Feeling that back to school teacher stress creeping in? You’re not alone, and in this episode, we’re calling out six common traps that add unnecessary pressure at the start of the school year. From Pinterest-perfect classrooms to over-the-top prep, we’re giving you permission to say no to the overwhelm and yes to what really matters. Let’s simplify, reset, and start the year with intention.

Prefer to read? Grab the episode transcript and resources in the show notes here: https://www.secondstorywindow.net/podcast/back-to-school-teacher-stress/

Resources:

• First Day of School Lesson Plan and Planning Guide
• Colton Gentry's Third Act, by Jeff Zentner
• Join the Teacher Approved Club!
• Connect with us on Instagram @2ndstorywindow.
• Shop our teacher-approved resources.
• Join our Facebook group, Teacher Approved
• Leave your review on Apple Podcasts!

Related Episodes to Enjoy:

• Episode 81, 20 Teacher Approved Back to School Tips From Listeners
• Episode 143, The Easiest Back to School Tip
• Episode 194, Want a Smoother Back to School? Do These 5 Things Now
• Episode 201, 20 Easy Back-to-School Teacher Tasks You Can Totally Do From the Couch

Mentioned in this episode:

Is your class acting like spring break erased every expectation you've ever taught? Try the Teacher Approved Club free for 10 days and get this month's training on keeping expectations alive — plus last month's Quiet Your Chatty Class Challenge. Join at https://secondstorywindow.net/trial

This is episode 203 of Teacher Approved.

You're listening to Teacher Approved, the podcast helping

educators elevate what matters and simplify the rest. I'm

Heidi.

And I'm Emily. We're the creators behind Second Story

Window, where we give research based and teacher approved

strategies that make teaching less stressful and more

effective. You can check out the show notes and resources from

each episode at secondstorywindow.net.

We're so glad you're tuning in today. Let's get to

the show.

Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today's

episode, we are discussing six pressures that we are just

saying no to this summer, and sharing a teacher approved tip

for adding a little delight to your school day.

But first, it's time for Try It Tomorrow, a favorite

quick win that you can try in your life right away. Emily,

what is our suggestion for this week?

Well, for this week, why not try listing your wins for

the day? At the end of the day, or before you're up and going

the next morning, make a list of all the things you got done in

the day. If you're feeling the pressure that you're not doing

enough, seeing a list of everything you are doing can be

very freeing.

And don't feel like you have to limit yourself to just

the big stuff. Putting away the cereal that was left out or

remembering to send an email, these are all accomplishments

we're celebrating. You are doing better than you think you are.

I used to do a wins journal, and it really helped

me. I should get back to that.

I know I was thinking, I need to do that too.

I have some good wins for today. I'm gonna get on a

notebook. If you like this idea or anything else we share here

on the podcast, would you take a second and give us a five star

rating and review on Apple podcasts? Ratings and reviews

are one way that new listeners find us, so every rating and

review is a huge help to us.

Over the years, Emily and I have created an extensive

library of back to school products. To help you find the

tools that will make the start of your new year easier, today

we are spotlighting our first day and first week of school

planning guide.

We're really focused on helping teachers prep

intentionally and not haphazardly. So we put together

this guide to walk you step by step through how to create

thoughtful, effective plans for your first week of school.

A successful first day of school builds a powerful

momentum that will carry you through the following weeks and

months. This guide will help you create your own perfect plan for

the first day of school, and also show you how to extend that

plan into the first week.

Just think how awesome it will feel knowing that your

first week is already planned, prepared and ready to roll.

So check out the show notes for a link to our first

day of school lesson plan and planning guide.

Now I don't want to alarm anyone, but we are tiptoeing

into July now.

And that means, if it hasn't already started, the BTS

buzz is going to ramp up big time.

Even as we speak, stores are stocking shelves full of

notebooks and glue sticks and the cheap pencil boxes that will

fall apart by October, you know the ones I mean. But we're not

saying this to scare you. We want to prepare you.

Right. We want you to have a plan so when the ads pop

up on TV, or you turn the corner at the store and find yourselves

in front of the back to school aisles, you are prepared to face

down the beast without panic.

So in that moment when it's hard to breathe and it

feels like your stomach might drop out of your body, you need

to calm the part of your brain that thinks you're in danger.

Your eyes see notebooks, but your brain sees hungry tigers.

Those notebooks are a threat to your safety, so your brain

launches your survival reflexes.

Now, obviously, logically, we know we are not in

danger, but our brains are wired to perceive threats, and

thinking about school in July can feel very threatening. So

take back some control by breathing deeply. This signals

to your brain that you are not, in fact, about to be devoured by

an ambush of tigers. And I think that is an awesome collective

noun for the way that the back to school display might actually

make you feel.

I just learned something new today. I think that is a

collective noun that I did not know, an ambush of tigers. I

love it. But then you need to choose a loving phrase you can

repeat to yourself. So maybe something like this feels

threatening and urgent, but it's not. Or, I am on track. I have

all the time I need to get ready.

Because we know this moment is coming, we can make a

plan for how to respond when it inevitably happens, and we can

also prepare for how to react to the other front of this back to

school battle—social media pressure.

Yes, if you follow any teacher accounts, lots of

classroom content is headed your way soon. Not only might that

trigger your fight or flight response, but in order to

counter that panicky feeling, you might be tempted to do

whatever you see that other teacher is sharing.

Now, whatever you're seeing online might be a totally

great idea, but when you jump into something because you feel

alarmed, you're not choosing it because it is great. You're

choosing it because any kind of action feels like an antidote to

panic.

It makes sense why we do this. The obvious answer to

feeling out of control is to do something within your control,

right? But this is where we run into problems. We see the

teachers on our screens who seem prepared, who seem calm and

ready to go. That is exactly how I want to feel. So surely if I

just do what they're doing, I will also be prepared and calm

and ready to go.

And that sense of panic is so strong, it's so urgent, we

don't always stop to think if doing those things will actually

be the things that make us prepared. Then we spend lots of

time and energy and money on projects that are not moving the

needle.

And guess what that does to your sense of panic once

school is closer. It's not good. And that's how some of us end up

in the doctor with rashes and ulcers and dislocated jaws. But

not me, that one's you. Heidi.

Well, thankfully I did not do all of that in the same

year. I just, I like to spread out my stress injuries.

Well, our hope for all of you is zero doctor visits this

back to school season. I mean, that is really just a good goal

in general, but especially good during back to school season. So

we're going to avoid that by handling our stress in more

meaningful ways. One way we can do that is by recognizing that

just because something looks amazing on social media doesn't

mean it is fit for our classrooms.

Okay. So we are going to channel all of the messaging we

were taught in the 90s, and we're going to just say no to

these six social media pressures.

Let's start with the big one, the elaborate classroom

theme. You know, the ones, rainforest retreat, outer space

odyssey, 1950s diner or whatever the latest trend Tiktok has

dreamed up.

Themes like these can be incredibly fun. There's a huge

wow factor at meet the teacher night, when everyone wants to

poke their head in and see all of the fun decor. But decking

out a classroom is also incredibly expensive, time

consuming, and often not sustainable.

Yeah, a decked out room makes a big splash on day one,

but by October, your students won't even notice the palm

leaves or the Galaxy backdrop anymore. What will matter is how

they feel in your classroom, safe, welcome and known. If a

theme helps you get there and you love it, go for it. We would

never tell you not to.

But if it feels like something you have to do in

order to keep up, give yourself permission to say no, even if

the teacher across the hall has literal vines hanging from the

ceiling and your students ooh and ah as they walk past. You do

not have to deck out your room. Your classroom is not a

performance space. It's a place for real learning, real kids and

a real human teacher.

And if you do feel guilty for keeping it simple, remind

yourself that science actually backs you up on this. Studies

have demonstrated that overly decorated spaces detract from

student learning.

Yeah, those elaborate themes can actually keep

students from focusing on academic content, and they

create an environment where the decorations are competing with

learning objectives, so you can feel confident in saying no to

this with zero guilt.

So the second pressure that we are saying no to is the

pressure to laminate all the things. And we get the appeal

because we love a laminator. We each own our own personal

laminators. But the key to being the queen of lamination is

knowing what is lamination worthy.

Yeah, lamination takes a lot of work, and it can be

expensive if you're the one footing the bill. At my school,

we were literally charged by the foot for that. So save your

laminating for what really matters.

In order for laminating to be worthwhile, the pros of

doing it have to outweigh the cons. So Heidi, tell us what

some of the cons of laminating are.

Well, first of all, laminating is permanent. If you

decide you need to change something, there's not an easy

fix once it's all encased in plastic. Second, it can make it

hard for students to read. If you decide to laminate a chart,

for example, you will also have to spray it with that clear,

matte spray paint so that the kids can read it. Third, it

takes a lot of time to feed everything through the machine

and then cut it all out. And fourth, once paper is laminated,

it is probably not recyclable.

And don't forget that some teachers are cut, laminate,

cut kind of teachers, so that is, like, twice the amount. So

that is a big time commitment. Now, if it's something that your

kids will be handling all the time, then you probably do want

to laminate. But otherwise, save your time, save your money, save

your sanity, and just say no to over laminating.

Okay, what is the third pressure we're saying no to, Heidi?

This is the pressure to jump on the current trend. Every

year, a new must have or must do explodes across teacher

Instagram or Tiktok. I haven't quite spotted the one for this

year yet, but I'm sure it will show up soon. Do you remember

not too long ago the summer of brag tags, Emily?

Oh yes.

Or sticker stores or elaborate reward menus, or

investing in every conceivable form of flexible seating. It is

easy to think, if I don't do this, my classroom won't be good

enough, but the truth is that a lot of these trends are band

aids.

Yeah, these fun ideas look like solutions, but they

don't always solve any problems. Sometimes they just create more

problems. So if you're already overwhelmed, ask yourself, will

this new idea actually meet a need in my classroom, or does it

just give me something to control while I feel panicky?

Just remember, new is not always better. Sustainable, simple and

meaningful will always win in the long run.

Well, moving on, let's talk money. Social media loves a

color coordinated classroom—matching bins,

personalized water bottles, rainbow carts, charming lamps,

boho chic supply caddies, and adorable first day of school

gift bags for every student. But none of this is required. You do

not need to spend hundreds of dollars for your classroom to be

warm and welcoming.

And of course, those perfectly coordinated shelves do

look so cute in an Instagram reel. I definitely understand

the appeal. But you know what's even more valuable? A calm,

healthy teacher who still has enough money in the bank account

to pay for groceries. Connection doesn't come from fancy fonts

and Pinterest worthy baskets. It comes from you, the teacher,

your presence, your attention and your care.

There's another kind of pressure that creeps in when you

see other classrooms online looking finished and polished

before August even begins. It's the sort of thing that social

media is famous for, and this is the pressure to make everything

picture perfect before the first day.

You have seen these classrooms online, I'm sure.

Every bulletin board is styled, every space is labeled, every

inch of the walls are covered. But here's your permission slip.

It is okay to leave your walls blank. In fact, it can be

better. When your students walk in on the first day, they'll see

a space with room to grow. They'll see that their work will

matter, because it's going to fill the walls.

If you're worried that leaving empty space will make

your room look unready, just add a little touch. All you have to

do is print a sign that says, brilliant work coming soon. Or

watch this space for amazing ideas. This lets your students

know that this is our classroom, not just yours, and you're so

confident that they have great things ahead that you are

intentionally leaving room for that greatness.

And that brings us to the last pressure that we are saying

no to this one is the sneakiest, because it doesn't show up as a

to do list. It shows up as a feeling. And this is the

pressure to compare yourself.

Oh, we all know that feeling so well. You see another

teacher's classroom or lesson plan or first week schedule, and

you think, I'm already behind, but you are not. What you're

seeing is a moment, not the full story.

Right. Social media doesn't show the extra help that

teachers might have or the extra time they might have because

they're in a different season of life. You don't see their doubts

or their debt or their burnout, you just see the highlight reel.

So instead of comparing, connect and remind yourself that your

journey is valid, your timeline is okay. You are not behind. You

are building something real.

So let's sum it up this way. You don't have to perform

your teaching for anyone else. Your classroom doesn't need to

look like an Instagram post to be effective. You don't need to

do it all. You just need to do what matters for your kids and

for yourself.

So let's recap the six pressures that we are absolutely

saying no to this summer. Elaborate classroom themes that

you do not enjoy doing, laminating everything, whatever

the latest trend is that will take a lot of work and not solve

any real problems, spending lots on classroom setup, making your

classroom picture perfect, and comparing yourself.

The most prepared teachers focus on the invisible

work—understanding their students, planning meaningful

instruction and creating simple systems that support learning.

Social media makes the decorative work visible, but

it's the foundational work that actually serves students.

Your back to school prep should make the transition

easier, not heavier. If a task feels like it's for social

media, it probably is not essential. If it feels like it's

for your students or your own sanity, that is your compass.

Put your energy there and let the rest fade away. Now we would

love to hear what you are saying no to this summer. Come join the

conversation in our Teacher Approved Facebook group.

Now for our Teacher Approved Tip of the Week, where we share an

actionable tip to help you elevate what matters and

simplify the rest. This week's teacher approved tip is bring

back the lucky duck for some surprise and delight. So tell us

about this one, Heidi.

And we brought it up again in Episode 158 when we

I love this idea so much. We first talked about this back

in episode 114 and it's one of those tips that's so simple but

so effective. So this idea comes from crafttaycorner on

Instagram. The idea is that each day, you put a rubber duck on

one student's desk, and that student becomes the lucky duck

were talking about surprise and delight for team building. The

for the day.

lucky duck gets special privileges and responsibilities

for that day. Maybe they're the line leader. They get to choose

centers first, or they get extra technology time.

What I love about this is that it's not something that

your kids are earning or working toward, it's just pure surprise

and delight. You're just choosing someone to make their

day a little more special. And that kind of unexpected joy does

wonders for classroom morale.

And you can totally adapt this to fit your classroom.

Instead of set jobs, maybe the lucky duck gets to sit in a

special chair or spin a prize wheel. If this is the excuse you

needed to buy a prize wheel, you could do it for this. Or choose

the transition song. Really, anything that makes the child

feel special for the day is going to be such a morale boost.

And crafttaycorner does this all year long. We think it might

be even more impactful if you use it for just a few weeks here

and there. Makes it so special and unexpected.

Yeah, just makes sure everyone gets a turn before you

retire it, or you're gonna have some very disappointed kids.

Now, the reason we are bringing this up in the middle of summer,

and okay, we're not saying this is vital, but if you have been

to Michael's Crafts lately, you may have seen their wall of

rubber ducks. There are itty bitty, tiny ducks and giant

ducks and lots of regular sized ducks in cute and clever

costumes. Now there's absolutely no pressure. Remember, we are

saying no to things that don't serve us, but if you wanted an

excuse to buy those adorable ducks, you know this might be

your answer.

Yes, if this would serve you in your classroom, if not,

ignore us completely. But if it would, do this, okay. If we

haven't sold you yet on the lucky duck surprise and delight,

we've got some more duck based suggestions that you could use

your ducks for.

I don't know if anyone's ever said duck based suggestions

before.

Well, I did just have baby ducks in my yard, so this

is like perfect time for all the duck discussion. So if a student

gives a clever response, you could let them put a duck on

their desk as the, and I'm going to try and say this without

laughing, Waddle Great Idea Award.

Only thing better than a rubber duck is a duck pun.

So now their job would be to listen to other students

responses during the lesson, and pass the duck on to them. Just

make sure the duck is supporting good discussion and not

distracting from it. You'd have to be careful with this one.

Another slightly unhinged idea is to save a duck for when

the day is just falling apart. You know, when three kids are

melting down and someone spilled their entire water bottle and

you are questioning all of your life choices. Pull out a rubber

duck, hold it up, and then say something completely ridiculous,

like time for a quackitude adjustment, or according to duck

law, we all get to try again, and then you can shake things up

to reset the day.

That's amazing, hitting a reset button, but like, with

100% more silliness, and so that's just bound to turn

everybody's mood around. And sometimes we just need to

acknowledge that teaching is weird and wonderful, and a

rubber duck is the perfect mascot for that.

It's really such a small, pointless thing, but sometimes

the smallest gestures make the biggest difference in how kids

feel about being in your classroom. And also, if you ever

find yourself in a situation where you need someone to help

you justify a purchase, please reach out, because we are your

girls.

It's like the dad from my big frat Greek wedding, and

everybody can ask him about a word and say, How does this come

from Greek? Well, we are that person for weird ideas. Tell us

an idea, and we will connect it to how you can use it in the

classroom. I promise, we can come up with it. Bring it to the

Teacher Approved Facebook group. We got you.

To wrap up the show, we're sharing what we're giving

extra credit to this week. Emily, what gets you extra

credit?

I'm giving extra credit to the book Colton Gentry's

Third Act by Jeff Zenter, wait, Zentner, maybe that's how you

say it. Zentner?

That's a mouthful.

Yeah, a lot of consonants. It's about a former

Well, that's a good recommendation. I have not even

country music star who loses everything after speaking out

about gun violence, and he ends up back in his hometown, just

like trying to figure out what to do next after he's basically

heard of this book.

been kicked out of country music. And this book has

I think it just came out earlier this year, so it's newish.

heartbreak and humor and second chances, and just like a lot of

heart. I think you could probably consider this a rom com

read, but it's from the male main character's perspective,

which is unique, and honestly, probably not something I would

usually go for, but I loved it. It felt really fresh and fun.

Okay, well

What are you giving extra credit to, Heidi?

And I'm still thinking about it, which is very rare. I usually

finish a book, and a week later I can't even remember what it

was about.

I am giving extra credit to myself. I've ever done that.

I solved the stupidest problem, and I know it's really dumb, but

I'm so tickled with myself about this.

Okay, tell me.

So I have been doing this thing the past few weeks where

an hour after I go to bed, I wake up like dead out of my

sleep, like, did I remember to take my bedtime pills? And I

cannot remember. So then it's like, did I, uh... Now you're

probably thinking like, oh, Heidi, they have pill cases

exactly for this, which I do use at bedtime, for the pills that I

take every night. But then sometimes I have to take, like,

my allergy pills I have to take, depending on what the allergy

situation is. So it's very much like, I can't, I can't just have

a set plan. I have tried to think this through.

You need a plan, but it needs to be flexible.

Yes. So what I decided was, like, I needed something

random. Remember, we love a random thing here. I could have

got a rubber duck, that would have been perfect. So I I count

out my little pills every night into a ceramic dish, like I

bought a little trinket dish for it, because I've been using a

pill lid. And I thought, let's elevate this moment. Anyway. So

I got this little ceramic dish, and for my birthday, I took,

this is the stupidest thing, but I, we're going on this journey.

For my birthday a couple months ago, a lovely neighbor gifted me

a like, three inch quartz crystal necklace.

Oh, my.

And I'm sure there are women my age who could wear such

a thing, but I am not one of them. So I've been like, what do

I do with this giant pink quartz crystal necklace? So what I did

is I took it off the, I took the crystal off the chain, and I put

that so when I count my pills at night, I put the crystal in the

dish, and then after I take my pills, I put the crystal away so

I can remember. But this has worked out so well because it's

turned into this whole like sensory, weird moment of, like,

the crystals cold, so I have that like input for my brain,

and it makes a sound when it goes in the ceramic dish. I have

that other input, so I'm having all the sensory input so I can

remember that I did, in fact, take these dumb pills. So all of

that is to say, if you have something that you are

struggling to remember, give yourself a weird sensory cue

that goes with it so that you can remember if you've done it

or not. And you know, I've slept through the night, so I hope

everyone else can too.

Okay, so wait, so do you put it in the dish, then take

your pills, then take it out of the dish?

Yes. So I put it in the dish when I take the pills, and

it makes a little clink when it goes in. So it's like my so it's

like, my key to my brain. Sometimes you get on autopilot,

you know.

Oh yeah, constantly.

So that little clink has been a good little help. And

then I take the pills and I put the crystal away. So it's like,

if I, if the crystal was still in the dish, I could leave the

crystal there.

I think that's what I was wondering, of like, the how do

you...

But then I take the crystal away so that the next

day I have to put it back out so I remember, like, Yes, I did

count the pills out for that night.

Okay. So what if, what if, then you were, like, an hour

later, like, I think I remember the clink in the dish. But was

that yesterday or today? Or does that just not happen? Because it

feels like it just happened.

It hasn't happened so far, because, I think, because

that crystal is just so sensory, like it's heavy, it's cold, it

makes this separate sound. It's so big I can't

would make a statement as a necklace. So that has just

helped my brain shake up its autopilot a little bit.

Well, I think it's, our old lady is showing but it's

okay, because I have to take iron, but only every other day.

And so I struggle sometimes to be like, wait, what day did I,

did I take it yesterday or two days ago? And it sometimes

helps, because I keep it on a different shelf, so I have to,

like, remember the feeling of like, oh, yesterday did I get

that down? But maybe I can come up with something to help with

this. But every other day just makes it even more confusing.

Well, I'd be happy to buy you a crystal if you need one.

I think I'd rather have a duck, real or rubber. I don't

know that a real duck would help me.

No probably not.

Well that is an interesting point at the end of

this episode, there's the period on this.

We're just 200 episodes in, you know us too well by now.

Well, that is it for today's weird episode. Remember to just

say no to social media pressures as you're getting ready for the

school year, and you have our permission to buy all of the

silly rubber ducks you want, keep that in mind.

Snd crystal necklaces, apparently.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm

Heidi.

And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow

or subscribe in your podcast app so that you never miss an

episode.

You can connect with us and other teachers in the

Teacher Approved Facebook group. We'll see you here next week.

Bye for now.

Bye.