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242. 6 Small Tweaks That Can Save Your February Teacher Energy
26th January 2026 • Teacher Approved: Elementary Teacher Tips & Strategies • Heidi and Emily, Elementary School Teacher and Resource Designer
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January is tough, but February can be a surprisingly powerful reset if you know how to use it. In this episode, we share why this month often feels draining, how hidden energy leaks show up across your day, and how a simple February energy audit can help you make small, strategic shifts that protect your time and capacity. Our goal is to help you stop drifting through February and start using it to refill your tank before the rest of the year ramps up.

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

Resources:

  1. February Teacher Survival Kit
  2. Join the Teacher Approved Club!
  3. BlueAir humidifier
  4. Hinge toppers
  5. Connect with us on Instagram @2ndstorywindow.
  6. Shop our teacher-approved resources.
  7. Join our Facebook group, Teacher Approved
  8. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
  9. Leave a comment or rating on Spotify.

Related Episodes to Enjoy:

  1. Episode 48. How to Make Classroom Transitions Simple with Clear Beginnings and Endings
  2. Episode 49. Rapid Classroom Transitions: How to Save 45 Hours a Year
  3. Episode 50. 3 Guidelines to Make Classroom Transitions Work Smarter Not Harder
  4. Episode 161, How to Get Students Actively Engaged: 5 Teacher Approved Techniques

Mentioned in this episode:

Try the Teacher Approved Club free for 10 days and get one perfectly timed, research-backed strategy each month—plus support from Heidi and Emily to help you actually use it when it matters most. Start your free trial at https://secondstorywindow.net/trial

Transcripts

Heidi:

This is episode 242 of Teacher Approved.

Heidi:

You're listening to Teacher Approved, the podcast helping

Heidi:

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

Heidi:

Heidi.

Emily:

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

Emily:

Window, where we give research based and teacher approved

Emily:

strategies that make teaching less stressful and more

Emily:

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

Emily:

each episode at secondstorywindow.net.

Heidi:

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

Heidi:

the show.

Emily:

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

Emily:

episode, we are talking about how to manage your energy so

Emily:

that you can have the best February yet. Plus, we're

Emily:

sharing a Teacher Approved tip that might be a little

Emily:

controversial, but has the power to change your whole month.

Heidi:

But first, let's start with a try it tomorrow, where we

Heidi:

share a quick win that you can try in your classroom right

Heidi:

away. Emily, what is our suggestion for this week?

Emily:

This week, how about sending a 'one good thing text.'

Emily:

At the end of your school day, you know, like before you leave

Emily:

the building, or right when you get home, text one person and

Emily:

share something good that happened that day.

Heidi:

Now your good thing does not have to be big. It could be,

Heidi:

oh, a kid who's been struggling finally got something today, or

Heidi:

I actually ate lunch sitting down, which is always a win. But

Heidi:

the magic is that this forces your brain to scan the day,

Heidi:

looking for something good, and then sharing it doubles the

Heidi:

boost.

Emily:

And this is especially helpful this time of year when

Emily:

the days are gray and cold and dark and it's easy to just drive

Emily:

home and replay everything that went wrong in your head. So try

Emily:

this tomorrow or hey, today, depending on when you're

Emily:

listening, pick one of your favorite people and send them

Emily:

one good thing from today.

Heidi:

And if you find that this podcast is one of your good

Heidi:

things, would you take a second to leave us a five star rating

Heidi:

and review in your podcast app? It really helps other teachers

Heidi:

find us and we read and appreciate every single one.

Emily:

And you can include it in your one good thing text, if you

Emily:

want when you text.

Emily:

All right, Heidi, so can you believe it? It is almost

Emily:

February. I feel like January is 1 million years long. So it does

Emily:

feel like a relief to get here after the slog of January.

Heidi:

Oh yeah. It is the worst. Fully the worst. When I was

Heidi:

teaching, January was my least favorite stretch of the entire

Heidi:

school year. Nothing else even came close to how much I hated

Heidi:

it, because I would come back from Christmas break. You know,

Heidi:

you're already mourning the loss of the break being over, and you

Heidi:

come back and the festive December sparkle is all gone,

Heidi:

and immediately I would have to jump into catching up my

Heidi:

mountain of grading.

Emily:

Yes, because in our district, term two didn't end

Emily:

until that first week back. And so that meant when we got back

Emily:

the report cards and the parent conferences were just there

Emily:

waiting for us right out of the gate.

Heidi:

And now, if I'd been on top of it, this would have been

Heidi:

something I did before the break, but that happened exactly

Heidi:

zero times. And when we had conferences, we did not have it

Heidi:

easy, like these young teachers nowadays, like we did not have

Heidi:

half days for conferences for us.

Emily:

No, no, and, and I don't know if it's just around here

Emily:

that they're getting those half days. Maybe some people are

Emily:

suffering the way we used to suffer, but it was a long day.

Heidi:

Yeah, we had to go straight through. So we taught

Heidi:

all day, and then we had conferences 3:15 to 9. And if

Heidi:

you were lucky, at some point, you got 15 minutes to sneak away

Heidi:

for some PTA prepared lasagnas in the faculty room. And you

Heidi:

just had to hope there was food left by the time you got the

Heidi:

time you got in there.

Emily:

Right. And I usually had a few conferences before school

Emily:

too. So it was, it was a marathon day. And, you know, we

Emily:

deserve some kind of reward for having to do that in the

Emily:

beginning of January, especially.

Heidi:

Yeah, or, you know, some bonus pay or something.

Emily:

Ha! Wouldn't that be nice? Well, on top of ending the

Emily:

semester, January brings all the mid year reset pressure too,

Emily:

which is important. And we talk about doing mid year resets for

Emily:

sure, but it can feel like another big thing to manage. And

Emily:

while you're trying to fix everything that drifted off

Emily:

course in September, your students are also crawling out

Emily:

of their skin because of the cabin fever.

Heidi:

Yeah, it's relentless this time of year. I remember

Heidi:

finally making it to February and just being in this fog where

Heidi:

I was hopping from task to task with no real strategy, you know,

Heidi:

just moving the stacks of paper around the room.

Emily:

Yeah, and for me, it was the grading, because I hate

Emily:

grading, I'd put it off, and then I'd finally catch them in

Emily:

January, and then immediately fall behind again, because I had

Emily:

dropped everything else to do the catching up on the grading.

Emily:

And you know, it's just a vicious cycle.

Heidi:

Now, looking back with some perspective, I can see

Heidi:

though, that February offered some opportunities that I

Heidi:

completely overlooked. You know, the conferences were done for a

Heidi:

couple of months, the mid year reset push was winding down, but

Heidi:

the testing panic had not kicked in yet.

Emily:

Yeah, you do kind of get a bit of breathing room here,

Emily:

but often you're so drained that you kind of just drift through

Emily:

it.

Heidi:

That is what I wish I had understood back then, February

Heidi:

can be such a gift if you are aware enough to take stock of

Heidi:

where you are and where you want to go.

Emily:

That's actually why it's so important to think about the

Emily:

school year in seasons, because February needs something very

Emily:

different than December or March.

Heidi:

This is the lens that we use inside the Teacher Approved

Heidi:

Club to help you decide what actually matters right now,

Heidi:

instead of trying to fix everything at once. So we are

Heidi:

going to apply that same framework to our discussion

Heidi:

today. We want you to have the kind of February that we didn't

Heidi:

get to have.

Emily:

That starts with reflecting on what you need from

Emily:

the month and how you can use it to make teaching more

Emily:

sustainable. So back in December, we shared our December

Emily:

teacher survival kit to help you make a plan for how to manage

Emily:

planning and teaching and hyper kids and prepare for January all

Emily:

at the same time. And we got some very lovely feedback that

Emily:

we wanted to share about that resource.

Heidi:

Yeah, Jonathan reached out, and he said, I've been

Heidi:

teaching for 14 years, and I recently came across your

Heidi:

December Survival Guide, which I purchased. I just wanted to tell

Heidi:

you thank you so much for this product, because this has been

Heidi:

the quietest, calmest winter break I've ever had. I've not

Heidi:

thought about school at all, and have just been able to relax

Heidi:

because I know everything is all set from the prep I did through

Heidi:

your guide.

Emily:

I love it so much. Thank you for sharing that with us,

Emily:

Jonathan. Kind of got a little teary the first time I read it,

Emily:

because that's exactly what we hope the December guide will do

Emily:

for you. So we got to thinking about what teachers might need

Emily:

in February, because even though the challenges look different,

Emily:

the weight this time of year isn't any easier to carry.

Heidi:

And so, allow us to introduce our newest product,

Heidi:

the very cleverly named, February Teacher Survival Kit.

Emily:

Hey, it's a good name. It says what it is.

Heidi:

It is, you can, you know exactly what you're getting.

Heidi:

Now, this is much smaller than the December version, because

Heidi:

there are fewer moving pieces this time of year, but we wanted

Heidi:

to give you the tools that you need to take advantage of this

Heidi:

little reset that February can offer.

Emily:

So there are 14 exercises, and they're organized

Emily:

into five planning categories: evaluate, clarify, plan, sustain

Emily:

and look ahead. And those will give you the perspective you

Emily:

need to take advantage of this moment without adding to your

Emily:

overwhelm. Unfortunately, we can't go into all of them in the

Emily:

time that we have today. So we had to pick the one we think is

Emily:

the most important.

Heidi:

This was a tough decision, but we finally decided

Heidi:

that the February energy audit was the key to making everything

Heidi:

else work. By this time of year, teachers are often moving

Heidi:

through the day on autopilot. You know that feeling. It is

Heidi:

very likely that some of the things you are doing right now

Heidi:

could be easier with just a few tweaks.

Emily:

Especially if you can plug any energy leaks. An energy

Emily:

leak is a repeating drain that costs more than it should. It's

Emily:

often invisible because it's just part of the regular

Emily:

routine.

Heidi:

So these are things like that afternoon transition that

Heidi:

takes five minutes longer than it should. I just felt my blood

Heidi:

pressure spike, just thinking about it. Or, you know, it's the

Heidi:

email that you check real quick that pulls you out of your

Heidi:

morning prep, or it's the crating that follows you on

Heidi:

because you couldn't get it done during your planning time.

Emily:

What makes energy leaks sneaky is that they don't feel

Emily:

like emergencies. You don't notice because nothing is

Emily:

forcing you to really look, you're just trying to get

Emily:

through but every one of them is depleting your battery like an

Emily:

open app that's running in the background.

Heidi:

Okay, so here's how we're going to make this energy audit

Heidi:

work in an audio form. We're going to walk through six areas

Heidi:

of your day where energy leaks tend to hide, and for each one,

Heidi:

we want you to rate it like a traffic light. So green means

Heidi:

that this area is working, and these are the things that you

Heidi:

want to work hard to protect.

Emily:

But if you're rating somewhere is yellow, it means

Emily:

it's draining more than it should, and something here could

Emily:

probably be better. And obviously, if you go to red, it

Emily:

means this is actively costing you, and something that needs to

Emily:

change.

Heidi:

So you can do this right now as we go through the

Heidi:

episode, you know, in your car, on your commute, just listen and

Heidi:

rate each area in your head.

Emily:

Although if you're the type who needs to write things

Emily:

down, you maybe want to wait until you're parked, or you can

Emily:

listen and then maybe at the end, come back and zip through

Emily:

and write down what you want to write down, because we do not

Heidi:

Yes, no accidents, please. It's a hot take, but

Heidi:

want to be responsible for any accidents.

Heidi:

that's what we're standing on.

Emily:

Yes, yes. That is a firm teacher approved stance.

Heidi:

Okay, let's start with before school. This is

Heidi:

everything that happens from when you arrive until the kids

Heidi:

walk in. Now, do you ever find yourself trying to wrap up all

Heidi:

of that morning prep while the kids are walking in? So you

Heidi:

know, now you're half prepping, half greeting, half answering

Heidi:

questions.

Emily:

That's three halves.

Heidi:

Well, that is exactly how it feels. You are doing 150% of

Heidi:

a job, and probably none of it well.

Emily:

If you only reflect on one part of your school day,

Emily:

this is the one. Energy leaks here can be extra sneaky,

Emily:

because they often look like productivity. You're at school

Emily:

early, you're working! But if you look closer, sometimes that

Emily:

time is leaking like a colander.

Heidi:

So take a second here think about your before school

Heidi:

time. Is it green, yellow, or red? If it's yellow or red, take

Heidi:

a few minutes to examine your morning routine. It might help

Heidi:

to write it down, and we've got a page for this in the February

Heidi:

guide, if that's helpful. So think about what you're doing at

Heidi:

that time and what is eating into your time.

Emily:

And even if you don't have the guide, just writing

Emily:

this down on any paper will help you see what's happening. Maybe

Emily:

you need to batch similar tasks. Maybe certain things should only

Emily:

happen on certain days.

Heidi:

Or maybe the key to the whole thing is prepping your

Heidi:

morning before you leave the night before. I know this can be

Heidi:

so hard to manage when you're tired, but think of it as a gift

Heidi:

to your future morning self. You also will not have the time or

Heidi:

energy to do the tasks that you're putting off right now.

Emily:

Right. You're going to be tired probably both times. But I

Emily:

often am more motivated to help future me than I would be just

Emily:

to help now me.

Emily:

Okay, let's look at area two, during instruction. This is the

Emily:

time you're actually teaching.

Heidi:

Now, you know teaching is tiring. This is just true.

Heidi:

Standing in front of humans all day and having to be on is

Heidi:

inherently demanding. But there's a difference between,

Heidi:

teaching is hard, and, something about my instruction is draining

Heidi:

me more than it should.

Emily:

If your kids are disengaged during instruction,

Emily:

that might be a huge energy leak. You're working so hard to

Emily:

deliver this lesson, and it's just crickets and fidgeting, and

Emily:

that one kid who's definitely building something out of eraser

Emily:

bits.

Heidi:

Oh my gosh, the eraser bits. You know, and so that

Heidi:

leads to another leak, off task behavior. When kids aren't

Heidi:

engaged, they find something else to do, and then you're

Heidi:

spending energy managing behavior instead of actually

Heidi:

teaching.

Emily:

It's so exhausting, you leave those lessons feeling like

Emily:

you ran a marathon but somehow also lost the race. So consider

Emily:

your during instruction time. Would you rate it green, yellow

Emily:

or red?

Heidi:

If it's yellow or red, think about the balance between

Heidi:

structure and spark or novelty. We talk a lot about this because

Heidi:

it is foundational for everything that happens in your

Heidi:

class. To add some spark to your lessons, try adding more active

Heidi:

student response.

Emily:

And we did a whole episode on this episode, 161

Emily:

where you get every student participating, instead of just

Emily:

the hand raisers. You can also try a new lesson format,

Emily:

something that encourages exploration or discovery or

Emily:

play. Even just turning a lesson into a game can completely shift

Emily:

the energy.

Heidi:

All right, you've thought about the before school moments

Heidi:

and instruction time. Now let's talk about one of the big ones,

Heidi:

those in between moments. Think about your transitions, the five

Heidi:

minutes it takes to get from the carpet back to desks, or the

Heidi:

five minutes to switch from math to reading. On their own these

Heidi:

long transitions might not seem like a big deal, but if you have

Heidi:

got three transitions a day that take an extra five minutes, that

Heidi:

adds up to 45 hours a year.

Emily:

Oh, yikes. Those last moments really do add up fast.

Emily:

Another energy drain is the time lost to interruptions. It's hard

Emily:

to get through a lesson when someone is knocking on the door,

Emily:

the phone is ringing and a kid needs to go to the nurse. Those

Emily:

constant, small disruptions break everyone's focus.

Heidi:

So think about your in between moments. Would you say

Heidi:

they are green, yellow or red? If transitions are your leak, we

Heidi:

have three episodes that can help you with this. Episodes,

Heidi:

48, 49 and 50.

Emily:

Yes, we did, in fact, spend three episodes talking

Emily:

about transitions, because they are so tricky, and getting them

Emily:

right is really important to the flow of your day. It really can

Emily:

make or break the whole day.

Heidi:

Oh, seriously, that's not hyperbole. And I think with

Heidi:

transitions, one of the most effective ways to plug any

Heidi:

energy leaks is to have clear bookends to your transition. So

Heidi:

bookend beforehand by making sure you have everyone's

Heidi:

attention while you're giving directions. That will clear up a

Heidi:

lot of confusion and wandering around. And then bookend at the

Heidi:

end by making sure you have created what we call a landing

Heidi:

pad activity. This is something that engages students the second

Heidi:

they arrive at the next spot.

Emily:

And landing pads can be so simple, it can be drawing a

Emily:

picture, playing the quiet game, taking out a book, discussing a

Emily:

silly question with a neighbor. But if kids arrive somewhere

Emily:

with nothing to do, they will find something to do, and I

Emily:

promise you, it will be disruptive.

Heidi:

Yeah, that's that's a threat, and that causes an

Heidi:

energy leak, because when you have to spend time and energy

Heidi:

getting their attention all over again, that easily eats another

Heidi:

five minutes. And if you consider how many transitions

Heidi:

you do in a day, that's a lot of leaking energy.

Emily:

All right, we're halfway through. How are you doing out

Emily:

there? Still with us, I hope. Let's look at area four, after

Emily:

school. This is the time between dismissal and when you actually

Emily:

leave the building.

Heidi:

And for a lot of teachers, or maybe I'm just

Heidi:

adding my own bad habits, this is where the wheels completely

Heidi:

come off. If you don't have a plan for how to handle this

Heidi:

time, it's really easy to just putter around for an hour and

Heidi:

still somehow not be ready for tomorrow.

Emily:

Yeah, but you'll feel productive because you're doing

Emily:

stuff. But unless you know exactly what needs to happen for

Emily:

tomorrow, what you're doing may not actually be helping.

Heidi:

So reflect on your after school time. Does it feel green,

Heidi:

yellow, or red? This is why an end of day routine helps so

Heidi:

much. When you have a routine, you don't have to figure out

Heidi:

what to do. You just do the next step.

Emily:

The February survival kit has an end of day routine

Emily:

planner that walks you through building one, but even just

Emily:

writing down, first I do this, then I do this, then I leave,

Emily:

gives you something to follow when your brain is mush.

Heidi:

Now we're going to be talking about this more in the

Heidi:

next couple episodes, plus we'll be talking about how to do a

Heidi:

planning time routine. So make sure you're subscribed to this

Heidi:

podcast so you don't miss anything. We want to help you

Heidi:

figure out the right routines that support your needs, so your

Heidi:

job is not any harder than it has to be.

Emily:

All right, let's check out area five, at home. This is

Emily:

how school follows you home. You know how it goes. Grading on the

Emily:

couch, planning on Sunday, answering emails at 8pm while

Emily:

you're trying to watch TV with your family, but you just can't

Emily:

turn off the teacher brain.

Heidi:

Yeah, the leak here is doing school tests at home,

Heidi:

which means you're never actually off. So think about

Heidi:

your at home time. Is it green, yellow, or red? If this is red

Heidi:

for you, let's think about what's usually following you

Heidi:

home.

Emily:

And I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's probably

Emily:

grading.

Heidi:

Oh yeah, grading is like laundry. You're never done. So

Heidi:

do what you can to make it more manageable, if possible, only

Heidi:

grade the bare minimum.

Emily:

Yes, this is your permission slip. You do not need

Emily:

to grade every bit of student work. You can mark things pass

Emily:

fail. You can look at one or two questions on each page, and that

Emily:

will tell you if the student understands it or not. Figure

Emily:

out how much information that you need to assign a grade, and

Emily:

then don't grade any more than that.

Heidi:

And if you do morning work, don't grade morning work.

Emily:

Oh yes, please don't.

Heidi:

Yeah, correct it as a class, everyone is learning, and

Heidi:

you're saving yourself a huge headache.

Emily:

Yep.

Heidi:

Okay, so let's look at our last area, emotional labor.

Heidi:

This is the invisible category. It's the effect of all of the

Heidi:

worry and concern that you're carrying.

Emily:

This might not even show up on your to do list, but

Emily:

compassion fatigue and decision fatigue and seasonal depression

Emily:

are all out there, stealing your energy. So is your emotional

Emily:

labor green, yellow or red?

Heidi:

This one is a lot harder to fix, but there are things

Heidi:

that help. First, try naming what you're carrying. Just tell

Heidi:

yourself, I'm holding a lot right now. That awareness alone

Heidi:

can make a huge difference.

Emily:

Second, treat yourself gently. Gretchen Rubin has a

Emily:

saying that you should treat yourself like a toddler. And I

Emily:

know it sounds silly, but it's actually great advice, because

Emily:

toddlers need rest, snacks, play and someone who's patient with

Emily:

them, and you need those things too.

Heidi:

And also, you know, like a toddler, give yourself a

Heidi:

bedtime. Make sure you're getting more in your diet than

Heidi:

caffeine and sugar. Take time to do something that's just for

Heidi:

fun, and when you're struggling, be as patient with yourself as

Heidi:

you would with a tired three year old.

Emily:

There are so many factors that go into teaching that you

Emily:

can't control, but you can build your capacity to handle them,

Emily:

and sometimes that starts with a snack and an early bedtime.

Heidi:

Yes, a snack and a rest are never a bad idea.

Emily:

Yeah, I think those solve a lot of your problems.

Emily:

All right, you just rated six areas of your day. So let's talk

Emily:

about what to do with what you found. For your red and yellow

Emily:

areas, you basically have three options. Option one, strategic

Emily:

swaps. These are the small shifts that reduce the drain

Emily:

without overhauling everything. So for example, instead of

Emily:

planning from scratch, you lean on what worked last week and

Emily:

just tweak it.

Heidi:

Now, we gave you some swaps for each of the six areas

Heidi:

already in this episode, and there are more in the February

Heidi:

survival kit, but the guiding principle here is to look for

Heidi:

small and targeted and sustainable tweaks.

Emily:

Your second option for managing your yellow and red

Emily:

lights is to set boundaries to protect your time and energy.

Emily:

Try a hard stop for leaving school or being clear with a

Emily:

chatty co worker. Oh, that's hard.

Heidi:

Yes, yes. Boundaries definitely feel uncomfortable at

Heidi:

first, especially if you are not used to setting them. It's like

Heidi:

a muscle you have to train, but they're how you keep those

Heidi:

energy leaks from taking over.

Emily:

And then we have option three, channel your inner Elsa

Emily:

and let it go. This is the hardest one for a lot of

Emily:

teachers, because we care so much, we want to do everything

Emily:

well. But not everything that's draining you is essential, so

Emily:

some things you can just stop.

Heidi:

So for example, maybe you could stop sending the weekly

Heidi:

newsletter that no one reads, or turn over bulletin board

Heidi:

decorating to your students. They would be thrilled. If it's

Heidi:

not mandatory and they aren't paying you extra to do it, let

Heidi:

it go.

Emily:

So hopefully, today's energy audit helped you identify

Emily:

a few strategic shifts that will help you use February to refill

Emily:

your tank.

Heidi:

If today's episode helped you see what's actually draining

Heidi:

you, that's huge, but knowing what's wrong is only half the

Heidi:

battle. You still have to figure out what to do about it while

Heidi:

teaching and grading and managing the 100 other things

Heidi:

you juggle in a day.

Emily:

And so most teachers end up doing the same thing,

Emily:

scrambling for random solutions for whatever problem's bugging

Emily:

you the most at 10pm on Sunday night, or just white knuckling

Emily:

through the chaos because that feels easier than fixing the

Emily:

problem.

Heidi:

But what Emily and I have learned over the years is that

Heidi:

many of the challenges that come with teaching are actually

Heidi:

predictable. February boredom happens every year. Extra

Heidi:

chattiness is coming in March. Sorry if that's a spoiler.

Heidi:

December, chaos is not a surprise. We can see it coming.

Emily:

So we created the Teacher Approved Club to give you real

Emily:

solutions before you need them. Every month, we deliver

Emily:

strategies for what's actually happening in your classroom

Emily:

right now. And these are not generic tips like, batch your

Emily:

copies. Although that's a good idea, you should batch your

Emily:

copies.

Heidi:

Yes, do that.

Emily:

But what we're offering is specific tools for the exact

Emily:

challenges of the season you're in.

Heidi:

When we get to April, you're not going to be Googling

Heidi:

how to manage spring fever, because you've already got it

Heidi:

locked down. You got your April strategy on the first. And when

Heidi:

December rolls around again, you won't be drowning in festive

Heidi:

overwhelmed because your November prep already included

Heidi:

your holiday management plan.

Emily:

The club is set up to give you structure and spark in

Emily:

action. We have monthly strategies and easy, quick win

Emily:

challenges to help you take action and live calls with us

Emily:

and a community of teachers who get it, so you can say goodbye

Emily:

to the midnight googling.

Heidi:

So if you are tired of figuring this out alone, if you

Heidi:

want to actually prevent the problems instead of just

Heidi:

reacting to them, come join us. Head to

Heidi:

secondstorywindow.net/club to learn more, or head to the link

Heidi:

in the show notes.

Emily:

Now for our Teacher Approved Tip of the Week, where

Emily:

we share an actionable tip to help you elevate what matters

Emily:

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

Emily:

create some bonus prep time. Tell us about it, Heidi.

Heidi:

Okay, I know this is going to ruffle some feathers,

Heidi:

but I am okay with that.

Emily:

You're taking a stand.

Heidi:

I am on this one. So since January is wrapping up, we

Heidi:

want to challenge you to carve out some time during school this

Heidi:

week or early next week to plan for February. Now, if you

Heidi:

remember, back in December, we talked about claiming pockets of

Heidi:

prep, just a few minutes here or there, so you can get ahead on

Heidi:

all of the work that's waiting for you. And that's what we're

Heidi:

going to do here, but on a bigger scale. Now, a whole day

Heidi:

would be ideal, but an afternoon, or even just an hour,

Heidi:

if that's all you can find, can completely change your whole

Heidi:

month.

Emily:

So here is what that looks like in action. Instead of

Emily:

teaching lessons, you're going to keep your students involved

Emily:

in independent work. Maybe you plan a small group review

Emily:

challenge, get out math games from last term, or use

Emily:

flashlights to stretch reading time just a little bit longer.

Emily:

Maybe you're going to have the kids do online activities, or

Emily:

you're going to use a work packet or show a Wild Kratts

Emily:

video.

Heidi:

There are so many options to keep kids engaged

Heidi:

independently, but while they are doing all of that learning

Heidi:

on their own, you're going to be at your desk actually planning.

Heidi:

This is your chance to pause and really look at what needs to

Heidi:

happen next month, figure out what you need to prepare, or

Heidi:

deal with that mountain of grading. This lets you finally

Heidi:

get ahead instead of playing catch up for the next four

Heidi:

weeks.

Emily:

Now, I can feel some of you panicking through your ear

Emily:

buds right now. I can't do that! My principal would have a fit!

Emily:

So let's talk about it. First, as long as your students are

Emily:

engaged in meaningful learning activities, you are not short

Emily:

changing them. Reading is learning. Games that practice

Emily:

skills are learning. Review work is learning. Educational videos

Emily:

are learning. Your students are still benefiting from

Emily:

instruction, even when you're not standing at the board,

Emily:

delivering a lesson.

Heidi:

Second, one day, or one afternoon a month without small

Heidi:

groups, is not going to hurt any student's progress. And in fact,

Heidi:

if you look at the big picture, this might actually help them,

Heidi:

because this month, you will be able to more strategically meet

Heidi:

their needs, instead of just plunging forward without any

Heidi:

idea of your destination.

Emily:

And third, let's be honest, you will never be given

Emily:

the time you need to do your job well, so you have to get

Emily:

creative about using the time you have. If you can't take a

Emily:

whole day, rearrange your schedule. Put all your lessons

Emily:

in the morning, and reserve the afternoon for independent

Emily:

activities.

Heidi:

And honestly, your principal may not love it, but

Heidi:

until they start paying teachers overtime, do not feel guilty

Heidi:

about using work time to do work tasks.

Emily:

If you're worried about doing this all in one chunk and,

Emily:

you know, whatever your principal might think about it,

Emily:

you could also do a few smaller chunks over a couple chunks over

Emily:

a couple of days. So maybe just show a short video every day for

Emily:

three days, three different videos. Don't just show the same

Emily:

one three times. That would be wasting the children's time, but

Emily:

do three quality videos over three afternoons, and you can do

Emily:

it that way if that feels a little more comfortable to you.

Emily:

And the February kit has planning pages that make this

Emily:

planning time even more effective. There's a one small

Emily:

step page that helps you sort through everything and pick the

Emily:

one thing to focus on, and a finished, strong focus page that

Emily:

helps you clarify your priorities for the rest of the

Heidi:

Hopefully this is something that you can make part

Heidi:

year.

Heidi:

of your monthly routine. Maybe you schedule it the last Friday

Heidi:

afternoon of the month. Your kids will feel like they're

Heidi:

getting a treat, and you will feel like you won a prize,

Heidi:

because you actually have a chance to be the kind of teacher

Heidi:

that you want to be.

Emily:

I love it.

Heidi:

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

Heidi:

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

Heidi:

credit?

Emily:

I'm giving extra credit to hinge toppers. Did you

Emily:

already give extra credit to this one time? I can't remember.

Heidi:

I did. But I have different ones than you do.

Emily:

That's true. So I just loved the idea so much when you

Emily:

shared about it, about these little magnetic cutie things.

Heidi:

They're about an inch tall.

Emily:

Yeah, like figurines, they are magnetic, and you can

Emily:

put them on the top of the hinges of your doors, you know,

Emily:

just a few scattered throughout your house. And what kind do you

Emily:

have, Heidi?

Heidi:

I have dragons.

Emily:

Oh, which is so cute. Well, you gave me some little

Emily:

gnomies.

Heidi:

They're so cute.

Emily:

For Christmas, and I love them so much. I just put them

Emily:

up, and they just bring me so much joy, especially because

Emily:

they're not, the ones I got, they blend in with the hinge,

Emily:

which I actually think is the best way to do it. You can do,

Emily:

there's cute ones I've seen that are colorful, and that would be

Emily:

fun too, but I do really like that they blend in, because then

Emily:

they're even more fun when you notice them there, because it's

Emily:

like a little surprise.

Heidi:

Yes, this little sprinkle of whimsy, but it's so

Heidi:

unobtrusive. And I don't, yeah, I don't think anyone has noticed

Heidi:

my dragons unless I point them out, but it makes me happy. I

Heidi:

love feeling like my doors are being guarded.

Emily:

Yes, it's like adding just like a little secret to

Emily:

your house. I think it's so cute.

Heidi:

I'm glad you like the gnomes. I thought they were

Heidi:

pretty cute.

Emily:

I love them. And whimsy is my word of the year. So you

Emily:

just front loaded me with some way to add some whimsy to my

Emily:

year. So thank you. What are you giving extra credit to, Heidi?

Heidi:

Well, I'm giving extra credit to the blue air invisible

Heidi:

mist humidifier. I started using this, well I got it for

Heidi:

Christmas, so a month ago. I have really enjoyed it. It does

Heidi:

a good job. Now, my benchmark for what kind of humidifier I

Heidi:

wanted was I needed something that was easy to clean. And this

Heidi:

is, you do have to disassemble it a bit, but it's not too bad,

Heidi:

and you can use tap water. That was the other thing, I don't

Heidi:

want to have to, it doesn't leave, there's no that white

Heidi:

residue anywhere.

Emily:

Yeah, sometimes you get with humidifiers.

Heidi:

Yes, and it's really easy to control in the app. The only

Heidi:

problem I have is that when it is on night mode, you cannot

Heidi:

turn the display all the way off. When it's just on regular

Heidi:

running setting, you can turn the display out, it has like an

Heidi:

LED display, you can turn it all the way off, but you can't do

Heidi:

that in night mode. And I thought, okay, it might not, I'm

Heidi:

just gonna Google it, and there, I guess you used to be able to

Heidi:

and then they did some kind of upgrade, and it's not a function

Heidi:

now.

Emily:

What?

Heidi:

I know, it's so bizarre. So the way around it is I just

Heidi:

don't use night mode. I just set up a, like, a schedule, because

Heidi:

it's not a big deal. I just set it up for like, the hours I want

Heidi:

to turn on and the level of humidity I want, and then I can

Heidi:

just turn the display all the way down, because I didn't want

Heidi:

that blue light all night.

Emily:

There we go. That makes sense, and that, I have a blue

Emily:

air purifier in my room right now, and that is my complaint

Emily:

with it, is that it's got this light on it that you can't turn

Emily:

off, and it's so annoying, I've covered it up with stickers, but

Emily:

I guess to see it through the little black stickers. But

Emily:

anyway, that's good to know. I really need a new humidifier, so

Emily:

I've got my eye on this.

Heidi:

Yes, watch for sale.

Emily:

I will.

Heidi:

That is it for today's episode. Don't let February

Heidi:

drift by. Audit your energy, find your leaks, and make one

Heidi:

small shift. And remember to grab the February survival kit

Heidi:

so you have a place to reflect and plan.

Emily:

And if this is the sort of topic you want to hear more

Emily:

of, be sure to join us in the Teacher Approved Club. Each

Emily:

month we're preparing you to handle what's ahead so you can

Emily:

protect your energy and enjoy your job.

Heidi:

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

Heidi:

Heidi.

Emily:

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

Emily:

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

Emily:

episode.

Heidi:

You can connect with us and other teachers in the

Heidi:

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

Heidi:

Bye for now.

Emily:

Bye.

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