Latest / Teacher Approved: Elementary Teacher Tips & Strategies / 203. 6 Teacher Traps We’re Saying No to This Back-To-School Season

Transcript

203. 6 Teacher Traps We’re Saying No to This Back-To-School Season · Teacher Approved: Elementary Teacher Tips & Strategies

• 0:00
  Heidi: This is episode 203 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.
• 0:35
  Emily: Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today's
• 0:38
  episode, we are discussing six pressures that we are just
• 0:42
  saying no to this summer, and sharing a teacher approved tip
• 0:45
  for adding a little delight to your school day.
• 0:48
  Heidi: But first, it's time for Try It Tomorrow, a favorite
• 0:51
  quick win that you can try in your life right away. Emily,
• 0:54
  what is our suggestion for this week?
• 0:56
  Emily: Well, for this week, why not try listing your wins for
• 0:59
  the day? At the end of the day, or before you're up and going
• 1:02
  the next morning, make a list of all the things you got done in
• 1:05
  the day. If you're feeling the pressure that you're not doing
• 1:08
  enough, seeing a list of everything you are doing can be
• 1:11
  very freeing.
• 1:13
  Heidi: And don't feel like you have to limit yourself to just
• 1:18
  the big stuff. Putting away the cereal that was left out or
• 1:19
  remembering to send an email, these are all accomplishments
• 1:21
  we're celebrating. You are doing better than you think you are.
• 1:24
  Emily: I used to do a wins journal, and it really helped
• 1:27
  me. I should get back to that.
• 1:28
  Heidi: I know I was thinking, I need to do that too.
• 1:30
  Emily: I have some good wins for today. I'm gonna get on a
• 1:33
  notebook. If you like this idea or anything else we share here
• 1:36
  on the podcast, would you take a second and give us a five star
• 1:39
  rating and review on Apple podcasts? Ratings and reviews
• 1:43
  are one way that new listeners find us, so every rating and
• 1:46
  review is a huge help to us.
• 1:49
  Heidi: Over the years, Emily and I have created an extensive
• 1:51
  library of back to school products. To help you find the
• 1:54
  tools that will make the start of your new year easier, today
• 1:57
  we are spotlighting our first day and first week of school
• 2:00
  planning guide.
• 2:02
  Emily: We're really focused on helping teachers prep
• 2:04
  intentionally and not haphazardly. So we put together
• 2:08
  this guide to walk you step by step through how to create
• 2:11
  thoughtful, effective plans for your first week of school.
• 2:15
  Heidi: A successful first day of school builds a powerful
• 2:18
  momentum that will carry you through the following weeks and
• 2:20
  months. This guide will help you create your own perfect plan for
• 2:24
  the first day of school, and also show you how to extend that
• 2:27
  plan into the first week.
• 2:28
  Emily: Just think how awesome it will feel knowing that your
• 2:31
  first week is already planned, prepared and ready to roll.
• 2:35
  Heidi: So check out the show notes for a link to our first
• 2:37
  day of school lesson plan and planning guide.
• 2:39
  Emily: Now I don't want to alarm anyone, but we are tiptoeing
• 2:44
  into July now.
• 2:46
  Heidi: And that means, if it hasn't already started, the BTS
• 2:49
  buzz is going to ramp up big time.
• 2:52
  Emily: Even as we speak, stores are stocking shelves full of
• 2:55
  notebooks and glue sticks and the cheap pencil boxes that will
• 2:58
  fall apart by October, you know the ones I mean. But we're not
• 3:01
  saying this to scare you. We want to prepare you.
• 3:04
  Heidi: Right. We want you to have a plan so when the ads pop
• 3:07
  up on TV, or you turn the corner at the store and find yourselves
• 3:11
  in front of the back to school aisles, you are prepared to face
• 3:14
  down the beast without panic.
• 3:16
  Emily: So in that moment when it's hard to breathe and it
• 3:18
  feels like your stomach might drop out of your body, you need
• 3:22
  to calm the part of your brain that thinks you're in danger.
• 3:25
  Your eyes see notebooks, but your brain sees hungry tigers.
• 3:29
  Those notebooks are a threat to your safety, so your brain
• 3:32
  launches your survival reflexes.
• 3:35
  Heidi: Now, obviously, logically, we know we are not in
• 3:38
  danger, but our brains are wired to perceive threats, and
• 3:42
  thinking about school in July can feel very threatening. So
• 3:46
  take back some control by breathing deeply. This signals
• 3:50
  to your brain that you are not, in fact, about to be devoured by
• 3:53
  an ambush of tigers. And I think that is an awesome collective
• 3:57
  noun for the way that the back to school display might actually
• 4:00
  make you feel.
• 4:02
  Emily: I just learned something new today. I think that is a
• 4:04
  collective noun that I did not know, an ambush of tigers. I
• 4:06
  love it. But then you need to choose a loving phrase you can
• 4:11
  repeat to yourself. So maybe something like this feels
• 4:13
  threatening and urgent, but it's not. Or, I am on track. I have
• 4:18
  all the time I need to get ready.
• 4:20
  Heidi: Because we know this moment is coming, we can make a
• 4:23
  plan for how to respond when it inevitably happens, and we can
• 4:27
  also prepare for how to react to the other front of this back to
• 4:31
  school battle—social media pressure.
• 4:34
  Emily: Yes, if you follow any teacher accounts, lots of
• 4:37
  classroom content is headed your way soon. Not only might that
• 4:40
  trigger your fight or flight response, but in order to
• 4:43
  counter that panicky feeling, you might be tempted to do
• 4:46
  whatever you see that other teacher is sharing.
• 4:49
  Heidi: Now, whatever you're seeing online might be a totally
• 4:52
  great idea, but when you jump into something because you feel
• 4:55
  alarmed, you're not choosing it because it is great. You're
• 4:58
  choosing it because any kind of action feels like an antidote to
• 5:02
  panic.
• 5:03
  Emily: It makes sense why we do this. The obvious answer to
• 5:05
  feeling out of control is to do something within your control,
• 5:08
  right? But this is where we run into problems. We see the
• 5:11
  teachers on our screens who seem prepared, who seem calm and
• 5:14
  ready to go. That is exactly how I want to feel. So surely if I
• 5:18
  just do what they're doing, I will also be prepared and calm
• 5:21
  and ready to go.
• 5:23
  Heidi: And that sense of panic is so strong, it's so urgent, we
• 5:26
  don't always stop to think if doing those things will actually
• 5:30
  be the things that make us prepared. Then we spend lots of
• 5:33
  time and energy and money on projects that are not moving the
• 5:37
  needle.
• 5:38
  Emily: And guess what that does to your sense of panic once
• 5:40
  school is closer. It's not good. And that's how some of us end up
• 5:44
  in the doctor with rashes and ulcers and dislocated jaws. But
• 5:47
  not me, that one's you. Heidi.
• 5:50
  Heidi: Well, thankfully I did not do all of that in the same
• 5:52
  year. I just, I like to spread out my stress injuries.
• 5:56
  Emily: Well, our hope for all of you is zero doctor visits this
• 5:59
  back to school season. I mean, that is really just a good goal
• 6:02
  in general, but especially good during back to school season. So
• 6:06
  we're going to avoid that by handling our stress in more
• 6:09
  meaningful ways. One way we can do that is by recognizing that
• 6:12
  just because something looks amazing on social media doesn't
• 6:15
  mean it is fit for our classrooms.
• 6:18
  Heidi: Okay. So we are going to channel all of the messaging we
• 6:20
  were taught in the 90s, and we're going to just say no to
• 6:23
  these six social media pressures.
• 6:25
  Emily: Let's start with the big one, the elaborate classroom
• 6:29
  theme. You know, the ones, rainforest retreat, outer space
• 6:32
  odyssey, 1950s diner or whatever the latest trend Tiktok has
• 6:36
  dreamed up.
• 6:37
  Heidi: Themes like these can be incredibly fun. There's a huge
• 6:41
  wow factor at meet the teacher night, when everyone wants to
• 6:44
  poke their head in and see all of the fun decor. But decking
• 6:47
  out a classroom is also incredibly expensive, time
• 6:50
  consuming, and often not sustainable.
• 6:53
  Emily: Yeah, a decked out room makes a big splash on day one,
• 6:55
  but by October, your students won't even notice the palm
• 6:58
  leaves or the Galaxy backdrop anymore. What will matter is how
• 7:02
  they feel in your classroom, safe, welcome and known. If a
• 7:06
  theme helps you get there and you love it, go for it. We would
• 7:08
  never tell you not to.
• 7:10
  Heidi: But if it feels like something you have to do in
• 7:12
  order to keep up, give yourself permission to say no, even if
• 7:17
  the teacher across the hall has literal vines hanging from the
• 7:19
  ceiling and your students ooh and ah as they walk past. You do
• 7:23
  not have to deck out your room. Your classroom is not a
• 7:26
  performance space. It's a place for real learning, real kids and
• 7:30
  a real human teacher.
• 7:31
  Emily: And if you do feel guilty for keeping it simple, remind
• 7:34
  yourself that science actually backs you up on this. Studies
• 7:38
  have demonstrated that overly decorated spaces detract from
• 7:41
  student learning.
• 7:42
  Heidi: Yeah, those elaborate themes can actually keep
• 7:45
  students from focusing on academic content, and they
• 7:48
  create an environment where the decorations are competing with
• 7:50
  learning objectives, so you can feel confident in saying no to
• 7:54
  this with zero guilt.
• 7:56
  Emily: So the second pressure that we are saying no to is the
• 7:59
  pressure to laminate all the things. And we get the appeal
• 8:02
  because we love a laminator. We each own our own personal
• 8:06
  laminators. But the key to being the queen of lamination is
• 8:09
  knowing what is lamination worthy.
• 8:12
  Heidi: Yeah, lamination takes a lot of work, and it can be
• 8:14
  expensive if you're the one footing the bill. At my school,
• 8:18
  we were literally charged by the foot for that. So save your
• 8:21
  laminating for what really matters.
• 8:24
  Emily: In order for laminating to be worthwhile, the pros of
• 8:27
  doing it have to outweigh the cons. So Heidi, tell us what
• 8:29
  some of the cons of laminating are.
• 8:32
  Heidi: Well, first of all, laminating is permanent. If you
• 8:35
  decide you need to change something, there's not an easy
• 8:37
  fix once it's all encased in plastic. Second, it can make it
• 8:41
  hard for students to read. If you decide to laminate a chart,
• 8:44
  for example, you will also have to spray it with that clear,
• 8:47
  matte spray paint so that the kids can read it. Third, it
• 8:50
  takes a lot of time to feed everything through the machine
• 8:53
  and then cut it all out. And fourth, once paper is laminated,
• 8:57
  it is probably not recyclable.
• 8:58
  Emily: And don't forget that some teachers are cut, laminate,
• 9:02
  cut kind of teachers, so that is, like, twice the amount. So
• 9:06
  that is a big time commitment. Now, if it's something that your
• 9:09
  kids will be handling all the time, then you probably do want
• 9:12
  to laminate. But otherwise, save your time, save your money, save
• 9:15
  your sanity, and just say no to over laminating.
• 9:19
  Okay, what is the third pressure we're saying no to, Heidi?
• 9:22
  Heidi: This is the pressure to jump on the current trend. Every
• 9:26
  year, a new must have or must do explodes across teacher
• 9:29
  Instagram or Tiktok. I haven't quite spotted the one for this
• 9:32
  year yet, but I'm sure it will show up soon. Do you remember
• 9:35
  not too long ago the summer of brag tags, Emily?
• 9:37
  Emily: Oh yes.
• 9:39
  Heidi: Or sticker stores or elaborate reward menus, or
• 9:43
  investing in every conceivable form of flexible seating. It is
• 9:47
  easy to think, if I don't do this, my classroom won't be good
• 9:50
  enough, but the truth is that a lot of these trends are band
• 9:54
  aids.
• 9:54
  Emily: Yeah, these fun ideas look like solutions, but they
• 9:57
  don't always solve any problems. Sometimes they just create more
• 10:00
  problems. So if you're already overwhelmed, ask yourself, will
• 10:04
  this new idea actually meet a need in my classroom, or does it
• 10:07
  just give me something to control while I feel panicky?
• 10:11
  Just remember, new is not always better. Sustainable, simple and
• 10:14
  meaningful will always win in the long run.
• 10:17
  Heidi: Well, moving on, let's talk money. Social media loves a
• 10:21
  color coordinated classroom—matching bins,
• 10:24
  personalized water bottles, rainbow carts, charming lamps,
• 10:28
  boho chic supply caddies, and adorable first day of school
• 10:31
  gift bags for every student. But none of this is required. You do
• 10:35
  not need to spend hundreds of dollars for your classroom to be
• 10:38
  warm and welcoming.
• 10:39
  Emily: And of course, those perfectly coordinated shelves do
• 10:42
  look so cute in an Instagram reel. I definitely understand
• 10:46
  the appeal. But you know what's even more valuable? A calm,
• 10:48
  healthy teacher who still has enough money in the bank account
• 10:51
  to pay for groceries. Connection doesn't come from fancy fonts
• 10:56
  and Pinterest worthy baskets. It comes from you, the teacher,
• 10:59
  your presence, your attention and your care.
• 11:03
  Heidi: There's another kind of pressure that creeps in when you
• 11:06
  see other classrooms online looking finished and polished
• 11:08
  before August even begins. It's the sort of thing that social
• 11:12
  media is famous for, and this is the pressure to make everything
• 11:15
  picture perfect before the first day.
• 11:18
  Emily: You have seen these classrooms online, I'm sure.
• 11:20
  Every bulletin board is styled, every space is labeled, every
• 11:24
  inch of the walls are covered. But here's your permission slip.
• 11:28
  It is okay to leave your walls blank. In fact, it can be
• 11:32
  better. When your students walk in on the first day, they'll see
• 11:34
  a space with room to grow. They'll see that their work will
• 11:38
  matter, because it's going to fill the walls.
• 11:41
  Heidi: If you're worried that leaving empty space will make
• 11:43
  your room look unready, just add a little touch. All you have to
• 11:46
  do is print a sign that says, brilliant work coming soon. Or
• 11:50
  watch this space for amazing ideas. This lets your students
• 11:53
  know that this is our classroom, not just yours, and you're so
• 11:57
  confident that they have great things ahead that you are
• 12:00
  intentionally leaving room for that greatness.
• 12:03
  Emily: And that brings us to the last pressure that we are saying
• 12:06
  no to this one is the sneakiest, because it doesn't show up as a
• 12:10
  to do list. It shows up as a feeling. And this is the
• 12:13
  pressure to compare yourself.
• 12:16
  Heidi: Oh, we all know that feeling so well. You see another
• 12:19
  teacher's classroom or lesson plan or first week schedule, and
• 12:22
  you think, I'm already behind, but you are not. What you're
• 12:26
  seeing is a moment, not the full story.
• 12:29
  Emily: Right. Social media doesn't show the extra help that
• 12:32
  teachers might have or the extra time they might have because
• 12:34
  they're in a different season of life. You don't see their doubts
• 12:37
  or their debt or their burnout, you just see the highlight reel.
• 12:41
  So instead of comparing, connect and remind yourself that your
• 12:45
  journey is valid, your timeline is okay. You are not behind. You
• 12:49
  are building something real.
• 12:50
  Heidi: So let's sum it up this way. You don't have to perform
• 12:54
  your teaching for anyone else. Your classroom doesn't need to
• 12:58
  look like an Instagram post to be effective. You don't need to
• 13:00
  do it all. You just need to do what matters for your kids and
• 13:04
  for yourself.
• 13:05
  Emily: So let's recap the six pressures that we are absolutely
• 13:08
  saying no to this summer. Elaborate classroom themes that
• 13:12
  you do not enjoy doing, laminating everything, whatever
• 13:17
  the latest trend is that will take a lot of work and not solve
• 13:19
  any real problems, spending lots on classroom setup, making your
• 13:24
  classroom picture perfect, and comparing yourself.
• 13:27
  Heidi: The most prepared teachers focus on the invisible
• 13:32
  work—understanding their students, planning meaningful
• 13:34
  instruction and creating simple systems that support learning.
• 13:38
  Social media makes the decorative work visible, but
• 13:41
  it's the foundational work that actually serves students.
• 13:43
  Emily: Your back to school prep should make the transition
• 13:46
  easier, not heavier. If a task feels like it's for social
• 13:49
  media, it probably is not essential. If it feels like it's
• 13:52
  for your students or your own sanity, that is your compass.
• 13:56
  Put your energy there and let the rest fade away. Now we would
• 14:00
  love to hear what you are saying no to this summer. Come join the
• 14:03
  conversation in our Teacher Approved Facebook group.
• 14:08
  Now for our Teacher Approved Tip of the Week, where we share an
• 14:10
  actionable tip to help you elevate what matters and
• 14:13
  simplify the rest. This week's teacher approved tip is bring
• 14:17
  back the lucky duck for some surprise and delight. So tell us
• 14:19
  about this one, Heidi.
• 14:21
  Emily: And we brought it up again in Episode 158 when we
• 14:21
  Heidi: I love this idea so much. We first talked about this back
• 14:24
  in episode 114 and it's one of those tips that's so simple but
• 14:28
  so effective. So this idea comes from crafttaycorner on
• 14:31
  Instagram. The idea is that each day, you put a rubber duck on
• 14:35
  one student's desk, and that student becomes the lucky duck
• 14:36
  were talking about surprise and delight for team building. The
• 14:38
  for the day.
• 14:46
  lucky duck gets special privileges and responsibilities
• 14:48
  for that day. Maybe they're the line leader. They get to choose
• 14:53
  centers first, or they get extra technology time.
• 14:56
  Heidi: What I love about this is that it's not something that
• 14:58
  your kids are earning or working toward, it's just pure surprise
• 15:02
  and delight. You're just choosing someone to make their
• 15:05
  day a little more special. And that kind of unexpected joy does
• 15:08
  wonders for classroom morale.
• 15:10
  Emily: And you can totally adapt this to fit your classroom.
• 15:12
  Instead of set jobs, maybe the lucky duck gets to sit in a
• 15:15
  special chair or spin a prize wheel. If this is the excuse you
• 15:20
  needed to buy a prize wheel, you could do it for this. Or choose
• 15:23
  the transition song. Really, anything that makes the child
• 15:27
  feel special for the day is going to be such a morale boost.
• 15:30
  And crafttaycorner does this all year long. We think it might
• 15:33
  be even more impactful if you use it for just a few weeks here
• 15:37
  and there. Makes it so special and unexpected.
• 15:40
  Heidi: Yeah, just makes sure everyone gets a turn before you
• 15:43
  retire it, or you're gonna have some very disappointed kids.
• 15:46
  Now, the reason we are bringing this up in the middle of summer,
• 15:49
  and okay, we're not saying this is vital, but if you have been
• 15:53
  to Michael's Crafts lately, you may have seen their wall of
• 15:56
  rubber ducks. There are itty bitty, tiny ducks and giant
• 15:59
  ducks and lots of regular sized ducks in cute and clever
• 16:02
  costumes. Now there's absolutely no pressure. Remember, we are
• 16:06
  saying no to things that don't serve us, but if you wanted an
• 16:11
  excuse to buy those adorable ducks, you know this might be
• 16:13
  your answer.
• 16:15
  Emily: Yes, if this would serve you in your classroom, if not,
• 16:18
  ignore us completely. But if it would, do this, okay. If we
• 16:23
  haven't sold you yet on the lucky duck surprise and delight,
• 16:26
  we've got some more duck based suggestions that you could use
• 16:29
  your ducks for.
• 16:30
  Heidi: I don't know if anyone's ever said duck based suggestions
• 16:33
  before.
• 16:35
  Emily: Well, I did just have baby ducks in my yard, so this
• 16:37
  is like perfect time for all the duck discussion. So if a student
• 16:42
  gives a clever response, you could let them put a duck on
• 16:44
  their desk as the, and I'm going to try and say this without
• 16:48
  laughing, Waddle Great Idea Award.
• 16:52
  Heidi: Only thing better than a rubber duck is a duck pun.
• 16:56
  Emily: So now their job would be to listen to other students
• 17:00
  responses during the lesson, and pass the duck on to them. Just
• 17:04
  make sure the duck is supporting good discussion and not
• 17:06
  distracting from it. You'd have to be careful with this one.
• 17:09
  Heidi: Another slightly unhinged idea is to save a duck for when
• 17:13
  the day is just falling apart. You know, when three kids are
• 17:17
  melting down and someone spilled their entire water bottle and
• 17:20
  you are questioning all of your life choices. Pull out a rubber
• 17:24
  duck, hold it up, and then say something completely ridiculous,
• 17:27
  like time for a quackitude adjustment, or according to duck
• 17:33
  law, we all get to try again, and then you can shake things up
• 17:36
  to reset the day.
• 17:39
  Emily: That's amazing, hitting a reset button, but like, with
• 17:42
  100% more silliness, and so that's just bound to turn
• 17:45
  everybody's mood around. And sometimes we just need to
• 17:49
  acknowledge that teaching is weird and wonderful, and a
• 17:51
  rubber duck is the perfect mascot for that.
• 17:54
  Heidi: It's really such a small, pointless thing, but sometimes
• 17:57
  the smallest gestures make the biggest difference in how kids
• 18:00
  feel about being in your classroom. And also, if you ever
• 18:04
  find yourself in a situation where you need someone to help
• 18:06
  you justify a purchase, please reach out, because we are your
• 18:09
  girls.
• 18:10
  Emily: It's like the dad from my big frat Greek wedding, and
• 18:13
  everybody can ask him about a word and say, How does this come
• 18:16
  from Greek? Well, we are that person for weird ideas. Tell us
• 18:21
  an idea, and we will connect it to how you can use it in the
• 18:24
  classroom. I promise, we can come up with it. Bring it to the
• 18:27
  Teacher Approved Facebook group. We got you.
• 18:30
  Heidi: To wrap up the show, we're sharing what we're giving
• 18:32
  extra credit to this week. Emily, what gets you extra
• 18:33
  credit?
• 18:33
  Emily: I'm giving extra credit to the book Colton Gentry's
• 18:38
  Third Act by Jeff Zenter, wait, Zentner, maybe that's how you
• 18:42
  say it. Zentner?
• 18:43
  Heidi: That's a mouthful.
• 18:43
  Emily: Yeah, a lot of consonants. It's about a former
• 18:44
  Well, that's a good recommendation. I have not even
• 18:46
  country music star who loses everything after speaking out
• 18:49
  about gun violence, and he ends up back in his hometown, just
• 18:52
  like trying to figure out what to do next after he's basically
• 18:54
  heard of this book.
• 18:56
  been kicked out of country music. And this book has
• 18:58
  I think it just came out earlier this year, so it's newish.
• 18:58
  heartbreak and humor and second chances, and just like a lot of
• 19:02
  heart. I think you could probably consider this a rom com
• 19:05
  read, but it's from the male main character's perspective,
• 19:08
  which is unique, and honestly, probably not something I would
• 19:11
  usually go for, but I loved it. It felt really fresh and fun.
• 19:11
  Heidi: Okay, well
• 19:15
  Emily: What are you giving extra credit to, Heidi?
• 19:15
  And I'm still thinking about it, which is very rare. I usually
• 19:18
  finish a book, and a week later I can't even remember what it
• 19:21
  was about.
• 19:24
  Heidi: I am giving extra credit to myself. I've ever done that.
• 19:36
  I solved the stupidest problem, and I know it's really dumb, but
• 19:40
  I'm so tickled with myself about this.
• 19:43
  Emily: Okay, tell me.
• 19:44
  Heidi: So I have been doing this thing the past few weeks where
• 19:49
  an hour after I go to bed, I wake up like dead out of my
• 19:52
  sleep, like, did I remember to take my bedtime pills? And I
• 19:57
  cannot remember. So then it's like, did I, uh... Now you're
• 20:00
  probably thinking like, oh, Heidi, they have pill cases
• 20:03
  exactly for this, which I do use at bedtime, for the pills that I
• 20:08
  take every night. But then sometimes I have to take, like,
• 20:11
  my allergy pills I have to take, depending on what the allergy
• 20:14
  situation is. So it's very much like, I can't, I can't just have
• 20:17
  a set plan. I have tried to think this through.
• 20:20
  Emily: You need a plan, but it needs to be flexible.
• 20:23
  Heidi: Yes. So what I decided was, like, I needed something
• 20:25
  random. Remember, we love a random thing here. I could have
• 20:28
  got a rubber duck, that would have been perfect. So I I count
• 20:31
  out my little pills every night into a ceramic dish, like I
• 20:35
  bought a little trinket dish for it, because I've been using a
• 20:37
  pill lid. And I thought, let's elevate this moment. Anyway. So
• 20:40
  I got this little ceramic dish, and for my birthday, I took,
• 20:44
  this is the stupidest thing, but I, we're going on this journey.
• 20:48
  For my birthday a couple months ago, a lovely neighbor gifted me
• 20:51
  a like, three inch quartz crystal necklace.
• 20:55
  Emily: Oh, my.
• 20:56
  Heidi: And I'm sure there are women my age who could wear such
• 20:58
  a thing, but I am not one of them. So I've been like, what do
• 21:02
  I do with this giant pink quartz crystal necklace? So what I did
• 21:06
  is I took it off the, I took the crystal off the chain, and I put
• 21:10
  that so when I count my pills at night, I put the crystal in the
• 21:15
  dish, and then after I take my pills, I put the crystal away so
• 21:18
  I can remember. But this has worked out so well because it's
• 21:23
  turned into this whole like sensory, weird moment of, like,
• 21:27
  the crystals cold, so I have that like input for my brain,
• 21:30
  and it makes a sound when it goes in the ceramic dish. I have
• 21:32
  that other input, so I'm having all the sensory input so I can
• 21:35
  remember that I did, in fact, take these dumb pills. So all of
• 21:39
  that is to say, if you have something that you are
• 21:41
  struggling to remember, give yourself a weird sensory cue
• 21:45
  that goes with it so that you can remember if you've done it
• 21:50
  or not. And you know, I've slept through the night, so I hope
• 21:51
  everyone else can too.
• 21:52
  Emily: Okay, so wait, so do you put it in the dish, then take
• 21:52
  your pills, then take it out of the dish?
• 21:52
  Heidi: Yes. So I put it in the dish when I take the pills, and
• 21:56
  it makes a little clink when it goes in. So it's like my so it's
• 22:02
  like, my key to my brain. Sometimes you get on autopilot,
• 22:05
  you know.
• 22:05
  Emily: Oh yeah, constantly.
• 22:07
  Heidi: So that little clink has been a good little help. And
• 22:10
  then I take the pills and I put the crystal away. So it's like,
• 22:13
  if I, if the crystal was still in the dish, I could leave the
• 22:16
  crystal there.
• 22:17
  Emily: I think that's what I was wondering, of like, the how do
• 22:20
  you...
• 22:20
  Heidi: But then I take the crystal away so that the next
• 22:23
  day I have to put it back out so I remember, like, Yes, I did
• 22:26
  count the pills out for that night.
• 22:29
  Emily: Okay. So what if, what if, then you were, like, an hour
• 22:32
  later, like, I think I remember the clink in the dish. But was
• 22:37
  that yesterday or today? Or does that just not happen? Because it
• 22:38
  feels like it just happened.
• 22:40
  Heidi: It hasn't happened so far, because, I think, because
• 22:44
  that crystal is just so sensory, like it's heavy, it's cold, it
• 22:47
  makes this separate sound. It's so big I can't
• 22:53
  would make a statement as a necklace. So that has just
• 22:57
  helped my brain shake up its autopilot a little bit.
• 22:58
  Emily: Well, I think it's, our old lady is showing but it's
• 23:01
  okay, because I have to take iron, but only every other day.
• 23:05
  And so I struggle sometimes to be like, wait, what day did I,
• 23:08
  did I take it yesterday or two days ago? And it sometimes
• 23:11
  helps, because I keep it on a different shelf, so I have to,
• 23:15
  like, remember the feeling of like, oh, yesterday did I get
• 23:18
  that down? But maybe I can come up with something to help with
• 23:22
  this. But every other day just makes it even more confusing.
• 23:23
  Heidi: Well, I'd be happy to buy you a crystal if you need one.
• 23:28
  Emily: I think I'd rather have a duck, real or rubber. I don't
• 23:38
  know that a real duck would help me.
• 23:39
  Heidi: No probably not.
• 23:44
  Emily: Well that is an interesting point at the end of
• 23:46
  this episode, there's the period on this.
• 23:49
  Heidi: We're just 200 episodes in, you know us too well by now.
• 23:52
  Well, that is it for today's weird episode. Remember to just
• 23:58
  say no to social media pressures as you're getting ready for the
• 24:01
  school year, and you have our permission to buy all of the
• 24:04
  silly rubber ducks you want, keep that in mind.
• 24:06
  Emily: Snd crystal necklaces, apparently.
• 24:12
  Heidi: We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm
• 24:15
  Heidi.
• 24:16
  Emily: And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
• 24:19
  or subscribe in your podcast app so that you never miss an
• 24:22
  episode.
• 24:22
  Heidi: You can connect with us and other teachers in the
• 24:25
  Teacher Approved Facebook group. We'll see you here next week.
• 24:28
  Bye for now.
• 24:29
  Emily: Bye.