore.
16:37
Heidi: All right, Emily, give us a quick recap of our six steps
16:40
for a shutdown routine.
16:42
Emily: Step one, close the day while students are still there,
16:45
use that pack up time to get yourself ready too. Step two,
16:48
reset your nervous system before you start working. Give yourself
16:52
a real transition that is not your phone. Step three, answer
16:56
the triage question, what must be done so that students are
17:00
okay tomorrow? Step four, use your power block for one
17:03
category of task only. Decide what done looks like before you
17:07
start. Step five, set a hard stop. When it's time to leave,
17:11
leave. And step six, close the day with a ritual. Reset your
17:15
room, write tomorrow's tasks and create a transition for when you
17:18
get home.
17:20
Heidi: If you want some help putting this together, remember
17:22
that the February teacher survival kit has a page that
17:25
walks you through these steps. It gives you space to plan out
17:27
your routine, track what's working, and adjust as you go.
17:30
Emily: And if you're someone who wants this kind of targeted
17:33
monthly support all year long, that's exactly what we do in the
17:36
Teacher Approved club. Each month we focus on a specific
17:39
shift that matches where you are in the school year. It's like
17:42
having a guide who knows what's coming and is there to help you
17:44
prepare for it.
17:46
Heidi: And we would love to hear your tips for leaving school at
17:49
school, please come share your wins and your struggles in the
17:52
Teacher Approved Facebook group.
17:54
Emily: Now for the Teacher Approved Tip of the Week, where
17:56
we share an actionable tip to help you elevate what matters
17:59
and simplify the rest, and this week's tip comes from our
18:02
friends Ashley and Alicia at Rainbow Skies For Teachers. And
18:06
we love this idea. Tell us about it, Heidi.
18:08
Heidi: Yes, and we love Ashley and Alicia. So this is such a
18:12
good tip. They suggest dedicating one afternoon each
18:16
week to leaving school as soon as your contract time is over.
18:19
This is just one afternoon where you commit to a completely
18:22
school free evening and do life for yourself.
18:25
Emily: I love this. And to make it easier, they suggest
18:27
scheduling something that forces you out the door, a reoccurring
18:31
commitment that you can't skip.
18:33
Heidi: You know, like meeting up at a gym.
18:37
Emily: I guess I needed to get really brutal in my enforcement
18:40
so that you couldn't skip it.
18:41
Heidi: I knew you had to love me anyway, or you could have
18:43
charged me, I guess.
18:44
Emily: There we go.
18:46
Heidi: I know Ashley signed up for French lessons every
18:48
Thursday. She met her French teacher at a local coffee shop,
18:51
and they practiced something new. Even if she didn't become
18:54
fluent in those afternoons, the point was to have something on
18:57
the calendar that got her out of the building.
18:59
Emily: Oh, I love that. And Alicia took a similar approach.
19:01
She booked a four o'clock Pilates class each week. When
19:05
you know class starts at four, you have to be out the door,
19:07
right? Oh, that was, that was a good that's a good rhyme to help
19:09
you with this! When you know it starts at four, you have to be
19:13
out the door. There's no room for just five more minutes when
19:17
you have to be somewhere at a certain time.
19:19
Heidi: Yeah, that deadline makes it so much more likely that you
19:22
will actually leave on time, and having that one protected
19:25
afternoon gives you something to look forward to each week.
19:27
Emily: And it doesn't have to be lessons or a fitness class. It
19:30
could be a weekly coffee date with a friend or a hair
19:32
appointment or a craft night or whatever works for your life,
19:35
just maybe not meeting with your sister who is too nice and will
19:38
let you get away with showing up late.
19:41
Heidi: The point is that it's recurring. It's on the calendar,
19:44
and it's something just for you. It's not about, you know, making
19:47
every day special, it's about making sure you have at least
19:49
one afternoon where you prioritize yourself.
19:53
To wrap up the show, we are sharing what we're giving extra
19:55
credit to this week. Emily, what gets your extra credit?
19:57
Emily: I'm giving extra credit to the game. Game a gentle rain.
20:02
So I asked for this for Christmas, and mom got it for
20:04
me.
20:05
Heidi: Is it digital?
20:06
Emily: No, it is a little, I don't know what to call it,
20:09
because it's not boards and it's not cards, it's actually like
20:11
little tiles. So it's a one person game. You can play with
20:15
two but it's designed to be a one person game. And that's what
20:18
I liked about it, because I'm like, Well, I like doing
20:19
puzzles, but it'd be nice to have something that was like,
20:21
shorter and quicker that you can just like, finish in one
20:23
sitting.
20:24
And so basically, the way it works is you have these little
20:27
tiles that are like triangle shaped, sort of, and they have
20:32
different halves of flowers on each edge of the tile. And then
20:36
you have to match them up. So you lay down one tile, and then
20:39
you just randomly draw out another and you try and match it
20:41
to another flower. And so you're trying to just grow out your
20:47
whole design here, but every time you're able to match it
20:51
where four of them are meeting together, so it's not exactly a
20:54
triangle. It's hard to describe the shape, but when you get four
20:57
that are all met together, you get to put a little flower token
21:00
in the middle of the four.
21:02
And so you're trying to get all eight of your little tokens down
21:06
before you run out of tiles. So it's kind of, to me, a lot like
21:09
doing a puzzle. It's very puzzle like, but it's shorter, easier,
21:14
it's tactile, it's chill. It's something I can do if I only
21:16
have 10 minutes, which is what I like about having a puzzle out.
21:20
But sometimes I don't have a puzzle out, so you can just grab
21:23
this and play the little game. And actually, my 15 year old has
21:26
been playing it multiple times a day, so she loves it too. It's
21:30
just so nice. I'm going to be looking for some other little
21:32
games like this, like one person puzzley kind of games that you
21:36
can do quickly.
21:37
Heidi: Well, it's so nice to have something that you can just
21:38
unwind with that is not on your phone.
21:40
Emily: Yes, I need any more of those that I can get.
21:43
Heidi: Or, you know, doesn't require a billion supplies, like
21:46
a craft can.
21:47
Emily: Yes, exactly, or a setup, like, there's not, you can just
21:50
grab it and immediately start playing on the table. You don't
21:52
need to, like, do anything elaborate.
21:54
Heidi: Oh, that's nice.
21:55
Emily: What are you giving extra credit to, Heidi?
21:57
Heidi: Well, my extra credit goes to candle wick trimmers,
22:02
which is really weird if you never thought about this. So I
22:06
got invited to a favorite things party in January, and the theme
22:10
was hygge.
22:13
It's Danish.
22:17
Emily: Hopefully there's no Danes listening to us right now.
22:19
We're so sorry.
22:20
Heidi: But it's like the Danish art of coziness, which is what
22:24
you want in the winter, right? So we were supposed to bring a
22:27
favorite thing that helps us get through the winter, but it had
22:29
to be $5 or less.
22:31
Emily: That's so hard.
22:32
Heidi: Like, I can't think of anything that's $5 or less. So I
22:34
was like, Oh, okay, so central to hygge is candles. Like so
22:40
much of coziness revolves around candles. And if you want your
22:44
candles to keep burning bright, you have to practice good candle
22:47
hygiene, and that means trimming the wick before you burn the
22:52
candle. So you can use scissors, but like, if your candle's in a
22:55
jar, it's really hard to get the scissors in there.
22:58
Emily: Oh, I know, I've tried.
23:00
Heidi: I bought a special little wig trimmer that's kind of
23:03
shaped like an L so it can, like, just snip the little
23:06
candle. And I'll put a link in the show notes, if you have no
23:09
idea what I'm talking about, I sound like a crazy woman. You
23:11
can see what it is there, so you can just keep your candles
23:15
burning. I have strong opinions about this. I have a special
23:18
little foil wrap I put on it if it's starting to tunnel so,
23:21
like, the edges will all melt evenly.
23:24
Emily: Oh yes, I do that as well. Now that I know that,
23:27
like, you need to, like, make sure the whole top is melted
23:30
every time, or else it will, like, get that hole down the
23:32
middle. And now that I know that, I always make sure it
23:36
melts all the way to the edge, although it drives me crazy when
23:38
you still get, like, an edge that just won't melt down.
23:40
Heidi: Oh my gosh, that is so funny, because right before we
23:42
started recording, I had this candle, and the edges were not
23:46
burning, so I got out, I have a little scraper, I was like, I
23:49
wonder if I can scrape this off. And sure enough.
23:51
Emily: Okay, so you have a little candle first aid kit at
23:58
all times. Well, I need a candle wick trimmer because I don't
24:01
have one.
24:02
Heidi: Okay. Well, we'll have to get you one. I think the one I
24:04
put the link in the show notes too is rose gold, it's very
24:07
fancy, but mine is just silver.
24:09
Emily: Okay, well, I'll check it out.
24:12
Heidi: That is it for today's episode. Start by planning your
24:15
after school transition ritual. Once you have that in place,
24:18
experiment with the rest of the steps to find what works for
24:21
you.
24:24
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm Heidi.
24:28
Emily: And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
24:31
or subscribe in your podcast app so that you never miss an
24:33
episode.
24:34
Heidi: You can connect with us and other teachers in the
24:37
Teacher Approved Facebook group. We'll see you here next week.
24:40
Bye for now.
24:41
Emily: Bye.