Latest / Teacher Approved: Elementary Teacher Tips & Strategies / 251. 5 Classroom Management Tricks That Do the Work for You

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251. 5 Classroom Management Tricks That Do the Work for You · Teacher Approved: Elementary Teacher Tips & Strategies

0:01
Heidi: This is episode 251 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.
0:14
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 this
0:39
episode, we are talking about five low cost, high yield
0:43
classroom management boosters that prevent problems before
0:47
they start. And we have a teacher approved tip about a
0:49
clipboard that might change your life in the hallway.
0:54
Heidi: Let's kick things off with a try it tomorrow, a quick
0:57
win that you can bring to your classroom right away. Emily,
1:00
what are we sharing this week?
1:01
Emily: Okay, this week, try setting aside two minutes at the
1:04
start and end of every technology session for students
1:07
to do a device check. Teach them how to look for damage, make
1:11
sure things are charging properly, and pack everything
1:14
away carefully. To make sure students remember everything
1:17
they're supposed to be checking, it's helpful to create a visual
1:20
that students can reference each time.
1:22
Heidi: A few seconds of proactive effort really adds up
1:25
in a big way. Devices take a beating when 25 kids are
1:29
handling them every day. A check in at the start and the end of
1:32
each session builds accountability, and it helps you
1:35
catch problems early, instead of, you know, discovering in
1:38
April that half of your iPads have cracked screens.
1:41
Emily: And once it's a routine, it takes almost no time, because
1:44
the students just know what to do, and that is the dream.
1:47
Heidi: Oh, always. If you find this tip helpful or anything
1:52
else we share here on the podcast, would you take a second
1:55
and leave us a rating? It really does make a difference in
1:57
helping new listeners find the show.
1:59
Emily: All right, we are creeping closer to the end of
2:02
the school year. You've probably noticed, and I may not know you,
2:06
but I'm going to guess that even on your best days, you're only
2:10
functioning at about 60% of what you could manage in September by
2:14
this point in the year.
2:16
Heidi: Yeah. And really, things right now can feel like such a
2:19
slog. You're tired, but somehow your students have more energy
2:23
than ever.
2:24
Emily: I know, like, why don't they share some of that energy
2:26
with us, please?
2:28
Heidi: Or, you know, they could at least have the decency to be
2:31
a tiny bit more chill.
2:33
Emily: Yeah, one or the other, please. But you know, chill went
2:36
right out the window on that first sunny day. So now you're
2:40
in a tight spot. When you're tired, but your students are as
2:43
exuberant as Mentos in a coke bottle, your instinct might be
2:48
to clamp down harder with more reminders and more corrections.
2:52
Heidi: And if that is where you are, that reaction is completely
2:55
understandable. But the thing about that approach is that it's
2:58
exacerbating all of those problems that you are trying to
3:01
minimize. Correcting issues after the fact costs
3:05
instructional time, and pouring a lot of attention into
3:08
unhelpful behavior can actually amplify it.
3:11
Emily: Not to mention the fact that disruptive behavior is
3:14
contagious. If one student gets off task, it quickly spreads.
3:18
It's like a dandelion. One off task behavior has the potential
3:22
to spawn 50 more problems if you don't catch it early.
3:26
Heidi: And that's because of something called social
3:29
contagion. How do you like that term? And this is something we
3:33
experience all the time. You walk into a quiet library and
3:36
you automatically lower your voice, or you walk into a room
3:39
where everyone's laughing, and you start smiling before you
3:42
even know what's funny.
3:44
Emily: And the same thing happens in classrooms. When most
3:47
students are doing what they're supposed to do, it creates that
3:50
natural pull toward cooperation. You're shaping which direction
3:54
the current flows, and that means you don't have to manage
3:57
every individual student. You manage the dominant pattern in
4:01
the room.
4:01
Heidi: And that's a shift in how we usually address management
4:04
problems. Instead of asking, How do I fix this behavior? What if
4:09
instead we asked, How do I make it less likely to happen in the
4:12
first place? And that's what this episode is about. We
4:16
promise that problem prevention is actually doable, even when
4:19
you're running on fumes.
4:21
Emily: Yeah, today we have got five management boosters to
4:24
share with you. They're all low cost, high yield strategies. And
4:28
low cost means you can layer these on top of what you're
4:31
already doing. There are no elaborate systems or anything
4:35
that requires extra time or energy.
4:38
Heidi: And high yield means that they each prevent more work than
4:42
they require. So for a few seconds of intention on your
4:45
part, you get a calmer, more engaged and more productive
4:49
class. Think of it like planting flowers instead of having to
4:52
spend all of your time pulling out weeds.
4:55
Emily: And since I absolutely loathe weeding, I would
4:59
definitely prefer to spend my time planting. So let's look at
5:03
our first strategy, greeting students at the door. Tell us
5:07
about this one, Heidi.
5:08
Heidi: Well, this is almost unfair in how much it gives back
5:12
for how little it costs. In the show notes, there is a link to a
5:17
2018 study that found that positive greetings at the door
5:21
increased academic engagement by 20 percentage points and
5:24
decreased disruptive behavior by nine percentage points. The
5:28
researchers described it as effectively adding an extra hour
5:32
of engagement over a five hour instructional day.
5:35
Emily: Oh, it's mind blowing. And you get all of that from
5:38
standing at the door and saying hello. It's pretty impressive.
5:42
Heidi: Oh, but there is more, Emily.
5:44
Emily: Tell me.
5:44
Heidi: Well, research from 2024 echoes this. Students who are
5:48
greeted at the door start seeing their teacher less as the person
5:51
in charge of discipline, and more as someone who's actually
5:54
glad to see them, and that shift changes how they show up in your
5:58
classroom.
5:59
Emily: Now, this strategy was not hard for me to add to my day
6:02
at all, because at my school, all the students came into the
6:07
room at the same time, so it was pretty natural for me to just be
6:08
standing at the door as they walked in and just could greet
6:10
them each by name. But I know that's not everyone's situation.
6:14
Heidi: Yeah, that was not how it worked at my school. My students
6:18
arrived over like 30 minutes, and there was no way I was going
6:21
to be standing at the door for half an hour, and I had so much
6:24
to get done. So what I tried to do was be at the door when that
6:29
bell rang to catch the kids coming in from outside from
6:30
breakfast, and then I'd have anyone that was already in the
6:34
room walk over and say hi to me, even if I had already said hi to
6:38
them when they walked in, when they arrived. Now please note
6:41
that the key word here is that I tried. I really tried. On my
6:47
good days, I could pull off fine, but that was not every
6:50
day. So please don't feel bad if this has not been happening
6:53
consistently in your class.
6:55
Emily: No, and we're flexible here, adapt to your limitations
6:59
that you're dealing with, and if you need to do a second lap to
7:02
greet everyone, you can do it that way. And if it doesn't
7:05
happen every day, that's okay too.
7:07
Heidi: Yeah. And you know, if it sounds redundant to greet
7:09
students that you already said hi to, keep in mind that it's
7:12
not really about the greeting, it's about that one on one
7:15
moment of connection before you spend seven hours together. A
7:19
kid who feels seen is a lot less likely to spend the morning
7:22
looking for other ways to get your attention.
7:25
Emily: The hardest part of this booster is just making it a
7:27
habit. Setting an alarm a couple minutes before students arrive
7:31
to wrap up what you're doing and get to the door helps. You're
7:34
not dropping the ball on this because you don't care about
7:36
your students. It's just that there is always something urgent
7:39
to finish before the day can start.
7:42
Heidi: So definitely give yourself some grace if you
7:44
cannot greet students every morning. A few days a week,
7:47
still makes a difference, we're trying not to let the perfect be
7:50
the enemy of the good here.
7:51
Emily: If your class is really struggling with spring fever, it
7:54
might be wise to try this strategy at other times of day,
7:57
especially if major transitions, like entering the room seem to
8:00
throw everyone off. Station yourself at the door after
8:03
recess or after specials to provide that moment of
8:06
connection.
8:07
Heidi: Yeah, I had a class that I had to do this for. And a
8:10
bonus of doing this is that when you are guarding the door gently
8:16
and lovingly, you are also limiting how many kids are
8:19
coming into the room at once, and that automatically just
8:22
mellows the energy right out.
8:24
Emily: Oh, for sure. Okay, the second strategy is something
8:27
called pre-corrections. And if that word is new to you, I
8:31
promise the concept is not. So tell us about this one, Heidi.
8:34
Heidi: Well, a pre-correction is just stating the expected
8:38
behavior before the moment when students are most likely to
8:40
struggle. So once your class is lined up, you might say, Before
8:44
we head to the hallway, remember, voice is off, hands to
8:47
yourself and we walk. That's it. You're just keeping the
8:50
expectations front and center in everyone's minds.
8:53
Emily: And you have probably been doing versions of this
8:55
already without knowing that it had a super fancy name. And the
8:59
reason it works is that it closes the gap between what you
9:02
expect and what actually happens. A lot of misbehavior
9:05
during transitions isn't defiance, it's just kids running
9:07
on autopilot. They're not thinking about expected behavior
9:10
because nobody's prompted them to think about it.
9:13
Heidi: March is actually a really good time to lean into
9:15
this one specifically, because by now your procedures that your
9:19
class had down cold in November are probably a little rusty. A
9:23
pre-correction sharpens that up without making it into a whole
9:27
reteaching moment.
9:29
Emily: And the alternative is stopping everything after the
9:31
fact to address it, which costs way more time and tends to spike
9:34
everyone's stress level, including yours. A 10 second
9:38
reminder before beats a two minute correction after.
9:42
Heidi: And this could not be simpler. There are no materials,
9:44
no prep, nothing to track, just you, before the moment, saying
9:48
out loud what you need to see.
9:50
Emily: If this is something you've been doing here and
9:52
there, commit to doing it consistently before transitions,
9:55
even if the transition is as simple as putting away one
9:58
folder and getting out another. See if this cuts down on the
10:01
number of corrections you have to make when your class goes
10:03
from point A to point B.
10:05
Heidi: Our third low effort management booster is visual
10:09
prompts. Now this one takes a little bit of prep, but it's
10:12
going to save you from one of the most quietly draining loops
10:16
in teaching.
10:17
Emily: Oh yeah, it's the one of Wait, what are we doing? What
10:19
page are we on? Where do we write it? Wait, I missed it.
10:22
Heidi: Yep, that's the loop. And I think my blood pressure spiked
10:25
just thinking about it. When directions are only verbal, you
10:29
pay for it over and over and over. Every student who didn't
10:32
catch it the first time comes to you, and you repeat yourself,
10:35
and then someone else comes. But putting step by step directions
10:38
on the board or on a slide ends all of that.
10:40
Emily: The nice thing is that a lot of your class classroom
10:43
transitions follow a predictable format, so you only have to put
10:47
in the work of planning the visuals one time, but then it
10:49
runs on its own. And when the kids forget what they're
10:52
supposed to be doing next, you can just point to the board
10:54
instead of having to repeat the same answer a dozen times.
10:58
Heidi: You do not have to be an artist to make this work. I
11:00
promise your visuals do not have to be elaborate. A quick sketch
11:04
on the whiteboard is enough. Now I cannot draw to save my life,
11:07
but I got pretty good at sketching little symbols next to
11:10
my directions. So for example, if I needed students to get out
11:14
a book, I would draw like a capital V and another V a couple
11:17
inches below, and then just connect the midpoints, and then
11:20
ta, da, there's a book cover.
11:22
Emily: I love that you're giving a drawing tutorial on a podcast.
11:26
Heidi: Follow me for those guided drawings.
11:28
Emily: Draw with Heidi.
11:33
Heidi: Look everyone, five lines to make a book. But it really
11:37
doesn't have to be a masterpiece to get the point across.
11:40
Emily: No good thing. Or you can really save some time by
11:43
creating a slide with your recurring directions and reuse
11:46
it. Every time students need to turn in their math paper and
11:49
take out their science notebook, you can just use the same slide.
11:51
You already put in the work to make it so you may as well use
11:54
it every time.
11:55
Heidi: And a little management bonus is that when students have
11:58
clear visual steps to follow, they're occupied, there's less
12:02
space for off task behavior because no one is getting
12:04
sidetracked by confusion, and that is social contagion, making
12:08
your job a little easier.
12:09
Emily: For those visuals to be effective, though, you have to
12:12
make it easier for students to get the information themselves
12:14
than it is to get the information from you. Given the
12:18
choice, kids will always prefer a personalized invitation to do
12:21
what the rest of the class is doing.
12:23
Heidi: Oh, don't you love that. So if a student comes to you and
12:26
asks what to do, redirect them to the board. Just make it
12:30
simple, check the board.
12:31
Emily: Or even better, don't say anything, just point to the
12:34
board. It may feel a little firm the first few times, but it just
12:38
trains them to look there first, and over time, it builds real
12:41
independence, which I think we all want, and is actually good
12:44
for our students. So that just makes everything run more
12:47
smoothly.
12:48
Heidi: So far, we have covered one on one, greetings,
12:51
pre-corrections and visual instructions. Our fourth
12:54
management booster is tone of voice. And even though this is
12:58
the most basic of all, it might be the trickiest one to maintain
13:02
this time of year.
13:03
Emily: Yeah, it's really easy for our tone to slip when we're
13:05
tired. You don't mean to be sharp, but sometimes it just
13:08
happens. When you're down to your last shred of patience, it
13:11
comes out in your voice sometimes.
13:13
Heidi: We've all been there. We might have all even been there
13:15
today. When that frustrated tone comes flying out, just know it's
13:21
not the end of the world.
13:22
Emily: No, but it is worth being aware of how you're coming
13:25
across. Students will mirror your emotions more than they
13:29
will listen to your words. So when you as a teacher, if you're
13:32
tense and sharp, the kids are going to feel that.
13:35
Heidi: Yeah, and that short tempered tone is definitely not
13:38
calming the room. In fact, you might be escalating the
13:41
behaviors that are already causing you grief.
13:43
Emily: There is a 2022 study that looked at how elementary
13:46
students responded to instructions delivered in
13:49
different tones, like demanding, neutral or supportive. Stricter
13:53
tones actually undermined trust. Kids were less likely to share
13:57
things with their teachers, including things about bullying
14:00
struggles, even work that they were proud of.
14:03
Heidi: Which is such a real cost that might not show up in your
14:06
behavior data. A sharp tone might get compliance in the
14:10
moment, but it closes doors long term.
14:12
Emily: And believe me, we are not saying that you should be a
14:15
Disney princess with bluebirds swooping in to set up your
14:18
lessons. Although that could be handy.
14:20
Heidi: That would be lovely.
14:22
Emily: But no, we will, we will never advocate for always
14:25
talking in a sweet, high pitched voice, that's not realistic. But
14:29
we just want you to notice when your voice has climbed, and give
14:32
yourself a second before it escalates things further.
14:35
Heidi: And this can even be an important lesson for your
14:37
students. Step out for a second if you need to. Modeling what
14:41
self regulation looks like might be one of the most valuable
14:44
things you can do.
14:46
Emily: You have more control over your tone than almost
14:48
anything else in your classroom right now, so it's worth
14:50
learning to use it to your advantage.
14:53
Heidi: All right. And that brings us to our fifth low
14:55
effort strategy, and this is behavior narration. It's when
14:59
you sports cast the positive behavior you see happening. I
15:03
see table two has their notebooks open.
15:05
Emily: Or, I notice four kids already have their names on
15:08
their papers. You're not correcting the kids who aren't
15:10
ready. You're naming out loud what you want to see, using the
15:14
students who are already doing it.
15:16
Heidi: So I kind of have a bumpy past with this one. Early in my
15:20
career, I heard this technique described as manipulative, so I
15:24
either avoided it, or I would feel guilty when I just happened
15:28
to slip into using it. But eventually I stopped worrying
15:32
about that label, because this is effective. And now that I
15:36
take some time to really think about this, I don't see how this
15:39
is any more manipulative than any other management strategy.
15:42
Emily: I don't see how it's manipulative at all, unless
15:45
you're doing an icky version of it where you're saying something
15:49
like, everybody look at how Josh has already packed up. Everyone
15:52
should be like Josh. Like that's not narrating behavior, that's
15:55
using Josh as a spotlight to shame everyone else. So
15:59
obviously we don't want to do that, but, So far, I see four
16:02
kids are ready to go, just makes the expected behavior visible in
16:05
a positive way, and because that behavior is contagious, that
16:09
pulls the room in the right direction. I use this all the
16:12
time. It's definitely one of my go-tos.
16:14
Heidi: Oh yeah, absolutely. So the distinction here is that
16:18
you're not using one kid as a weapon against everyone else.
16:21
You are celebrating all of the good things that are happening,
16:24
not guilting everyone into complying.
16:27
Emily: Yeah, a manipulative version of this would also be
16:29
something like, I see everyone at table five except one person
16:35
has their book out. Like, obviously don't do that.
16:39
Heidi: Although, I gotta say, I probably have done that a time
16:41
or two, but you know, we're all learning. We're all learning.
16:43
Emily: I'm waiting for that one person on the front row. If
16:48
you've used our tell try tally talk technique, you know, we
16:51
love to use this when introducing a new procedure.
16:54
It's such a helpful method for getting kids to understand
16:56
exactly what's expected.
16:58
Heidi: Behavior narration is also a handy way to conserve
17:01
energy. Instead of pouring effort into correcting the three
17:04
kids who aren't ready, you're uplifting the 22 who are. And
17:08
that math is pretty compelling when you're tired.
17:11
Emily: But do make sure not to overuse this one. If you narrate
17:14
constantly, it kind of just becomes white noise. Use it at
17:18
the moments where you need to redirect a group without a
17:21
confrontation. If this is done well, it is genuinely one of the
17:24
most efficient tools you have.
17:26
Heidi: Okay. So those are our five low cost, high yield
17:30
behavior management boosters, perfect for the last months of
17:33
the school year. Greet students at the door, offer
17:36
pre-corrections, display visual prompts, be intentional with
17:40
your tone of voice, and narrate positive behaviors.
17:43
Emily: And what all of these strategies share is that they
17:46
are preventative, which is one of our pillars of classroom
17:50
management, is that you want to prevent problems before they
17:53
start. Doing this reduces the need for correction, and it
17:57
shapes the dominant pattern in the room without burning through
18:00
the energy that you don't have to spare right now.
18:03
Heidi: Yeah, this is not the time for complicated new
18:05
systems. It's a time for leverage. And since behavior in
18:09
a group will spread, make sure you're the one deciding what
18:12
spreads.
18:14
Emily: And you don't have to do all five of these tomorrow. Just
18:16
pick one that feels doable this week and start there.
18:19
Heidi: But if you aren't sure where to begin, maybe give
18:21
morning greetings a try. It has a clear start and end time, and
18:23
you don't have to try to remember it in the middle of a
18:24
tough moment.
18:24
Emily: And if classroom management is something you want
18:30
to dig more into this spring, we have resources in the Teacher
18:34
Approved club that go deeper on a lot of these ideas, and the
18:37
new club bonus that's coming for April fits right in line with
18:40
what we talked about today. It's about how to keep your
18:43
expectations alive at the end of the school year. So the link to
18:46
join us in the club is in the show notes.
18:49
Now for our Teacher Approved Tip of the Week, where we share an
18:52
actionable tip to help you elevate what matters and
18:55
simplify the rest. This week's teacher approved tip is to make
18:58
a time filler clipboard. Let's hear about it, Heidi.
19:01
Heidi: I cannot believe that we have never talked about this in
19:05
the four years that we have had a podcast, because this is one
19:08
of my sneakiest management tips, and it addresses one of those
19:12
situations that used to make me sweat. So you know those times
19:15
when you're stuck in the hallway with your class and they need to
19:18
wait quietly? What do you do?
19:20
Emily: Oh, yeah, that is such a specific kind of stressful
19:24
teacher moment. The lunchroom's backed up, or the library's not
19:27
quite ready, and you're standing in the hall with 25 kids, and
19:31
they need to be quiet, but you really can't blame them for
19:34
being bored, because it's boring.
19:36
Heidi: Yeah, exactly. And I hated that feeling of having to
19:40
police the noise when the situation was genuinely hard to
19:43
sit and wait and be quiet. So I made a clipboard of activities
19:47
that could be done right there in the hallway. So one of the
19:50
things I did was to make a simple vocabulary game on the
19:53
front of a piece of construction paper, I listed three
19:55
categories. I think had pictures with them, like words about
19:58
space, fruits, and countries. And then each category was
20:02
numbered, one, two, or three. I would whisper a word like
20:05
Finland, and the students would hold up three fingers to show
20:08
that that word fit the country category. Now, it was silent, it
20:11
was quick, and it was easy.
20:12
Emily: Having possible words listed on the back saves you
20:15
from having to improvise on the spot too.
20:17
Heidi: Yeah, you definitely want to avoid having to think of
20:20
things in the moment if you're like me, and your mind goes
20:22
blank. And that was basically the whole reason I had this
20:25
clipboard. I didn't want to have to be creative under pressure in
20:28
the hallway.
20:28
Emily: Yeah, I love anything that removes that in the moment
20:31
mental work. Things run much more smoothly when you do the
20:35
mental work ahead of time.
20:36
Heidi: Oh, always. And then, besides vocabulary games, math
20:39
flashcards work great. Take a deck of flashcards and pull out
20:43
any cards that have answers higher than 10. You just hold up
20:46
a card, and everyone shows you the answer on their fingers.
20:49
Easy peasy.
20:49
Emily: They always need more practice with math facts, and
20:52
you could do something similar with phonics. Make a word family
20:55
deck, hold up a card, whisper a letter, and the students whisper
20:58
the whole word back to you. So if the word family is 'OG,'
21:01
you'd say D, and they would whisper dog. It's not completely
21:05
silent, but it's quiet enough not to be disruptive.
21:08
Heidi: I did this with my students, and I was a little
21:10
shocked and a little terrified by how hard this was for some
21:14
students. That was a really tricky task. You would think
21:17
that this would be really basic, but it was just a whole new way
21:20
of having to think about phonics. So it might be worth
21:23
giving a shot.
21:24
Emily: Yeah.
21:26
Heidi: And again list all the words on the back of each card,
21:28
so you don't have to keep thinking like, well, what are
21:30
the other words that have OG in them? It's just all there for
21:33
you.
21:33
Emily: If a clipboard feels like too much to set up, just keep a
21:36
list of silent activities on your lanyard, or teach your
21:39
students a few simple sign language signs, and then
21:42
practice them while you wait in the hall. Silent charades works
21:45
too. You whisper a prompt and they act it out.
21:48
Heidi: I also really love to use action songs that I would teach
21:51
my students during morning meeting. And then the twist, of
21:54
course, is for doing this in the hallway, it has to be super
21:56
quiet. Everybody just whispers or mouths the words, and you do
22:00
the motions together.
22:01
Emily: And if you think older students won't do it, I was a
22:04
teenager, and I did plenty of ridiculous group songs. If
22:08
teenagers can be coerced into singing Waddaly Atcha on a
22:11
school trip, 10 year olds can absolutely do a quiet action
22:14
song in the hallway.
22:16
Heidi: But whatever you choose to do, the point is to have a
22:19
plan so that you're not scrambling or silently panicking
22:22
while 25 kids look at you. You just reach for the clipboard on
22:24
your way out of the room, and you're in control of any
22:24
situation before it becomes a situation.
22:24
To wrap up the show, we are sharing what we're giving extra
22:25
credit to this week. Emily, what gets your extra credit?
22:35
Emily: I'm giving extra credit to the CeraVe intensive
22:39
moisturizing cream.
22:41
Heidi: Oh, okay.
22:41
Emily: So I went to the dermatologist for a skin check,
22:44
and because I was there for a skin check, she was like, not
22:47
offering other additional advice to me, except for the fact that
22:51
I mentioned, you know, since I'm just in like a little gown here,
22:54
I'm like, Oh, don't mind my sandpaper legs, because in the
22:58
winter they are dry and dusty. And she mentioned, like, oh,
23:04
well, there's some lotion that might be good for that. And she
23:07
recommended this cream, and she gave me a paper with some other
23:10
things on it, but this was the top one. And it's something
23:13
about the fact that this is, like, super, super thick cream,
23:16
but you put it on and it goes in so nicely. It doesn't like, feel
23:19
like it's sitting on top of you, and it has, I think it was
23:22
described as hydro-urea in it, and that, I think, is a little
23:26
bit of an exfoliant. So I think that's what helps with the dry
23:30
skin. So I slather this on after the shower. I do mean slather,
23:36
but it really does soak right in, and it's made a really big
23:39
difference on my dusty, scratchy legs.
23:43
Heidi: I'm gonna have to give that a try, because I'm about to
23:46
run out of lotion. I was thinking, I need to try
23:48
something new. This isn't working for me.
23:50
Emily: Check it out, they have a lotion, but you want the cream.
23:53
Heidi: Cream. Okay, that's good, because I would have got the
23:55
wrong thing. Okay, yep, noted.
23:57
Emily: Okay, what are you giving extra credit to this week,
24:00
Heidi?
24:00
Heidi: Well, we're just covering you with all the drugstore
24:03
takeaways here. Although this is something you have to get
24:05
online. My extra credit goes to Allermi, which is an online
24:10
allergy nasal spray. So I switched to this for a year. So
24:15
I've been on this a year now, and I can definitely say it is
24:17
worth it. So this time of year, the trees try to kill me. I
24:21
think it's personal. It's so violent the way they make me
24:24
feel. But this works so well. It's three or four different
24:28
allergy medications in one nasal spray, which at first I was a
24:33
little like, oh well, it's kind of expensive. But then I
24:35
figured, like, I'm spending that much on these four sprays
24:37
separately. And then a bonus that I didn't expect is that I
24:41
have not had a bloody nose since I switched to this. Sorry for
24:44
the TMI, but if you have allergies, you will be so
24:46
grateful for this information.
24:48
Emily: And Heidi has had bloody noses that are like crime
24:50
scenes, so this is a big deal to avoid those.
24:53
Heidi: Yeah, not one in a year. I think just because you're just
24:57
doing one spray instead of four in a day, it just makes such a
25:00
difference for your poor nose.
25:02
Emily: And because it's like a tailored to you combination, I
25:05
think you probably have to use it less than you were using the
25:08
combination of all the other sprays. Does that make sense?
25:11
Heidi: Yes, yes, definitely. And I found, so most of the year, I
25:14
can get by with just doing it one spray once a day. I think
25:19
the directions are to do two sprays twice a day, and this
25:23
time of year I do have to max out my dosage, but for most of
25:25
the year, it's not a problem at all, and that means that, so
25:28
even though I think a bottle is like $35, probably plus
25:32
shipping, it actually is cheaper than I was paying when I was
25:35
buying four different medications over the counter. So
25:39
definitely check this out.
25:40
Emily: And allergy sprays are expensive, so when you're buying
25:43
several different ones and doing a spray of each every day, yeah,
25:46
that adds up fast. I'm waiting for my free sample of this to
25:50
come in the mail, just shipped.
25:52
Heidi: hope it makes the difference for you, because,
25:54
gosh, allergies, you just wait and your throat feels pickled
25:57
and your head hurts, and life doesn't slow down because you're
26:01
not technically sick. You just feel like you are.
26:03
Emily: Yeah, so get some moisturizing cream and some
26:07
allergy spray, everyone. We're here for you.
26:09
Heidi: You've got all your needs covered.
26:10
And that is it for today's episode. Remember our five low
26:15
effort, high yield management boosters to make this season of
26:19
the school year a little easier to manage.
26:21
Emily: And if you liked this episode, we would love it if you
26:24
shared it with a teacher friend who might enjoy it as well.
26:26
That's the best way to help our show reach new listeners.
26:31
Heidi: We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm
26:34
Heidi.
26:35
Emily: And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
26:38
or subscribe in your podcast app so that you never miss an
26:41
episode.
26:42
Heidi: You can connect with us and other teachers in the
26:44
Teacher Approved Facebook group. We'll see you here next week.
26:47
Bye for now.
26:48
Emily: Bye.