Latest / Teacher Approved: Elementary Teacher Tips & Strategies / 207. No Class List? No Problem—Here’s What to Prep While You Wait

Transcript

207. No Class List? No Problem—Here’s What to Prep While You Wait · Teacher Approved: Elementary Teacher Tips & Strategies

• 0:01
  Heidi: This is episode 207 of Teacher Approved.
• 0:04
  You're listening to Teacher Approved, the podcast helping
• 0:09
  educators elevate what matters and simplify the rest. I'm
• 0:12
  Heidi.
• 0:13
  Emily: And I'm Emily. We're the creators behind Second Story
• 0:16
  Window, where we give research based and teacher approved
• 0:19
  strategies that make teaching less stressful and more
• 0:22
  effective. You can check out the show notes and resources from
• 0:25
  each episode at secondstorywindow.net.
• 0:28
  Heidi: We're so glad you're tuning in today. Let's get to
• 0:31
  the show.
• 0:36
  Emily: Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today's
• 0:39
  episode, we are sharing back to school tasks that you can tackle
• 0:43
  without a class list, and we'll leave you with a teacher
• 0:46
  approved tip for creating a barrel task calendar.
• 0:50
  Heidi: Let's start with a try it tomorrow, where we share a quick
• 0:53
  win that you can try in your life right away. Emily, what is
• 0:56
  our suggestion this week?
• 0:57
  Emily: This week, why not try planning one low key get
• 1:01
  together with a colleague? Text a teacher friend and suggest
• 1:05
  something simple, like coffee, a walk, meeting at the pool, or
• 1:09
  even just sitting on someone's porch. Keep it casual and
• 1:12
  pressure free. Summer friendships hit different than
• 1:15
  school year relationships, and you both deserve a chance to
• 1:18
  enjoy each other's company without all the school pressure
• 1:21
  being the focus of your conversation.
• 1:23
  Heidi: If you like this idea or anything else we share here on
• 1:26
  the podcast, would you do us a huge favor and leave us a five
• 1:29
  star rating and a review? Ratings and reviews are one way
• 1:33
  that new listeners can find us, so really, every rating and
• 1:36
  review is such a huge help to us.
• 1:37
  Emily: Over the years, we have created an extensive library of
• 1:41
  back to school products. So to help you find the tools that
• 1:44
  will make the start of the new year easier, today we're
• 1:47
  spotlighting our Procedures and Routines Planning Guide.
• 1:51
  Heidi: Well, if you've been with us for a while, you know there's
• 1:53
  one thing we do really well here at Teacher Approved, and that is
• 1:56
  overthinking. So Emily and I put our overthinking into overdrive
• 2:00
  to come up with thorough checklists and literally
• 2:03
  hundreds of guiding questions to help you think through all of
• 2:06
  the possible procedures that you might need for your classroom.
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  Our goal was to think through all of the details so that you
• 2:13
  aren't going to miss anything in your planning.
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  Emily: I like to say this resource is robust because it is
• 2:19
  stuffed full of good stuff. So you get the procedures and
• 2:23
  routines checklist, which is 26 pages, the procedures planning
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  guide, which is 54 pages, and then a digital version of each
• 2:33
  of those. So the checklists are in Google Docs, and the
• 2:37
  procedures planning guide is in Google Slides, and then you get
• 2:40
  a teacher's guide for using this resource.
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  Heidi: Considering how you want your class to run now is going
• 2:46
  to pay off so much in the first few days of school, and it will
• 2:49
  carry you through the whole year. And bonus, this is
• 2:52
  something that you can easily do on your laptop with a good show
• 2:55
  on in the background. You're moving the needle by doing
• 2:58
  something essential, but you're not having to give up your
• 3:01
  summer to do it, and that's the best kind of prep.
• 3:03
  Emily: You can find a link to the digital procedures and
• 3:06
  routines planning guide in the show notes.
• 3:10
  Heidi: Okay, let's talk about that mid summer feeling. You
• 3:13
  know the one. It's July, you are enjoying your break. There's
• 3:17
  that little voice in the back of your head saying, I should
• 3:20
  probably start thinking about school soon.
• 3:22
  Emily: But then you remember you don't even have your class list
• 3:25
  yet. So you think, Well, I can't really do anything meaningful
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  until I know who my students are, right? And then you go back
• 3:31
  to your summer reading or your Netflix binge.
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  Heidi: If that sounds familiar, you are not alone, but here's a
• 3:37
  little tough love. Waiting to do anything until you know
• 3:41
  everything might just be holding you back more than you think.
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  Emily: So today, we are giving you a shortcut to feeling
• 3:47
  prepared with a gentler, low pressure approach that doesn't
• 3:51
  require having all the puzzle pieces just yet. These are the
• 3:54
  class list free tasks that help you feel prepared without having
• 3:59
  to do all the hard stuff now.
• 4:01
  Heidi: If you listen to episode 201 on TV tasks and episode 205
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  about Power Hour, this is kind of like their calm, cozy cousin.
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  Today we are talking about painless prep. These are tasks
• 4:13
  that are low time, low effort, no deadline, and totally couch
• 4:17
  friendly. Yes, you can get things done while watching
• 4:21
  Bravo.
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  Emily: But first we want to acknowledge the emotional
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  roadblocks here. We know some of you are thinking, if I start
• 4:27
  doing school stuff, it means summer is over, or maybe you're
• 4:30
  worried about doing the wrong thing because you don't have all
• 4:32
  the information.
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  Heidi: And those feelings totally make sense. Waiting
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  feels safer than starting without your full information.
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  Nobody wants to waste effort or open the door to school thoughts
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  and have the rest of summer swallowed up by work.
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  Emily: But it really doesn't have to be like that. There's a
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  way to start gently. If you joined us for our July secret
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  webinar or for last week's episode, hopefully you remember
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  us talking about your readiness anchor. This is how you want to
• 5:00
  feel when you walk into your classroom on day one. Maybe
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  that's calm or confident or energized.
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  Heidi: That goal can be your filter for deciding what's worth
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  doing now. But if you can't even face thinking about that
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  readiness anchor yet, that's totally okay too. Pick a gentler
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  starting place. Sometimes the best way to be overwhelmed isn't
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  to do everything, it's just to do something, something easy,
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  something straightforward and bonus, something you can do from
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  the couch with snacks.
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  Emily: It's always better with snacks. When you start with
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  something simple and clear, you're creating momentum, not
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  just adding to a to do list. And momentum is what turns summer
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  anxiety into summer confidence. If you're waiting around for
• 5:41
  full information before you start, you're just delaying your
• 5:44
  progress. But clarity doesn't have to come from details. It
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  can come from direction and action.
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  Heidi: So let's talk about some painless prep tasks that can
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  give you that direction and still be done from your couch.
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  They're low stress, class list proof, and they're going to
• 6:00
  build systems that will serve you all year.
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  Emily: And speaking of building systems that serve you all year,
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  how's this for a segue, this is exactly what we focus on in our
• 6:09
  BTS Success course. We help you use those first crucial days to
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  set up a classroom that basically runs itself. If you
• 6:17
  want more help putting these systems into practice, you can
• 6:19
  check out the link to BTS Success in the show notes.
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  Heidi: But for now, let's talk about four types of painless
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  prep that don't require a class list and why they're actually
• 6:28
  the shortcut to feeling prepared.
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  Emily: First up, we have tasks that will help you prepare for
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  the unexpected. This is sometimes what we call the
• 6:36
  Donkey Kong strategy. So if you're old enough to remember
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  the original Donkey Kong game, you'll love this analogy. Mario
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  was trying to rescue the princess, and he's already at
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  max capacity, scaling ladders and jumping holes. Then a giant
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  ape starts hurling barrels at him.
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  Heidi: The nerve of that ape. Barrel tasks are those things
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  that get hurled at you during the school year when you are
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  already at capacity. The spirit weeks, the school contest, the
• 7:01
  'surprise, make a poster by tomorrow' moments. We talked
• 7:05
  about these back in episode 188 if you want lots more examples.
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  Emily: If you've taught long enough, you know these obstacles
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  are usually pretty predictable, and yet we never prepare for
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  them. These are things like coworker birthdays, sub plan
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  templates, thank you note stashes, class party supplies,
• 7:22
  returning from a long break without losing your mind. All
• 7:25
  those pop up responsibilities that roll at you mid year and
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  then they completely derail your routine.
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  Heidi: These don't feel urgent now, but they are going to feel
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  urgent later, and once the school year starts, you really
• 7:37
  don't have the margin to add anything else to your plate.
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  Emily: So since these tasks are coming, whether you're ready or
• 7:43
  not, you could try picking one of them to prep now. October you
• 7:47
  will thank July you for having a plan ready to go for Red Ribbon
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  Week.
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  Heidi: Our second category of painless prep is independent
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  tasks. These are your solo missions. They're the things you
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  can complete without waiting on teammates, admin, or district
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  decisions.
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  Emily: There's such freedom in not needing anyone else's input
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  or approval. You can draft your meet the teacher letter, plan a
• 8:10
  calming first day welcome activity, or put together
• 8:12
  emergency sub plans that work any time of the year.
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  Heidi: Maybe you want to prep some simple crafts or projects
• 8:18
  to display in the hallway during parent conferences. You can make
• 8:22
  the copies now and then cut out all the little pieces, so that
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  you're ready to go in November or whenever your first
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  conference pops up.
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  Emily: Or you can work on your emergency sub plans. Plan enough
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  simple activities to fill any random day of school. Then
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  you're all set for a day that you break a tooth or have a sick
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  kid or just need a mental health day.
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  Heidi: These kind of tasks are grounding and anchoring. They
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  give you a little burst of control, which can feel really
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  good in a season full of uncertainty.
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  Emily: Now, foundation tasks are our third category of painless
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  prep. Some things are sure bets. No matter which students are in
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  your class, if you are a second grade teacher, you can safely
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  assume that your students will be familiar with addition by
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  December. If you teach fourth grade, you know you'll cover
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  place value early on in the year.
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  Heidi: So use that information as your starting point. Do you
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  want to make the week before winter break a little saner? Go
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  ahead and copy those December review packets and just fill the
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  pages with September and October level content. Pull together
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  math practice with concepts you teach in that first quarter. And
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  you could even draft writing prompts or reflection pages that
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  you want to use after the break.
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  Emily: And we actually have a resource to help you with this.
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  It is our December teacher survival kit, and you can use
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  this to do a little Christmas planning in July, if you want.
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  And it has everything you need to do to make December not the
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  craziest month of the school year. And we'll walk you through
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  everything you need to do. And there's a lot in that you could
• 9:49
  do now to make December easier.
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  Heidi: Some other things you can try are gathering the read
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  alouds that you use every year, or organizing partner games that
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  always work. A good rule of thumb is that if it worked last
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  year and it's not tied to a 'maybe we'll get to it by then'
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  standard, go ahead and prep it. That's your green light. These
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  foundation tasks are calming and confidence building, because you
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  know that one way or another, they're going to be useful.
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  Emily: So our final category of painless prep is framework
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  tasks. If you don't have your class list yet, no problem.
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  Names come later. Systems come first. You can stuff writing
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  folders without knowing whose name's going to go on them. You
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  can design your class job system even if you don't know who will
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  be the line leader.
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  Heidi: This is actually one of the core principles that we
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  teach in our BTS Success course, how to set up classroom systems
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  and routines that work regardless of which specific
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  students you have. The framework is what creates that smooth
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  running classroom.
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  Emily: So set up your basic classroom organization, create
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  bulletin boards with blank namespaces, plan your morning
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  routine structure. The power here is in having the structure
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  ready.
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  Heidi: And that way, when that class list finally shows up and
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  you're trying to get everything organized, you're not going to
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  be starting from scratch. You'll just be ready to plug kids into
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  a framework that's already humming.
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  Emily: Now, you might be thinking, okay, but is any of
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  this really essential to preparing for back to school?
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  And truthfully, no, not all of it is, but that is kind of the
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  point.
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  Heidi: Even though Emily and I have spent all summer telling
• 11:26
  you to prioritize your time and focus on what's essential, right
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  now we are saying that you might need to do the exact opposite.
• 11:33
  It's how we keep things interesting around here.
• 11:36
  Emily: Yeah. And also, we know that making the bridge between
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  full time summer mode and letting school thoughts in mode
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  can be overwhelming. But the antidote to overwhelm isn't to
• 11:46
  do everything, it's to do one thing. So when we're
• 11:49
  overwhelmed, it's because we don't have a clear next step,
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  and we solve that by completing something small and painless.
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  Heidi: Then once we're done with that, it makes it easier to take
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  another step. These types of tasks give you momentum, and
• 12:02
  momentum in the summer, for if you're a teacher, is everything.
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  Because action drives motivation, motivation doesn't
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  drive action. Doing just one of these things can be the jump
• 12:13
  start that helps you tackle something bigger next week.
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  Emily: So how do you actually use this? Well, you could use
• 12:20
  the power hour strategy that we talked about in episode 205,
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  pick one of these categories and focus on it for just one hour
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  this week.
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  Heidi: Or embrace the TV task mindset. Add two or three of
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  these to your couch friendly prep list. These are wins that
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  can happen during downtime.
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  Emily: And if you're ready to think about your readiness
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  anchor, ask yourself, which of these tasks would help you feel
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  more the way you want to feel in August.
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  Heidi: Okay, before we close, let's quickly recap our four
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  categories of painless prep. We have barrel tasks, which is
• 12:53
  prepping for unexpected interruptions. Independent
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  tasks, which are things that you can do without anyone else's
• 12:59
  input. Foundation tasks, where you build from what you already
• 13:03
  know, even if you don't know everything yet. And framework
• 13:06
  tasks, which is setting up systems even when you don't have
• 13:09
  your names.
• 13:10
  Emily: The gentle reminder here is that this is about momentum,
• 13:13
  not perfection. Every step forward, no matter how tiny, is
• 13:17
  still progress, and you deserve to feel good about that.
• 13:20
  Heidi: We would love to hear your suggestions for painless
• 13:22
  prep tasks. Come join the conversation in our Teacher
• 13:25
  Approved Facebook group.
• 13:27
  Emily: Now for our Teacher Approved Tip of the Week, where
• 13:30
  we share an actionable tip to help you elevate what matters
• 13:33
  and simplify the rest. This week's tip is to create a barrel
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  task calendar. So tell us about that, Heidi.
• 13:40
  Heidi: Well, this just fits so well with our painless prep
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  discussion. So to do this, make a list of all of the predictable
• 13:47
  barrel tasks that pop up during the school year. And I think
• 13:50
  this is one of those things where once you start thinking of
• 13:52
  one, soon the whole list will follow. Think of things like
• 13:56
  Valentine's Day activities, Teacher Appreciation Week,
• 13:59
  holiday parties, field trip reminders, the school's annual
• 14:02
  math night and so on and so on and so on.
• 14:04
  And then take that list of tasks and assign each task to a month
• 14:09
  well before it's due. So maybe you prep Valentine's Day
• 14:12
  activities in January, when you have a little breathing room to
• 14:15
  get things done, and not on February 12, when you suddenly
• 14:19
  realize that the holiday is in two days. You can try gathering
• 14:23
  thank you gifts for your parent helpers and your end of your
• 14:25
  student gifts in March and not in May, when you can barely
• 14:28
  think straight. You could even try scheduling one prep time,
• 14:32
  like the last Monday of the month for tackling the next
• 14:35
  month's barrel tasks.
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  Emily: Once you have your calendar, keep it somewhere,
• 14:38
  you'll actually see it, maybe on your phone or taped inside a
• 14:42
  planning binder. When you need a painless task to tackle, you've
• 14:46
  got options ready to go.
• 14:47
  Heidi: This works because it removes decision fatigue and it
• 14:51
  spreads the load throughout the year. Instead of all of these
• 14:54
  tasks hitting you at once during their official times, you are
• 14:58
  getting ahead of the game.
• 14:59
  Emily: And honestly, there's something so satisfying about
• 15:01
  having your Valentine's activities already prepped in
• 15:04
  January. I have to tell you, this is a strategy that works so
• 15:08
  well for me. I am so much more interested in getting something
• 15:10
  ready for three months from now than I am with doing the task
• 15:13
  that needs to be done tomorrow. But it helps, if you can be
• 15:13
  consistent about always being ahead, you're going to be giving
• 15:20
  your future self a huge gift, if you take time to do things like
• 15:24
  this in advance.
• 15:26
  Heidi: To wrap up the show, we are sharing what we're giving
• 15:29
  extra credit to this week. Emily, what gets your extra
• 15:36
  credit?
• 15:36
  Emily: I'm giving extra credit to paper liners for the air
• 15:36
  fryer. So we started using these about six months ago, and we
• 15:38
  just finished up our first box. So they're fresh on my mind.
• 15:41
  They have been a total game changer. Our air fryer was such
• 15:45
  a pain to clean, and especially because it was getting used
• 15:48
  multiple times throughout the day, and the kids weren't
• 15:50
  cleaning it after they used it, and then the next kid wanted to
• 15:53
  use it, but it was dirty. This just makes it so much easier.
• 15:56
  You just put in the little paper liner and then pull it out and
• 16:00
  throw it away. It's so easy, and I'll link to the ones that I got
• 16:04
  in the show notes, but you'll want to make sure you get ones
• 16:06
  that fit your air fryer.
• 16:08
  Heidi: Yeah, that's smart. I saw something online about getting a
• 16:11
  silicone mat for your air fryer, and I bought a square, and my
• 16:15
  air fryer is round, so that did not work.
• 16:18
  Emily: Yep. You got to remember that all air fryers are
• 16:20
  different. And I did look at silicone, and almost did that,
• 16:23
  but I was worried that it would make it harder for the airflow,
• 16:26
  like paper seems like it could rotate around it better, so...
• 16:29
  Heidi: I haven't actually used it, because I had that same,
• 16:31
  where it's like, how is this gonna work? So I haven't even
• 16:32
  actually used it, but I went and got the round one, and still
• 16:33
  haven't used it. The paper sounds good because then you
• 16:40
  don't have to clean anything.
• 16:41
  Emily: Yeah, that is the win there. What are you giving extra
• 16:45
  credit to, Heidi?
• 16:46
  Heidi: Well, I'm giving extra credit to the Sourdough Mama on
• 16:49
  Instagram. Have you seen this, Emily?
• 16:51
  Emily: I have not.
• 16:52
  Heidi: Okay, well, you're missing out. Now, I am not any
• 16:54
  kind of baker. I don't even have aspirations to be a baker, but I
• 16:58
  love her page so much. She just makes the most beautiful loaves
• 17:02
  of bread. And it's not just pretty because, you know, all
• 17:05
  bread is lovely, but this is artistic bread. So before she
• 17:09
  bakes it, she scores a design in the top of the loaf, and then
• 17:13
  when it's fresh out of the oven, she cuts the design loose, and
• 17:17
  it makes the most gorgeous designs, like flower petals that
• 17:21
  are like blooming or flapping butterfly wings.
• 17:23
  Emily: Oh my gosh.
• 17:25
  Heidi: And she adds color, they're so beautiful. They
• 17:27
  really are works of art, and it's super soothing to watch her
• 17:30
  work. I highly recommend her videos if you need a few minutes
• 17:34
  of calm.
• 17:35
  Emily: Okay, well, I'm checking that out for sure.
• 17:38
  Heidi: That's it for today's episode. Try knocking out one
• 17:41
  painless prep task this week, and don't forget to create that
• 17:44
  barrel task calendar.
• 17:46
  Emily: And if you want a complete roadmap for using those
• 17:49
  first crucial days of school to set yourself up for success all
• 17:52
  year long, check out our BTS Success course. It is an audio
• 17:56
  course that shows you exactly how to teach routines, build
• 17:59
  community and create systems that make your classroom run
• 18:03
  itself without spending your whole summer planning. We walk
• 18:07
  you through everything step by step so you can start strong and
• 18:10
  actually enjoy those first weeks back.
• 18:14
  Heidi: We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm
• 18:17
  Heidi.
• 18:18
  Emily: And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
• 18:21
  or subscribe in your podcast app so that you never miss an
• 18:23
  episode.
• 18:24
  Heidi: You can connect with us and other teachers in the
• 18:27
  Teacher Approved Facebook group. We'll see you here next week.
• 18:30
  Bye for now.
• 18:31
  Emily: Bye.