Back-to-school over-planning — in this episode of Comprehend THIS!, we get into why every August our planning brain overshoots into color-coded systems we abandon by week three. You'll walk away with a saner standard for how much to actually prep before day one, and permission to stop rebuilding units that were already fine.

We talk through the guilt of reusing last year's materials, the over-engineered systems that fall apart by October, and what "good enough and sustainable" really looks like when you're setting up for a new year.

I'm joined by Pamela Parks — a former professional translator who now teaches world language — and guest Mary Hooker, wrapping up her 33rd year teaching Spanish and Teacher Academy at Sehome High in Bellingham, a 2025 WAFLT Teacher of the Year, and a SOMOS teacher who happily admits she's never reused a lesson plan without major tweaks. So this back-to-school planning conversation is part support group, part intervention, and fully honest about how much prep is actually sustainable for a language teacher heading into a new year.

Not sure where you land as a comprehensible input teacher? Take the CI Proficiency Quiz and find out: https://imim.us/ciquiz

And if you want a whole year of CI-aligned materials you don't have to build from scratch every August, the CI Survival Kit has you covered: https://imim.us/kit

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Hosts:

Scott Benedict - https://www.instagram.com/immediateimmersion

Pamela Parks - https://imim.us/pamela

Mary Hooker - https://instagram.com/@mary.c.hooker

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CI Survival Kit: https://imim.us/kit

Back-to-School Bootcamp - https://imim.us/bootcamp

Entertaining an Elephant - https://imim.us/elephant

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<b>Hey everybody and welcome to</b>

<b>episode 36 of Comprehend This.</b>

<b>It's August 1st, not today but just</b>

<b>thinking about it's August 1st.</b>

<b>You have a color coding system, you have</b>

<b>a fresh laminating</b>

<b>cartridge, you have three</b>

<b>brand new units for content that was</b>

<b>completely fine last year</b>

<b>and a wall calendar that will</b>

<b>be alive by September 12th.</b>

<b>Welcome to the over planning spiral.</b>

<b>I'm here with Pamela Parks, a formal</b>

<b>professional translator,</b>

<b>current world language teacher</b>

<b>and someone who has watched me build</b>

<b>systems I could not</b>

<b>maintain for years now.</b>

<b>And our guest is Mary Hooker finishing</b>

<b>her 33rd year in</b>

<b>teaching Spanish and Teacher</b>

<b>Academy up at Suhome High in Bellingham.</b>

<b>Mary's a 2025 Waffle Teacher of the Year,</b>

<b>a Somos Convert and</b>

<b>this is the part I love,</b>

<b>a woman who has, by her own admission,</b>

<b>never once reused a lesson</b>

<b>plan without major tweaks.</b>

<b>Same here.</b>

<b>So this episode is going to be a support</b>

<b>group and an</b>

<b>intervention at the same time.</b>

<b>We're talking about the guilt of reusing</b>

<b>the systems that</b>

<b>collapse by October and how to</b>

<b>prep enough without prepping yourself</b>

<b>into a hole you'll spend</b>

<b>all of September climbing</b>

<b>out of.</b>

<b>Come for the shame, stay</b>

<b>for permission to stop.</b>

<b>And we'll be right back</b>

<b>after these short messages.</b>

<b>It will go.</b>

<b>Is it already August again?</b>

<b>And you're supposed to have a fresh,</b>

<b>engaging, life changing</b>

<b>plan for the first week?</b>

<b>Cute.</b>

<b>Here's the deal.</b>

<b>Back to school boot</b>

<b>camp is your secret weapon.</b>

<b>10 short pre-recorded lessons you can</b>

<b>watch in pajamas while</b>

<b>hiding from your admin or</b>

<b>during that mysterious</b>

<b>planning period we keep hearing about.</b>

<b>You walk away with strategies, plans and</b>

<b>actual confidence, not</b>

<b>just a Pinterest board full</b>

<b>of guilt.</b>

<b>Access it all for a full year.</b>

<b>Go to mm.us slash boot camp and get</b>

<b>yourself together</b>

<b>before the kids show up.</b>

<b>Welcome to Comprehend This, Real Talk for</b>

<b>Real Language Teachers.</b>

<b>No drills, no dry theory, just honest</b>

<b>stories, practical ideas</b>

<b>and a reminder you're not</b>

<b>alone in the CI trenches.</b>

<b>Let's dive in.</b>

<b>Good morning.</b>

<b>How's everybody doing this morning?</b>

<b>Doing great.</b>

<b>So excited to see my friend</b>

<b>Mary Hooker here this morning.</b>

<b>Yay.</b>

<b>Awesome.</b>

<b>Yes.</b>

<b>Welcome, Mary.</b>

<b>Tell us a little bit about yourself.</b>

<b>Well, as you said in the intro, I am a</b>

<b>Spanish teacher starting</b>

<b>my, well, I started teaching</b>

<b>in 1992.</b>

<b>So however long ago that was.</b>

<b>I teach at See Home High School in</b>

<b>Bellingham, Washington.</b>

<b>Bellingham is an amazing place if you</b>

<b>haven't ever been here.</b>

<b>It's beautiful.</b>

<b>I originally, I grew up in Texas though,</b>

<b>so that's sort of how I</b>

<b>got Spanish on my radar</b>

<b>having so many kids at my school who were</b>

<b>native Spanish speakers and friends.</b>

<b>And so that's sort of what began my</b>

<b>journey learning</b>

<b>Spanish or acquiring Spanish.</b>

<b>Let's see, I'm enjoying my summer.</b>

<b>I have a husband, a golden retriever, an</b>

<b>18 year old cat, and my</b>

<b>adult children who are</b>

<b>27 and 24.</b>

<b>Oh my gosh.</b>

<b>That's a full plate there.</b>

<b>Full plate.</b>

<b>I can barely keep up with my two year old</b>

<b>Belgian Malinois, I</b>

<b>can barely keep up with.</b>

<b>And then I've got a 16 year old grumpy</b>

<b>old Gus of a dog who is grumpy and</b>

<b>particular and wants</b>

<b>what he wants and begs and</b>

<b>barks when he doesn't get it.</b>

<b>So yeah, I can't imagine a cat and a dog</b>

<b>and a husband and kid.</b>

<b>Oh my gosh.</b>

<b>And my summer was</b>

<b>officially over on Wednesday.</b>

<b>I had to go back Wednesday and Thursday</b>

<b>for this is a misnomer.</b>

<b>I thought it's called curriculum camp,</b>

<b>but it has nothing to do with curriculum.</b>

<b>It's two half paid days that you go in</b>

<b>and set your room up.</b>

<b>Oh, or do whatever you want to do.</b>

<b>Well, that's nice.</b>

<b>But for four hours.</b>

<b>You're paid.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>So how are your new digs?</b>

<b>How are my gosh?</b>

<b>Okay, we all have</b>

<b>start of the year problems.</b>

<b>So this is this was no different.</b>

<b>I get it.</b>

<b>It's a new school.</b>

<b>Yeah, my assistant principal</b>

<b>comes in and I really like her.</b>

<b>She's a former Spanish teacher.</b>

<b>I hope she's my supervisor, but I don't</b>

<b>know who's my student.</b>

<b>I haven't met the principal yet.</b>

<b>But so go in and she comes and tells me</b>

<b>she says, well, I got to</b>

<b>let you in your room because</b>

<b>we're rekeying the entire campus and</b>

<b>they're not finished yet.</b>

<b>So we don't know.</b>

<b>I don't know if your room's</b>

<b>got keys or not on it yet.</b>

<b>But even so, even if it's been a rekey,</b>

<b>there are no keys yet.</b>

<b>We don't have the keys.</b>

<b>So we, the administration will have to</b>

<b>open the doors for you.</b>

<b>Okay, good.</b>

<b>There.</b>

<b>Then we get in there and she goes, yeah,</b>

<b>the rooms weren't cleaned yet.</b>

<b>Because two of our, well,</b>

<b>one print, one custodian quit.</b>

<b>The other one moved ahead</b>

<b>custodian in elementary school.</b>

<b>So they're still cleaning the rooms.</b>

<b>Looks like yours is done.</b>

<b>So go ahead and put your furniture down.</b>

<b>I put my furniture, get it</b>

<b>all the way I want to get.</b>

<b>There's 45 desks in my classroom.</b>

<b>What the heck?</b>

<b>Am I going to have 45 students?</b>

<b>I still can't see my class.</b>

<b>That's me.</b>

<b>So, so I get it all arranged so it fits</b>

<b>in there and there's still</b>

<b>room to kind of move around.</b>

<b>And then the custodian comes in and he</b>

<b>goes, we need you to put this all back.</b>

<b>Why?</b>

<b>They hadn't cleaned the room.</b>

<b>They hadn't cleaned the room.</b>

<b>So I'm like, oh, my.</b>

<b>That happened to be one.</b>

<b>That happened to be one year.</b>

<b>And I was like, no, the</b>

<b>room's not getting cleaned.</b>

<b>Yeah, I was really sore because normally</b>

<b>I don't have to move the furniture,</b>

<b>but I had to move all the furniture</b>

<b>because all the desks were stacked up.</b>

<b>I, and I'm like, I am way</b>

<b>too old to be moving all this.</b>

<b>My hips were sore.</b>

<b>My knees were sore.</b>

<b>So that was my first.</b>

<b>And then I put up all my posters, right?</b>

<b>And in 24 years, I have never had a</b>

<b>problem putting up posters.</b>

<b>Never.</b>

<b>I stand on desks.</b>

<b>I stand on bookcases.</b>

<b>I'm, you know, I'm balancing.</b>

<b>I staple.</b>

<b>They're always in a perfect</b>

<b>line because my I can do it.</b>

<b>I must have been drunk</b>

<b>because I stand back.</b>

<b>I stand back at the end.</b>

<b>And one side of posters is going up like</b>

<b>a mountain and the</b>

<b>other one's going down.</b>

<b>And I'm like, this is</b>

<b>going to irritate me.</b>

<b>I've got to fix it.</b>

<b>And it wasn't even by</b>

<b>a like a little bit.</b>

<b>It was really noticeable.</b>

<b>So the second day I came in, I had to</b>

<b>tear them all down and</b>

<b>do it all over again.</b>

<b>And the teacher left me seven staplers.</b>

<b>And only one word.</b>

<b>Seven.</b>

<b>Yeah, but only one word.</b>

<b>So I'm like, why did you just not throw</b>

<b>those away if they don't work?</b>

<b>So, yes, that was my first two days.</b>

<b>Everybody seems nice so far.</b>

<b>Our official day to start is Friday.</b>

<b>That's when we're supposed to officially</b>

<b>be back because the</b>

<b>curriculum camp was voluntary.</b>

<b>Okay.</b>

<b>So Fridays are official day and then kids</b>

<b>come back a week from this Wednesday.</b>

<b>The 12th is when they.</b>

<b>So early.</b>

<b>Yes.</b>

<b>Well, how many times</b>

<b>early is my last school?</b>

<b>My last school, they start.</b>

<b>Well, the teachers come back officially</b>

<b>tomorrow and the kids start on Wednesday.</b>

<b>So very early.</b>

<b>Yeah, in California,</b>

<b>we kind of start early.</b>

<b>Spanish department.</b>

<b>How big is or the</b>

<b>language department as a whole?</b>

<b>How big is it?</b>

<b>I'm trying to think I don't know.</b>

<b>I don't haven't met everybody yet.</b>

<b>So there's two guys.</b>

<b>I met one of the guys.</b>

<b>There's two.</b>

<b>I think there's two girls.</b>

<b>That's four.</b>

<b>I'm the fifth one.</b>

<b>And then we have ASL, one ASL teacher.</b>

<b>So six.</b>

<b>Wow.</b>

<b>So we have about 2100</b>

<b>students and they already asked me,</b>

<b>do you think you might want to sell your</b>

<b>prep because we think</b>

<b>we're overbooked in level one.</b>

<b>Oh, yeah.</b>

<b>Already.</b>

<b>Sell your prep.</b>

<b>Wow.</b>

<b>I would rather.</b>

<b>I don't know.</b>

<b>I could not do that.</b>

<b>I don't even.</b>

<b>I've done it before.</b>

<b>I've done it before and</b>

<b>where I've had no prep.</b>

<b>But this is because</b>

<b>we're on this weird block.</b>

<b>I still have a prep.</b>

<b>I guess when I have a prep every day, I</b>

<b>have a prep every other day.</b>

<b>But I've done it where I've sold my prep</b>

<b>where I have no prep the whole year.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>The thing that gets you excited about it,</b>

<b>it's one seventh of your salary.</b>

<b>You get extra because</b>

<b>we teach seven classes.</b>

<b>Divide your salary into sevens and then</b>

<b>you get an extra one seventh of that.</b>

<b>So that's a lot of money.</b>

<b>That's a lot of money and it goes towards</b>

<b>retirement and everything.</b>

<b>So I mean, I said yes if you need me.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>Good for you.</b>

<b>Yeah, I would have too.</b>

<b>Well, let me tell you</b>

<b>how I met Mary before we.</b>

<b>Yes.</b>

<b>Yes.</b>

<b>Go ahead.</b>

<b>We served on this statewide committee,</b>

<b>which I love to pieces.</b>

<b>It was so great.</b>

<b>This was the state proficiency initiative</b>

<b>for languages and learning.</b>

<b>Spill.</b>

<b>I don't know where</b>

<b>they came up with that.</b>

<b>We were talking about crazy acronyms.</b>

<b>So that was a crazy acronym.</b>

<b>This was so great.</b>

<b>And unfortunately, the</b>

<b>funding has run out for it.</b>

<b>So I haven't seen Mary in</b>

<b>like two years now, right?</b>

<b>But we got like, I think one of the best</b>

<b>things we did that</b>

<b>really changed my teaching was</b>

<b>we got training on the</b>

<b>stamp test, the Avant test.</b>

<b>And although, you know, of course, I know</b>

<b>the actual descriptors and everything,</b>

<b>but I don't think I'd really internalized</b>

<b>it until we got training.</b>

<b>Because, you know, for years, I'd been</b>

<b>teaching my students</b>

<b>how to take the test.</b>

<b>I'd taken the practice test, but I hadn't</b>

<b>seen it from the other side.</b>

<b>Like, how are they getting scored?</b>

<b>Because sometimes I was like, how did you</b>

<b>get this good of a score?</b>

<b>Because I know you're not doing as well.</b>

<b>And now I understand it.</b>

<b>So the thing that really blew me away the</b>

<b>most was understanding that</b>

<b>students aren't consistently conjugating</b>

<b>verbs until intermediate low.</b>

<b>That totally blew me away.</b>

<b>Like, I needed to get that training to</b>

<b>really understand what that meant.</b>

<b>Yeah, absolutely.</b>

<b>Yeah, it makes you</b>

<b>realize that our expectations,</b>

<b>especially if you're following a</b>

<b>textbook, for what they should be able to</b>

<b>do with the language,</b>

<b>are completely unrealistic.</b>

<b>They are very unrealistic.</b>

<b>And when you read the intermediate low,</b>

<b>that's where they</b>

<b>start to have control over.</b>

<b>And the only tenses they really care</b>

<b>about is past, present, and future.</b>

<b>Right.</b>

<b>You know, if you have subjunctive or</b>

<b>conditional, that's</b>

<b>just icing on the cake.</b>

<b>But they're looking for that, you know,</b>

<b>when you get an intermediate mid,</b>

<b>some more control of those three tenses,</b>

<b>past, present, and future.</b>

<b>And so, and it's funny,</b>

<b>I just watched a video.</b>

<b>I've been getting into</b>

<b>these linguistic videos lately.</b>

<b>There's this one guy, he's</b>

<b>not really a linguistics.</b>

<b>He's a military teacher.</b>

<b>And he's talking</b>

<b>about some of the things.</b>

<b>And one of the things he talked, I never</b>

<b>seen it put this way.</b>

<b>He put a grid, a nine</b>

<b>square grid of grammar tenses.</b>

<b>And the first part is</b>

<b>what's called tense.</b>

<b>And that is past, present, and future.</b>

<b>And then he's got aspect.</b>

<b>Aspect.</b>

<b>Yep.</b>

<b>Yep.</b>

<b>And for the last one.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>Well, you know, I</b>

<b>didn't put the mood in there.</b>

<b>I just put aspect was the last one in the</b>

<b>middle one was continuous.</b>

<b>Oh, yeah.</b>

<b>So he did those.</b>

<b>And so we just did nine.</b>

<b>Some languages don't have it.</b>

<b>Like French doesn't have it.</b>

<b>You know, German doesn't</b>

<b>really have it the same way.</b>

<b>It's built into the present tense.</b>

<b>We're Spanish, we kind of</b>

<b>spell it out a little bit more.</b>

<b>But it was just an interesting way to</b>

<b>think about tenses a</b>

<b>little bit different.</b>

<b>And then he said something that I had to</b>

<b>look up because I'm like,</b>

<b>I know I learned 14 tenses in Spanish.</b>

<b>I know I did.</b>

<b>And he said English was</b>

<b>only a two tense language.</b>

<b>And I'm like, what?</b>

<b>Okay.</b>

<b>We have past, we have present, we have</b>

<b>future, we have conditional.</b>

<b>And so he said it was English was two</b>

<b>tenses and Spanish was only five tenses.</b>

<b>And I'm like, what?</b>

<b>And I'm learning Maltese and I know</b>

<b>Maltese is only two tenses.</b>

<b>So I was like, but what?</b>

<b>Then I read what the</b>

<b>definition of tense is.</b>

<b>The linguistic definition of tense is not</b>

<b>using a helper word.</b>

<b>The actual root word changes.</b>

<b>It changes.</b>

<b>And in English, it's true.</b>

<b>We only have two conjugations, the S on</b>

<b>third person singular and present,</b>

<b>and ED for past tense.</b>

<b>Everything else uses a helper verb.</b>

<b>We don't conjugate the</b>

<b>word talk to say, I will talk.</b>

<b>We add will to it.</b>

<b>So it's not counted as a tense.</b>

<b>And then when I look at</b>

<b>Spanish, it was the same with it.</b>

<b>Oh, now I see how you got your, your only</b>

<b>your five tenses because we're not</b>

<b>changing the actual verb.</b>

<b>We're adding helping verbs into it.</b>

<b>And that's where</b>

<b>you're, you're getting it.</b>

<b>And then you're not counting subjunctive</b>

<b>because that's a mood, not a tense,</b>

<b>even though you morph the verb.</b>

<b>Right, right.</b>

<b>So it's very, it was</b>

<b>just very interesting.</b>

<b>And he said interesting.</b>

<b>He goes, and I can</b>

<b>expand this to a 16 grid.</b>

<b>If you want that, let me</b>

<b>know and I'll make that video.</b>

<b>But it was just very</b>

<b>interesting and different.</b>

<b>I've never saw it presented</b>

<b>in that way before the tenses.</b>

<b>And so it was just very,</b>

<b>very interesting to me.</b>

<b>Very interesting to me.</b>

<b>So speaking of that, let's get on to our</b>

<b>topic of today, which is over planning.</b>

<b>And Mary and I were laughing because we</b>

<b>both over plan our notes for the show.</b>

<b>Mary, I'm like, and I'm just winging it</b>

<b>off the top of my head</b>

<b>because I don't over plan any more.</b>

<b>I'll tell you when I first started way</b>

<b>back when Mary talked</b>

<b>about way back when with</b>

<b>when TPRS just got was in its infancy.</b>

<b>I did because I didn't know what I was.</b>

<b>I didn't feel</b>

<b>comfortable enough to wing a story.</b>

<b>So I was like Oprah Winfrey.</b>

<b>I took a sheet of paper.</b>

<b>It was actually card stocks.</b>

<b>I want to last longer than a day.</b>

<b>Cardstock.</b>

<b>I cut it in half and I printed in large</b>

<b>like 14 font, the question in bold face.</b>

<b>I'm going to have to question the</b>

<b>sentence in bold face and then all of the</b>

<b>questions I was going to</b>

<b>ask underneath it and I was like Oprah</b>

<b>Winfrey and I would read a</b>

<b>card and someone said, oh,</b>

<b>yeah, I used to put it on a ring.</b>

<b>I said, oh, no, that</b>

<b>was leading it to chances.</b>

<b>If I dropped it, they could all go in a</b>

<b>different order on a ring.</b>

<b>Mine were stapled.</b>

<b>So the order was fixed.</b>

<b>I would have to worry about that.</b>

<b>And I would just flip back and forth.</b>

<b>I had certain things I would color code</b>

<b>and I'd say, OK, that could change.</b>

<b>But it was basically</b>

<b>the name of the place.</b>

<b>And then the rest was descriptions</b>

<b>because if I wrote it was a</b>

<b>boy, it was a boy in my story.</b>

<b>It did not change.</b>

<b>If I wrote it was target, that's where we</b>

<b>were going because I couldn't figure.</b>

<b>I couldn't think on the spot.</b>

<b>So that's when I over planned.</b>

<b>Nowadays, I don't over plan.</b>

<b>I do have a plan and I have what I call</b>

<b>my templates, my</b>

<b>shells, which are my daily</b>

<b>activities.</b>

<b>I do in a slide and those are planned</b>

<b>because they're not really changed.</b>

<b>I don't have to adapt.</b>

<b>But in between, it'll say conversation.</b>

<b>What that conversation</b>

<b>is going to be about.</b>

<b>Who knows what are the</b>

<b>kids want to talk about?</b>

<b>It'll be a story.</b>

<b>And I know I got to use</b>

<b>these three words in my story.</b>

<b>But the first day will</b>

<b>be just called person.</b>

<b>I'm not a character.</b>

<b>It's where us developing a character on</b>

<b>that day, what that</b>

<b>character will be or what it</b>

<b>looks like.</b>

<b>I have no idea.</b>

<b>I just need those little headers to let</b>

<b>me know that's what the</b>

<b>activity that we're working</b>

<b>on.</b>

<b>But I don't over plan anymore.</b>

<b>I used to.</b>

<b>I got beyond that.</b>

<b>Right.</b>

<b>Well, Scott, I think that</b>

<b>only comes with practice.</b>

<b>Yes, absolutely.</b>

<b>When you are starting, absolutely.</b>

<b>Write it out.</b>

<b>Do your mad libs and leave like, oh, I</b>

<b>need an adjective here.</b>

<b>This is where I'm going to circle.</b>

<b>You know, absolutely have that framework</b>

<b>for yourself so that</b>

<b>you don't drive yourself</b>

<b>crazy so that you're not nervous so that</b>

<b>you can be in the moment.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>Is it bad that I</b>

<b>still do stuff like that?</b>

<b>After 30 years.</b>

<b>Because I don't do it</b>

<b>on a little binder thing.</b>

<b>I do it in my slides.</b>

<b>I use active inspire and I have, you</b>

<b>know, the bare bones</b>

<b>of the story up there.</b>

<b>And I've got pictures that because I</b>

<b>really feel like the</b>

<b>students need the pictures to</b>

<b>help associate the words and everything.</b>

<b>There's less of me doing</b>

<b>pop up grammar when I do that.</b>

<b>And I can just move the</b>

<b>pictures around on the screen.</b>

<b>But it reminds me, oh, yeah, I was going</b>

<b>to introduce the word school here.</b>

<b>Oh, yeah, I was going to introduce the</b>

<b>word house here, you know, whatever.</b>

<b>Yeah, slides are really helpful for</b>

<b>reminding me what I need to do next.</b>

<b>Because if I didn't have that, I would</b>

<b>completely forget what I was doing.</b>

<b>Absolutely.</b>

<b>The slides are like, oh,</b>

<b>yeah, I live and die by slides.</b>

<b>My kids goes, there's</b>

<b>160 slides to this deck.</b>

<b>I'm like, it's the whole week.</b>

<b>It's not just for today.</b>

<b>It's the whole week.</b>

<b>And if the we were talking about that.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>And when they go that like the office</b>

<b>will call me goes, okay, in</b>

<b>third period, you have Johnny.</b>

<b>Will you tell Johnny he's got to come</b>

<b>pick up his lunch at lunchtime?</b>

<b>I am not going to remember that.</b>

<b>We're in the middle of second period.</b>

<b>You asked me to remember it in third?</b>

<b>No.</b>

<b>So I go to my slides and I add a slide.</b>

<b>Johnny and then the slide comes up and</b>

<b>Johnny's name's up there.</b>

<b>He's like, what I do?</b>

<b>That's a reminder for me.</b>

<b>You have 180 slides in one slide deck.</b>

<b>I have 180 slide decks</b>

<b>with five slides apiece.</b>

<b>Because I don't know how, oh, this is</b>

<b>third period and they're</b>

<b>being kind of squirrely.</b>

<b>I'm going to go to the</b>

<b>activity, the exercise first.</b>

<b>We're going to we're going to get up on</b>

<b>our feet and we're going to, you know,</b>

<b>do some stretching and stuff.</b>

<b>And now we can go back to</b>

<b>the TPRS that I had planned.</b>

<b>So that way I can jump</b>

<b>around a little bit better.</b>

<b>I make links.</b>

<b>Yeah, I make links in my thing.</b>

<b>So either to an external</b>

<b>slide deck if I need to go there.</b>

<b>So I don't have to have all those tabs</b>

<b>open or I'll put them all in the thing.</b>

<b>And then I have links that goes to a</b>

<b>specific slide within my deck.</b>

<b>So my deck could grow even larger so I</b>

<b>can skip some things or or</b>

<b>thing that because I'll have</b>

<b>a link to be able to do that so I can</b>

<b>keep it organized in one slide deck.</b>

<b>I work just better with one slide deck</b>

<b>and something I love with Google Docs</b>

<b>that they just started adding.</b>

<b>They had that like table of contents</b>

<b>where you can kind of put a</b>

<b>doc within a doc within a doc</b>

<b>in the Google Docs because I</b>

<b>used to have my vocab list,</b>

<b>running vocab list, which is not a vocab</b>

<b>list in a traditional</b>

<b>sense where the kids have to</b>

<b>memorize these words.</b>

<b>It's just the you need to know this word</b>

<b>to understand what we're</b>

<b>talking about right now.</b>

<b>So I'll put it up there.</b>

<b>But I used to have one vocabulary list.</b>

<b>It's one running list for the whole year.</b>

<b>I just add to it and whatever is on the</b>

<b>screen is what we have to worry about.</b>

<b>But I used to have one for every class.</b>

<b>Well now with the way Google Docs works,</b>

<b>you can make one section</b>

<b>that's completely separate</b>

<b>from the other one.</b>

<b>It's not like it's</b>

<b>further down in the page.</b>

<b>It's like a whole new document, but</b>

<b>they're all linked off to the left.</b>

<b>And so I can have period one, period two,</b>

<b>period three, period four,</b>

<b>all listed on the left hand</b>

<b>side and then just click.</b>

<b>So I have one now one vocabulary doc for</b>

<b>everybody, but each have their own</b>

<b>section that's completely</b>

<b>separate from each other.</b>

<b>So I like that because the conversation</b>

<b>we have in period one is</b>

<b>not the same conversation</b>

<b>we have in period two.</b>

<b>So I can't have a common vocabulary list.</b>

<b>And again, it's not a vocabulary list in</b>

<b>the traditional sense.</b>

<b>It's a vocabulary list where, you know,</b>

<b>to make myself</b>

<b>comprehensible instead of me writing</b>

<b>it on the board because I get sloppy and</b>

<b>don't have as much board</b>

<b>space, I just type it up</b>

<b>on the screen just to make</b>

<b>myself be comprehensible.</b>

<b>I only translate written so that number</b>

<b>one, they can go back and see it.</b>

<b>And number two, that I'm not breaking the</b>

<b>illusion of being all</b>

<b>in the target language.</b>

<b>Right.</b>

<b>Mary, are you a</b>

<b>Google class or school or?</b>

<b>No, we do Microsoft.</b>

<b>I think up here on the Pacific Northwest,</b>

<b>it's a law that we have to do Microsoft.</b>

<b>I have no idea what when everyone says,</b>

<b>oh, Google classroom,</b>

<b>there's Google classroom</b>

<b>that it's a foreign language to me.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>The school, my schools use the Windows</b>

<b>computers, which when I</b>

<b>did middle school, we were in</b>

<b>Mac, which I love</b>

<b>because I'm a Mac person.</b>

<b>But but we still use</b>

<b>Google for everything else.</b>

<b>Google Me.</b>

<b>Yeah, we know.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>Google Me.</b>

<b>We use Google Docs instead of Microsoft</b>

<b>Office because that costs more money.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>Google Docs is free and.</b>

<b>I think we might get it out of cheap just</b>

<b>because of I don't know where we are.</b>

<b>Where we are.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>I do power mine on PowerPoints and I have</b>

<b>a giant PowerPoint for every unit.</b>

<b>Every unit.</b>

<b>Okay.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>And I like that.</b>

<b>I'm going to look into Google slides,</b>

<b>even though I use</b>

<b>PowerPoint, but I have a slide</b>

<b>that says day one, day two, day three and</b>

<b>a link so that it's</b>

<b>like my table of contents</b>

<b>so I can jump and I</b>

<b>share it with students.</b>

<b>I don't know if anyone ever looks at it</b>

<b>outside of class, but if they're absent.</b>

<b>You're doing your due diligence.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>Yeah. Yeah.</b>

<b>It's funny.</b>

<b>I used to use because I'm a Mac person</b>

<b>keynote and I like</b>

<b>keynote because it was cleaner</b>

<b>when I look at a</b>

<b>PowerPoint or not a PowerPoint.</b>

<b>When I open up PowerPoint or open up</b>

<b>word, I used to use those</b>

<b>before they were alternatives.</b>

<b>Now they're alternatives and they're so</b>

<b>busy with all the little</b>

<b>options that the toolbar</b>

<b>is so busy.</b>

<b>I'm like, oh my gosh, my head hurts where</b>

<b>Mac was so simplified.</b>

<b>And so Google docs is something like</b>

<b>simplified and what I used</b>

<b>to use the keynote is what</b>

<b>it is on Mac.</b>

<b>I used to use that one, but then you can</b>

<b>convert it to</b>

<b>PowerPoint, but not everything</b>

<b>really works just the same way.</b>

<b>So what I found is I switched and it took</b>

<b>me a while to get used</b>

<b>to it to go to Google</b>

<b>slides because anybody, whether they're</b>

<b>on a Mac or Windows or</b>

<b>whatever they might be</b>

<b>on can use Google slides and it looks the</b>

<b>same across all the computers.</b>

<b>So it was just a more universal one</b>

<b>because I know one time I</b>

<b>was doing a presentation</b>

<b>on Mac and they had just switched the</b>

<b>type of connection cable</b>

<b>that you needed to connect</b>

<b>it to power.</b>

<b>It was a proprietary one</b>

<b>only Macs used and I forgot it.</b>

<b>So halfway through my presentations, it</b>

<b>was my Mac went dead and</b>

<b>I was like, oh my gosh.</b>

<b>And if I was only on</b>

<b>Keynote, I'd be stuck.</b>

<b>But because I did it on Google slides, we</b>

<b>can just open up on</b>

<b>someone else's computer</b>

<b>and bingo, bingo, bingo, I was saved.</b>

<b>So that's another,</b>

<b>another thing in there.</b>

<b>But yep, the Microsoft</b>

<b>stuff is just too busy for me.</b>

<b>Too busy.</b>

<b>So Mary, what do you do to over plan</b>

<b>since, since you never</b>

<b>reuse a lesson like me?</b>

<b>Well, it's funny you should ask because</b>

<b>yesterday I went to one of</b>

<b>those, you know, they have</b>

<b>the retirement seminars, um, the, whoever</b>

<b>we're, we invest our,</b>

<b>you know, for a month</b>

<b>case with and stuff.</b>

<b>And I was like, well, I'm not, I'm over</b>

<b>five years away from</b>

<b>retirement, but I should find</b>

<b>out.</b>

<b>But a lot of it didn't really apply to me</b>

<b>because I'm ways out.</b>

<b>So I was like, I'll just multitask and</b>

<b>look at some stuff from</b>

<b>my school, from my school.</b>

<b>And I'm a little bit, um, I don't know, a</b>

<b>little bit stressed</b>

<b>about this coming year</b>

<b>because our school is</b>

<b>going to a new schedule.</b>

<b>So we're moving from an eight period AB</b>

<b>schedule to a seven period</b>

<b>schedule where we see our</b>

<b>classes four times a week instead of two</b>

<b>or three, which I love that.</b>

<b>But the class will be 48 minutes, Monday,</b>

<b>Tuesday, Friday, and then</b>

<b>block days on Wednesday,</b>

<b>Thursday for like 75 minutes.</b>

<b>So that schedule before.</b>

<b>So every, I'm only teaching one prep that</b>

<b>I taught last year, Spanish one.</b>

<b>So even for that one, as far as reusing</b>

<b>my lesson plans, I have</b>

<b>to change them because it's</b>

<b>shorter, you know, a</b>

<b>shorter class period.</b>

<b>And then I'm teaching Spanish three,</b>

<b>which I haven't taught</b>

<b>for like three, at least</b>

<b>three years.</b>

<b>I'm using the same curriculum, but</b>

<b>obviously that will have to change.</b>

<b>And then I'm teaching one AP Spanish</b>

<b>three combined class and</b>

<b>the AP exam has changed.</b>

<b>I went to a training earlier.</b>

<b>And so I'm very, I'm very nervous about</b>

<b>that class because I,</b>

<b>you know, you don't want</b>

<b>Spanish three kids to feel overwhelmed,</b>

<b>but you don't want the</b>

<b>AP kids to feel like, oh,</b>

<b>I got short changed because there's</b>

<b>another full AP class.</b>

<b>Like my colleague is teaching, but it was</b>

<b>either that or have an</b>

<b>AP class with 49 kids or</b>

<b>have two instead of three Spanish three</b>

<b>classes of like 42 or three kids.</b>

<b>I'm like, nobody should have a, I mean, I</b>

<b>know you, Pamela, you</b>

<b>have, and maybe Scott</b>

<b>with your desk, 30, something.</b>

<b>But I just think if you can make it</b>

<b>smaller, try to sell.</b>

<b>So all of this is going through my brain</b>

<b>and I think, oh, I</b>

<b>have to revamp all of my</b>

<b>lessons. And, and there's always the</b>

<b>question of, do I go back</b>

<b>to my previous lessons and</b>

<b>revise them? Because that gets really</b>

<b>overwhelming because you</b>

<b>have stuff in there, like</b>

<b>the kid's name who has the appointment</b>

<b>with the counselor or</b>

<b>whatever you threw in there.</b>

<b>Or do you just start with a blank?</b>

<b>Like Scott, I like the idea of your blank</b>

<b>template and then just</b>

<b>takes things from the</b>

<b>other lesson that I need.</b>

<b>So it's all kind of so I started looking</b>

<b>and then started</b>

<b>getting a little overwhelmed.</b>

<b>I'm like, I should not look.</b>

<b>And that's usually</b>

<b>makes a three and an AP.</b>

<b>I've seen a four and an AP, but never a</b>

<b>three and an AP</b>

<b>because that's a big jump.</b>

<b>Well, AP is our level four.</b>

<b>Three and AP all in one class next year.</b>

<b>When I took German in high school, they</b>

<b>only had one German class period.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>And all the Germans were in there.</b>

<b>And so the way she did it, she was so</b>

<b>funny because she was only</b>

<b>a part time German teacher.</b>

<b>She taught elementary</b>

<b>music for part of the day.</b>

<b>And then the other day</b>

<b>she was here at high school.</b>

<b>She taught one class period.</b>

<b>And so the first two rows</b>

<b>were spent or German one.</b>

<b>The next like row and</b>

<b>a half was German two.</b>

<b>And then German three was</b>

<b>like the next four desks.</b>

<b>And then German four didn't even have AP</b>

<b>back then with maybe two</b>

<b>more desks that were in</b>

<b>there. And all she did was she couldn't</b>

<b>really interact with us</b>

<b>because there's four levels.</b>

<b>So what she did was she go, she'd stand</b>

<b>in front of the first two</b>

<b>rows and she'd teach the</b>

<b>first two rows and vocabulary for level</b>

<b>one and says, OK, get</b>

<b>work in the workbook.</b>

<b>Then she'd go to the row two, the German</b>

<b>twos and give the grammar.</b>

<b>OK, get to work on the workbook.</b>

<b>And that's what she did.</b>

<b>She went back and forth because she had</b>

<b>one class period that</b>

<b>she had to teach all of the</b>

<b>levels in. And so</b>

<b>that was that was tough.</b>

<b>But I know someone I forgot his name.</b>

<b>He's going to forget. I'm horrible name.</b>

<b>So I apologize.</b>

<b>He's even a senior woolly video.</b>

<b>I can picture his face.</b>

<b>But in crashing.</b>

<b>No, no, no, it's a teacher.</b>

<b>It's a teacher.</b>

<b>He taught in like Missouri and he.</b>

<b>He was the the.</b>

<b>The developer of the Guinea pig.</b>

<b>I don't know what it was, but he taught</b>

<b>multilevel classrooms and he</b>

<b>because of his area that he</b>

<b>was in, he was in a rural area.</b>

<b>They weren't having very many options.</b>

<b>That was his solution.</b>

<b>And he did it really, really well where</b>

<b>it wasn't</b>

<b>overwhelming to the lower levels.</b>

<b>But at the same time, the upper levels</b>

<b>were getting what they</b>

<b>needed at the same time.</b>

<b>And I didn't really pay a lot.</b>

<b>I mean, I was intrigued by it, but it was</b>

<b>earlier in my career and I really</b>

<b>couldn't wrap my head around that.</b>

<b>I should have paid more</b>

<b>attention to what he did.</b>

<b>But that was really interesting.</b>

<b>And in Missouri and Kansas, those little</b>

<b>those Midwestern states, they do</b>

<b>something alternative because that was</b>

<b>their solution that he came up with.</b>

<b>But I met another lady and she was like a</b>

<b>Mennonite, I think something like that.</b>

<b>But she was in a like a newsroom, think</b>

<b>like a news studio</b>

<b>for a professional news.</b>

<b>She was in there and taught and it</b>

<b>broadcasted out to all of the different</b>

<b>schools because they were so far apart.</b>

<b>She couldn't travel back and forth.</b>

<b>OK. So she never saw</b>

<b>her students physically.</b>

<b>It wasn't like a Zoom line before online.</b>

<b>Yeah, exactly. And so she had to teach in</b>

<b>a little room and they had the cameras</b>

<b>all around her, you know, just like a</b>

<b>broadcast studio would be.</b>

<b>And she taught to all these rural areas.</b>

<b>And I was like, oh, my gosh, I couldn't</b>

<b>imagine not seeing my kids.</b>

<b>I mean, it's one thing you're on Zoom and</b>

<b>they choose to turn their cameras off.</b>

<b>But this one, you have an option to see.</b>

<b>Give me flashbacks, though.</b>

<b>Yeah. Yes. So that was</b>

<b>really, really interesting.</b>

<b>Yeah. Yeah. Well, I plan my plan is and a</b>

<b>shout out to our French teacher who has</b>

<b>always had level three</b>

<b>and four in the same room.</b>

<b>And this year she has she has French one</b>

<b>and AP in the same classroom.</b>

<b>So I feel like I've won an AP.</b>

<b>That's going to be hard.</b>

<b>Yeah, I feel lame for complaining, but</b>

<b>for mine, I feel like I'm going to teach</b>

<b>as if it were an AP.</b>

<b>Well, it is an AP class, but all of them</b>

<b>as if they were AP and</b>

<b>differentiate for the level threes.</b>

<b>So that, you know, and now with Scott</b>

<b>talks a lot about A.I.</b>

<b>And it's like, oh, well, I can put this</b>

<b>authentic resource into A.I.</b>

<b>and make it intermediate low or novice</b>

<b>high level for the if</b>

<b>it's something we're reading.</b>

<b>So I'm hoping that works.</b>

<b>It does. I use a lot to make to create</b>

<b>those embedded readings.</b>

<b>I use it a lot. I use it to make images</b>

<b>because back in the day,</b>

<b>I used to use clip art.</b>

<b>I would just look for</b>

<b>clip art to make my images.</b>

<b>But the problem was that the poses the</b>

<b>clip art had didn't always stick with the</b>

<b>story as you went through,</b>

<b>because they were static. You couldn't</b>

<b>find like multiple</b>

<b>poses of one character.</b>

<b>You couldn't usually</b>

<b>find that kind of stuff.</b>

<b>And sometimes the character would change</b>

<b>because I needed it to be a surprise look</b>

<b>and I'm looking for a surprise.</b>

<b>So I do like that I can use</b>

<b>A.I. to help make my stories.</b>

<b>And then some of the things I do is I</b>

<b>will go and take my the</b>

<b>the the if I can speak,</b>

<b>take the image that I created, I take it</b>

<b>into Canva and I'll</b>

<b>delete the background.</b>

<b>So I just have the</b>

<b>character and then I can do it.</b>

<b>Pamela does and sometimes slot on a</b>

<b>slide, move the character from one</b>

<b>direction to another in there.</b>

<b>So I like doing something like that to</b>

<b>kind of make those like little A.I.</b>

<b>puppets, I guess we kind of call them.</b>

<b>So, yes, we are.</b>

<b>But I like using A.I. to make images</b>

<b>because especially when I</b>

<b>make a story about a kid,</b>

<b>I'll take their school picture and put it</b>

<b>in there without their name</b>

<b>and then I'll have it put into</b>

<b>a cartoon version of them.</b>

<b>Yeah. So that makes it fun and a little</b>

<b>bit more personalized in there.</b>

<b>That's where I plan more.</b>

<b>My reading stories because my reading</b>

<b>stories are always about my kids.</b>

<b>And then I put little</b>

<b>illustrations that go along with it.</b>

<b>So I plan that one a little bit more.</b>

<b>And I will say, what is it?</b>

<b>My I my last school is at</b>

<b>my last school for two years.</b>

<b>And I the first year I was just trying to</b>

<b>wing it with a textbook because I haven't</b>

<b>used a textbook in at</b>

<b>least 15 years before that.</b>

<b>So the second year I had planned at the</b>

<b>end of that first year, I made all these</b>

<b>slides and kind of organized it by my</b>

<b>units and stuff and had it somewhat plan.</b>

<b>You know, my warm up actually matched the</b>

<b>grammar that actually went</b>

<b>with the unit type of thing.</b>

<b>And then. I left.</b>

<b>And so now I have all those beautifully</b>

<b>made sides and I can't use them now.</b>

<b>So like Mary says, every year we're</b>

<b>recreating the slides,</b>

<b>even our best wishes.</b>

<b>Always recreating, always recreating.</b>

<b>So I had a really good time.</b>

<b>Well, someone I saw a really good idea.</b>

<b>I don't know if I heard about in a</b>

<b>conference or saw it in a blog or</b>

<b>podcast, but they have this person had a</b>

<b>slide deck called The Hub.</b>

<b>And they had all of their routine, you</b>

<b>know, things they do every single day or</b>

<b>frequently like the</b>

<b>instruction slides for that.</b>

<b>And so I started doing that, too. And</b>

<b>that's kind of helpful.</b>

<b>That's what I do.</b>

<b>Yeah, I've got a folder.</b>

<b>Yeah, I've got a folder.</b>

<b>It's got my classroom procedures.</b>

<b>Welcome back.</b>

<b>And then I just copy and paste those into</b>

<b>my active slide deck for the thing.</b>

<b>I also have because I do more themes, I</b>

<b>do a more theme of the week.</b>

<b>So I have a whole slide</b>

<b>deck of all my more themes.</b>

<b>I have a whole slide deck of all my</b>

<b>inspirational quotes.</b>

<b>I have one hundred and eighty</b>

<b>inspirational quotes from all religions,</b>

<b>colors, nationalities, wherever I could</b>

<b>find all the different kinds of things.</b>

<b>And I have and I just copy and paste them</b>

<b>into the current slide.</b>

<b>I do that.</b>

<b>Mm hmm. All my warm ups, too.</b>

<b>I have a warm up deck and I just copy</b>

<b>them instead of going like Pamela and go,</b>

<b>oh, I got to open my</b>

<b>warm up deck for this day.</b>

<b>I just copy that slide into my current</b>

<b>week slide deck so that it will.</b>

<b>And I'm going on the schedule this year,</b>

<b>which I've never done a complete A.B.</b>

<b>We did an A.B.C. but never an A.B.</b>

<b>So now I've got to make my deck is now</b>

<b>going to be for two weeks, but five</b>

<b>school days because I'll see one kids for</b>

<b>three days and next week</b>

<b>I'll see them only for two.</b>

<b>So that'll give me my whole cycle.</b>

<b>My five day cycle will</b>

<b>take two weeks to get through.</b>

<b>That's what I just came from.</b>

<b>Yeah, I'm too old for that one.</b>

<b>I'm never going to remember if it's an</b>

<b>odd day or an even day.</b>

<b>I'm not going to remember.</b>

<b>Oh, yeah, it's hard.</b>

<b>I have all the schedules posted and every</b>

<b>day I had to look like</b>

<b>what time does this class end?</b>

<b>What's yeah, I never had</b>

<b>it in my just in my head.</b>

<b>Yeah, that I we used to have the A.B.C.</b>

<b>where C day was Friday.</b>

<b>It was our catch up day.</b>

<b>So we saw all classes</b>

<b>that day for like 45 minutes.</b>

<b>And then if we had a holiday that took a</b>

<b>Monday or a Friday away, that's the day</b>

<b>that got lost was that C day.</b>

<b>So we always started the week with an A</b>

<b>and then we went to a B and</b>

<b>then went to an A and then a B.</b>

<b>And then if we had Friday, we had a C.</b>

<b>So we always knew the first day of the</b>

<b>week, whether it was a Tuesday or a</b>

<b>Monday, it was an A day.</b>

<b>I didn't have to worry about that.</b>

<b>This week's an A day.</b>

<b>Next week's a B day on a Monday.</b>

<b>I didn't have to worry about that.</b>

<b>So it was a little bit</b>

<b>easier to keep track of.</b>

<b>But I'm I'm terrified</b>

<b>about just the straight A.B.</b>

<b>schedule and the schedule that you're</b>

<b>talking about the year on this year.</b>

<b>I had been on that one for many years</b>

<b>where Monday, Wednesday and no Monday,</b>

<b>Tuesday and Friday</b>

<b>were actually we did it.</b>

<b>We had three schedules</b>

<b>because Monday was PLC day.</b>

<b>So that was a really short day where the</b>

<b>kids got up early and we had PLC.</b>

<b>Then we had Tuesday, Friday schedule and</b>

<b>then Wednesday,</b>

<b>Thursday were the block days.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>We have a short one early</b>

<b>release every week now on third.</b>

<b>So we have Wednesday.</b>

<b>We see one three five seven and advisory</b>

<b>and then Thursday is two</b>

<b>four six early release.</b>

<b>And some teachers will not have a</b>

<b>planning on we have we</b>

<b>teach six out of seven classes.</b>

<b>One of the days you</b>

<b>won't have a planning.</b>

<b>We had to waive that contract.</b>

<b>But luckily my planning's on the one</b>

<b>three five seven day.</b>

<b>And so then the two four six day at least</b>

<b>we have an early release.</b>

<b>So that's sort of.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>We used to always</b>

<b>complain about that day.</b>

<b>They go, oh, it's my no prep day.</b>

<b>It's my no prep day the whole day long.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>And the classes are.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>The classes are long.</b>

<b>Yeah, exactly.</b>

<b>My new schedule we're on a block every</b>

<b>day just like I was last year.</b>

<b>But I don't know why they</b>

<b>made lunch after third period.</b>

<b>Because that puts lunch at almost one</b>

<b>o'clock in the afternoon.</b>

<b>That's a long.</b>

<b>What time do you start?</b>

<b>Day.</b>

<b>We started eight forty five.</b>

<b>Oh, that's why.</b>

<b>OK.</b>

<b>No, because my school started at eight</b>

<b>thirty and we had we</b>

<b>have four periods a day.</b>

<b>You did it after a period too.</b>

<b>OK.</b>

<b>Halfway through the day.</b>

<b>One lunch only.</b>

<b>We only have one lunch.</b>

<b>No, OK.</b>

<b>We have two with two thousand students.</b>

<b>You only have one lunch.</b>

<b>We only have one lunch.</b>

<b>Part of that because we have</b>

<b>something called the pause.</b>

<b>It's intervention</b>

<b>because we're the Wildcats.</b>

<b>They call it pause.</b>

<b>I don't know what it</b>

<b>stands for, but it's pause.</b>

<b>And they it's at the beginning of lunch.</b>

<b>So the kids who are who</b>

<b>have because we only give ABCs.</b>

<b>We don't give anything lower than a C.</b>

<b>It's called no credit.</b>

<b>You get no credit for the class lower</b>

<b>than the C, which is new.</b>

<b>So I like it.</b>

<b>I like it because if you don't pass level</b>

<b>one with a C or</b>

<b>better, it doesn't come for</b>

<b>college anyway.</b>

<b>So why pass it with the D?</b>

<b>So OK.</b>

<b>Anybody who has got a no credit in any</b>

<b>class is required to</b>

<b>attend the half an hour pause</b>

<b>program, which is right after third</b>

<b>period before lunch.</b>

<b>The kids who have who have all good</b>

<b>grades, they get to have</b>

<b>an extra half an hour for</b>

<b>lunch.</b>

<b>Interesting.</b>

<b>So I like that solution because we've had</b>

<b>that that kind of</b>

<b>pause program in my other</b>

<b>schools, but they did</b>

<b>it very differently.</b>

<b>We used to have to do either</b>

<b>enrichment or intervention.</b>

<b>So we'd have to come up with a lesson</b>

<b>that was enrichment</b>

<b>either in our subject area or</b>

<b>just enrichment in general because kids</b>

<b>want to do something fun.</b>

<b>So you might get arts and crafts or</b>

<b>something with food or something.</b>

<b>So we always complain it was an extra</b>

<b>lesson we had to plan</b>

<b>that we didn't have to.</b>

<b>So I like the idea of just giving them,</b>

<b>rewarding them with an</b>

<b>extra half an hour of</b>

<b>lunch, but that it's just</b>

<b>so late because I'm diabetic.</b>

<b>They get a snack period that's five</b>

<b>minutes long at 10 o'clock.</b>

<b>But I don't know why they</b>

<b>don't put it earlier in the day.</b>

<b>It's just it seems really, really late</b>

<b>because I also have to</b>

<b>eat my dinner because I'm</b>

<b>diabetic by five o'clock.</b>

<b>Well, by the time we get out, if I'm</b>

<b>eating dinner at one</b>

<b>thirty, I'm feeling I mean,</b>

<b>eating lunch by one thirty, I'm finishing</b>

<b>when I get out of school at four o'clock,</b>

<b>that's too close for me to have a dinner,</b>

<b>you know, right after that.</b>

<b>So I don't know how the my</b>

<b>food schedule is going to work.</b>

<b>But I just think it's really weird that</b>

<b>it's after a third period.</b>

<b>Why not after a second?</b>

<b>It doesn't make sense.</b>

<b>Go through half the day because they got</b>

<b>to go through three ninety minute periods</b>

<b>before they get lunch.</b>

<b>And some kids don't eat breakfast.</b>

<b>Yeah. So they're going to be dying.</b>

<b>Yeah. Yeah.</b>

<b>Yeah. So I don't know</b>

<b>how that's going to work.</b>

<b>We'll see in a couple of</b>

<b>weeks when I my kids come.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>So with all this over planning that we've</b>

<b>done and I already</b>

<b>told my story of how my</b>

<b>system that I tried working on last year</b>

<b>completely collapsed.</b>

<b>I'm moving new school, new curriculum,</b>

<b>new textbook, everything.</b>

<b>So all those slides are gone.</b>

<b>Well, I save them, I</b>

<b>have them, but they're gone.</b>

<b>I can't even use them.</b>

<b>Those of us who do over plan, Pam, we</b>

<b>haven't heard much about your planning.</b>

<b>Let us know.</b>

<b>Does it still work for you in October or</b>

<b>are you completely</b>

<b>rehashing like, oh, my gosh,</b>

<b>I over plan and it's just not working.</b>

<b>I am the anti procrastinator.</b>

<b>OK, I cannot sleep at night</b>

<b>unless I know what I'm doing.</b>

<b>And then once everything</b>

<b>starts going, I'm happy camper.</b>

<b>OK, but if I don't know, like this next</b>

<b>year coming up, I'm going to</b>

<b>again have packed classes and I have to</b>

<b>have I have two English nine classes.</b>

<b>And frankly, the only reason I agreed to</b>

<b>do English nine for two</b>

<b>reasons, because I had</b>

<b>been doing English 11, they crammed a</b>

<b>bunch of kids in my</b>

<b>classes so that I could</b>

<b>squeeze in English 11.</b>

<b>And I said, OK, English nine,</b>

<b>that means more work for me.</b>

<b>That means my summer's all gone because</b>

<b>now I need to get ready for English nine.</b>

<b>But I'll never have to do</b>

<b>the great Gatsby ever again.</b>

<b>I hate the great Gatsby.</b>

<b>And to English nine is</b>

<b>capped at 24 students.</b>

<b>And I was like, oh, I'm so used to having</b>

<b>35 students, 36</b>

<b>students, 39 students being</b>

<b>capped at 24 might be kind of nice, but</b>

<b>it means that my whole summer has been</b>

<b>planning for English nine.</b>

<b>And then, of course, I got my other like,</b>

<b>oh, I got a great idea.</b>

<b>I want to do this</b>

<b>kind of thing, you know.</b>

<b>And so for me, I have</b>

<b>to plan ahead of time.</b>

<b>And I was just talking to somebody else</b>

<b>because it's conference season, right?</b>

<b>And we were talking about a couple of</b>

<b>weeks ago, we were</b>

<b>talking about Chasing the</b>

<b>Shiny New Object.</b>

<b>And it's because it's conference season</b>

<b>and I get so many great ideas.</b>

<b>And I'm speaking at four</b>

<b>conferences this summer.</b>

<b>And I was just talking about project</b>

<b>based learning, game based learning.</b>

<b>And I realized a lot of people aren't</b>

<b>wrapping their heads</b>

<b>around it because they've got</b>

<b>a massive rubric for their project when</b>

<b>their project comes.</b>

<b>For me, I've planned</b>

<b>all the little steps.</b>

<b>And so once all my kids get through the</b>

<b>little steps, the</b>

<b>project is just basically me</b>

<b>sitting back.</b>

<b>I've got a clipboard in hand.</b>

<b>I'm walking around the class and I'm</b>

<b>pretending to grade</b>

<b>them, but I'm not really</b>

<b>grading them because if they can get to</b>

<b>the project, they're</b>

<b>speaking in the target</b>

<b>language. I'm having a blast.</b>

<b>They're having a blast.</b>

<b>It's just calm now.</b>

<b>So if I can get to that</b>

<b>point, I'm like, everything's fine.</b>

<b>So I need to over plan so that I can be</b>

<b>relaxed for the rest of the year.</b>

<b>I know, which is kind of crazy.</b>

<b>I mean, it's it's</b>

<b>really I know I'm weird.</b>

<b>I know I'm eclectic.</b>

<b>But for me, that's the only way I can</b>

<b>sleep at night is by</b>

<b>over planning to begin</b>

<b>with so that I can take it easy when the</b>

<b>rubber hits the road.</b>

<b>Basically, when when things are like, you</b>

<b>know, during the school year, you have to</b>

<b>be flexible. You got to be able to pivot.</b>

<b>If I've over planned, it's so easy for me</b>

<b>to say, oh, that's not working.</b>

<b>Here's this other thing</b>

<b>I have in my back pocket.</b>

<b>And then less gray hair.</b>

<b>Yeah. And I'll say I'm with you.</b>

<b>The teachers go, I don't know what I'm</b>

<b>doing today or I got to do my lesson plan</b>

<b>for tomorrow. That freaks me out.</b>

<b>I lesson plan on Thursdays because I</b>

<b>pretty much know where</b>

<b>they're going to end up</b>

<b>by the end of Friday.</b>

<b>Sometimes I get it wrong like something</b>

<b>went off or we got</b>

<b>off topic or something.</b>

<b>But nine times out of</b>

<b>10, I've got it down.</b>

<b>So I lesson plan on Thursday and I have</b>

<b>my whole plan for the next week because I</b>

<b>cannot go in in the morning not knowing</b>

<b>that I'm doing in 20 minutes.</b>

<b>That would freak me out because then</b>

<b>there's something that's going to happen.</b>

<b>I say, guess what? I go,</b>

<b>I'll just plan it on my prep.</b>

<b>And then you go, oh,</b>

<b>crap, they called you in.</b>

<b>You had a cover for</b>

<b>someone else on your prep.</b>

<b>Then you're like, what</b>

<b>the heck am I going to do?</b>

<b>And that is even more stressful than just</b>

<b>having to give up your prep</b>

<b>unexpectedly when you plan to maybe</b>

<b>grading something or</b>

<b>doing something else.</b>

<b>But I know that I no matter if they take</b>

<b>my prep or not, my whole week is planned.</b>

<b>So I have that much plan.</b>

<b>I do my whole week.</b>

<b>So Thursday is when I do my plans and</b>

<b>it's all done on Thursdays.</b>

<b>And that works out</b>

<b>really, really well for me.</b>

<b>I can't do much more than</b>

<b>that because my kids adapt.</b>

<b>Like you said, you never know where</b>

<b>they're going to be or</b>

<b>what kids you're going to</b>

<b>have and which if the class are going to</b>

<b>be in sync with each other.</b>

<b>But so I do mind about a week in advance.</b>

<b>I used to hate one school</b>

<b>district that I worked in.</b>

<b>We had to turn in our lesson</b>

<b>plans two weeks in advance.</b>

<b>I'm like, that is poor teaching because</b>

<b>you don't know where</b>

<b>your kids are going to</b>

<b>be in two weeks and I have to turn them</b>

<b>in to officially turn</b>

<b>them in and get them</b>

<b>signed off and then I'm</b>

<b>like, I had to change my plans.</b>

<b>So I have to send in a new revised one</b>

<b>and get that signed off.</b>

<b>They're like, you</b>

<b>keep revising your plans.</b>

<b>I'm like, I have to.</b>

<b>I have to adapt to my kids.</b>

<b>I thought they would get</b>

<b>this really difficult concept.</b>

<b>It was going to take three days.</b>

<b>It only took them one day.</b>

<b>But this easier concept took them three</b>

<b>days instead of one day.</b>

<b>You know, so you've got to adapt and</b>

<b>you've got to adapt in front of</b>

<b>in front of them.</b>

<b>And I will say, I think</b>

<b>I've shown this one before.</b>

<b>Let me see if I can find it.</b>

<b>See, while you look for it, I'm going to</b>

<b>say thank you for</b>

<b>bringing that up because</b>

<b>one of the the hammers that came down for</b>

<b>us was not only do</b>

<b>you have to have common</b>

<b>things, but you have to have your your</b>

<b>quarterly plans for your units.</b>

<b>And I'm like, this is not set in stone</b>

<b>because, you know,</b>

<b>like I teach two Spanish</b>

<b>one classes, they're</b>

<b>not on the same place.</b>

<b>My colleagues aren't on</b>

<b>the same place as I am.</b>

<b>And you expect this to be set</b>

<b>in stone for next year, too.</b>

<b>Like you haven't seen the</b>

<b>students in front of you.</b>

<b>It's not going to be the same thing.</b>

<b>So when I have to do that lesson planning</b>

<b>thing, it's just bare bones.</b>

<b>It's just like I can understand.</b>

<b>I was just like, fine, I'm going to I'm</b>

<b>going to submit my AAT,</b>

<b>ATT from spill.</b>

<b>I'm just submitting that.</b>

<b>They can't complain.</b>

<b>They can't even argue with me about that.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>Having an outline is one thing, but less</b>

<b>specific lesson plans</b>

<b>is just not practical.</b>

<b>Yeah, and no, and it's</b>

<b>like, why are they doing that?</b>

<b>It's like another example, I feel like,</b>

<b>of how they don't trust teachers to</b>

<b>get the work done that</b>

<b>they need to get done.</b>

<b>So they have to like at P.D. stuff, you</b>

<b>have to fill up all the time.</b>

<b>Our principal is really good about giving</b>

<b>us time to work on stuff.</b>

<b>So I'm just saying,</b>

<b>but from things I hear</b>

<b>and so are they doing that because some</b>

<b>people don't really have a plan and</b>

<b>you know, whereas most teachers do have</b>

<b>that plan, it just is flexible.</b>

<b>Absolutely.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>And I'll show you, here's my I'm trying</b>

<b>to get the link really here quickly.</b>

<b>Entertaining an Elephant.</b>

<b>I highly recommend this</b>

<b>book to everybody and anybody.</b>

<b>It.</b>

<b>It has nothing to do</b>

<b>with the world language.</b>

<b>It is a short novel.</b>

<b>I'm trying to get a quick link here and</b>

<b>my quick link is not working.</b>

<b>Ah, it's working now,</b>

<b>so I'll put it in here.</b>

<b>Mm.us</b>

<b>elephant is the link I made to make it</b>

<b>really easy to find it on Amazon.</b>

<b>It's a short little book.</b>

<b>I had to read it in teacher school and</b>

<b>it's about an English teacher who has</b>

<b>his lesson plans laminated.</b>

<b>Oh, you told me that.</b>

<b>And it's not by the date, but it's like</b>

<b>the first day of school,</b>

<b>the second day of school,</b>

<b>the third day of school.</b>

<b>And he's been teaching forever and he's</b>

<b>an older gentleman and he's now teaching.</b>

<b>His school has become</b>

<b>more and more inner city.</b>

<b>So he's got more and more disconnect with</b>

<b>the kids in his classroom.</b>

<b>He doesn't identify with them.</b>

<b>He actually kind of despises them and has</b>

<b>a negative opinion about them.</b>

<b>And he always uses this grammar book and</b>

<b>the kids, it's really dry and the kids</b>

<b>don't understand it.</b>

<b>But there is this</b>

<b>international and immigrant</b>

<b>custodian and every day he went after he</b>

<b>cleans the classroom,</b>

<b>he writes a quote up on the board.</b>

<b>The kids assume it's the</b>

<b>teacher who read who wrote this.</b>

<b>So as a warm up, they write</b>

<b>something about the quote,</b>

<b>but the quote wasn't</b>

<b>put out by the teacher.</b>

<b>And I can't remember the the custodian</b>

<b>leaves for whatever reason.</b>

<b>I don't know if it's an immigration</b>

<b>problem or I don't know.</b>

<b>He's no longer there after a while and</b>

<b>they're like, where's the quote?</b>

<b>And so what the quote and the teacher</b>

<b>didn't realize that there's</b>

<b>this quote up on the board.</b>

<b>And he was trying to teach them how to</b>

<b>write a persuasive essay and all these</b>

<b>different things, but he's doing it all</b>

<b>the grammatical way.</b>

<b>Open the grammar book,</b>

<b>following the text book all the way.</b>

<b>And the kids were just</b>

<b>like, I can't focus on this.</b>

<b>Right now, we're at our apartment and our</b>

<b>apartment doesn't have any electricity,</b>

<b>not because we didn't pay the bill, but</b>

<b>because there's a problem with</b>

<b>electricity in our apartment and the</b>

<b>landlord's not doing anything about it.</b>

<b>Or we're not having hot</b>

<b>water, we're not having this.</b>

<b>And it took him a while to actually</b>

<b>identify that he needed to tap into that</b>

<b>to make them write</b>

<b>their persuasive essay.</b>

<b>So it's a really good thing about you</b>

<b>have to teach the kids in front of you.</b>

<b>And this was even before I</b>

<b>knew anything about TPRS or CI.</b>

<b>And it really is a metaphor for that as</b>

<b>well, because you can't teach concretely.</b>

<b>Even if you have to use a textbook, you</b>

<b>can't teach from the textbook word for</b>

<b>word, page for page, because that's not</b>

<b>how the brain works.</b>

<b>And you're not going to make those</b>

<b>connections with kids.</b>

<b>And without the connections,</b>

<b>nothing else is going to stick.</b>

<b>So it's just an overall good book.</b>

<b>I highly recommend it for every teacher</b>

<b>to read, regardless of what you teach.</b>

<b>I think it's a powerful book and it's not</b>

<b>even it's 115 pages.</b>

<b>It is 115 pages.</b>

<b>So</b>

<b>it's just something I</b>

<b>highly, highly recommend.</b>

<b>It's a really, really good book.</b>

<b>It's called Entertaining an Elephant,</b>

<b>which I always I'm glad I remembered it</b>

<b>because I always forget the name of the</b>

<b>book because it has nothing to do with</b>

<b>teaching the name.</b>

<b>There's no elephants in the book.</b>

<b>You know, there's nothing in there.</b>

<b>So nothing that</b>

<b>triggers my memory with that.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>I wrote it down on my list.</b>

<b>It's a really it's a really</b>

<b>good and it's a short read.</b>

<b>I wish they had a Kindle version.</b>

<b>I have the paperback, but I wish they'd</b>

<b>make a Kindle version because I mean,</b>

<b>I read this 20 some years ago.</b>

<b>And I have the paperback, but I really</b>

<b>would like a Kindle</b>

<b>so I can keep it in my</b>

<b>Kindle and refer to it all the time and</b>

<b>having to have the book.</b>

<b>But it was such a good overall book.</b>

<b>So I highly recommend</b>

<b>Entertaining an Elephant.</b>

<b>And I'll put the link and I'll add the</b>

<b>link to the show notes as well.</b>

<b>But I made it at least easy to remember.</b>

<b>Mm.us elephant.</b>

<b>Is the name is the link</b>

<b>that we can all find it in.</b>

<b>Cool. OK, we're coming</b>

<b>near the end already.</b>

<b>I can't believe we're</b>

<b>already here at the end.</b>

<b>But let's give some teachers some hope.</b>

<b>And some things that</b>

<b>make it easier for them.</b>

<b>To sustain the planning thing.</b>

<b>So let's start with you, Mary.</b>

<b>What do you do to help sustain the</b>

<b>planning so it's not</b>

<b>overwhelming too much,</b>

<b>but it's also not too little that you're</b>

<b>like, oh, I got 10 more minutes.</b>

<b>What am I going to do at the end of the</b>

<b>period type of thing to keep you covered</b>

<b>and sustain so you're not</b>

<b>burnt out the whole year long?</b>

<b>Yeah, I don't know.</b>

<b>I will say do as I say, not as I do.</b>

<b>But</b>

<b>classic teacher statement.</b>

<b>Well, I will just say like to help</b>

<b>myself, a goal that I</b>

<b>have this summer has been</b>

<b>not to although yesterday I broke the</b>

<b>rule, but not to start planning too much.</b>

<b>I mean, I can think about things, but</b>

<b>don't do a lot of</b>

<b>concrete planning until I'm</b>

<b>closer to the time because I'll make the</b>

<b>mistake of planning a</b>

<b>lot in a lot of detail.</b>

<b>And then I forget what I did and I go</b>

<b>back right before school starts.</b>

<b>I'm like, oh, no, I don't like that.</b>

<b>And I do it all again.</b>

<b>So so don't plan the</b>

<b>details too far ahead.</b>

<b>Because like you said, like you say,</b>

<b>Scott, you need to see</b>

<b>the kids in front of you.</b>

<b>And so maybe like a week before plan the</b>

<b>week in a lot of detail.</b>

<b>And that's a goal of mine.</b>

<b>Scott is to do what you do and plan the</b>

<b>next week or maybe two</b>

<b>one week. And so you're always sort of a</b>

<b>week or two ahead of of where you are.</b>

<b>And and of course, you can</b>

<b>you can revise. And another thing is</b>

<b>it can be OK, not especially if we'll be</b>

<b>in teaching this long,</b>

<b>it can be OK to under plan a little bit</b>

<b>because then things</b>

<b>you can make something</b>

<b>last longer or you can do a quick, you</b>

<b>know, brain break or something like that.</b>

<b>So that's actually</b>

<b>something I'm working on is</b>

<b>maybe trying to I don't want to say wing</b>

<b>it, but try to have a chunk,</b>

<b>a little chunk of time where I have to</b>

<b>sort of come up because I could literally</b>

<b>walk into a class with absolutely no plan</b>

<b>and have an entire</b>

<b>class out of everything</b>

<b>that's in my head if I wanted to.</b>

<b>But I wouldn't recommend that for a</b>

<b>beginning teacher necessarily.</b>

<b>But I never do that.</b>

<b>But just sort of take a step back and not</b>

<b>not go into too much detail too early.</b>

<b>And I like the under planning where you</b>

<b>can if you as long as you have like five</b>

<b>or seven activities that are generic</b>

<b>enough that can apply to any lesson in</b>

<b>your back pocket to pull from,</b>

<b>you know, little games like I love the</b>

<b>pencil game because I</b>

<b>can do that with anything.</b>

<b>You know, you can we got five minutes.</b>

<b>Let's do the pencil</b>

<b>game right here, right now.</b>

<b>Or I can throw in some TPR.</b>

<b>Let's do some TPR right here, right now.</b>

<b>Or let's play a game of silent ball.</b>

<b>I'm tired of listening to you</b>

<b>guys talk while I'm talking.</b>

<b>So we silent ball going</b>

<b>for a couple of times.</b>

<b>You know, I've always</b>

<b>got balloons for that.</b>

<b>I like to play the</b>

<b>silent ball with balloons.</b>

<b>So I always have a package of balloons I</b>

<b>can blow up and get ready to go.</b>

<b>I have I have all these different little</b>

<b>things that I have that helps with that.</b>

<b>Or kids just need a break</b>

<b>like this is just too heavy.</b>

<b>Or they had a giant test in physics today</b>

<b>and half your kids all came from physics</b>

<b>and their eyes are all glazed over.</b>

<b>You just can't do what you need to do.</b>

<b>So having some activities that are</b>

<b>generic and</b>

<b>adaptable, meaning they're not</b>

<b>completely outside of your curriculum,</b>

<b>but they can adapt to whatever you happen</b>

<b>to be doing or needing to practice on,</b>

<b>you know, gim kits and book.</b>

<b>It's are great for that as well.</b>

<b>A song that you're doing that unit.</b>

<b>You can. Oh, let's listen to our song.</b>

<b>Yeah. Anything like that really does help</b>

<b>in there and gives you that</b>

<b>little bit of wiggle room.</b>

<b>And I'm I'm a little</b>

<b>bit of an underplanner</b>

<b>in that way because I want that wiggle</b>

<b>room so that if something goes long,</b>

<b>I have the time for it or something,</b>

<b>something else like the kids need more</b>

<b>practice with it. I've got</b>

<b>that wiggle room where I go.</b>

<b>Oh, no, I got to get to here because</b>

<b>tomorrow we're doing this.</b>

<b>I leave that little bit of wiggle room.</b>

<b>So that's a great, great piece of advice.</b>

<b>What about you, Pamela?</b>

<b>Flexibility, the</b>

<b>flexibility that we need.</b>

<b>Yeah. Yeah.</b>

<b>I've got two things.</b>

<b>First, the piece we haven't talked about,</b>

<b>which is the flip side.</b>

<b>You plan, plan, plan.</b>

<b>Now you need to reflect.</b>

<b>And I make sure that I</b>

<b>carve out time every single day</b>

<b>at the end of the day,</b>

<b>write down this worked.</b>

<b>This didn't. This is</b>

<b>how I want to tweak it.</b>

<b>And that way, my planning for the next</b>

<b>year is much easier because I can look</b>

<b>through and I can say</b>

<b>this was really good.</b>

<b>This was kind of good.</b>

<b>But I think I know how I can tweak it.</b>

<b>So at this point of</b>

<b>after teaching for 100 years,</b>

<b>planning is easier because</b>

<b>I have done that reflection,</b>

<b>which doesn't take that much</b>

<b>time if you do it immediately.</b>

<b>You because while things are fresh in</b>

<b>your head, you write down your reflection</b>

<b>as quickly as you can.</b>

<b>Do you do it in the slide?</b>

<b>No, I do it.</b>

<b>My personal like a little personal diary</b>

<b>I have and then I'll refer back to it.</b>

<b>But sometimes I'll go back and I'll say I</b>

<b>need to make a note in the slide note</b>

<b>to self and if I have to, I'll write it</b>

<b>in a language that the</b>

<b>kids don't understand.</b>

<b>If it's a Spanish slide,</b>

<b>I'll write it in Japanese.</b>

<b>If it's a French slide, I'll</b>

<b>write it in Spanish, whatever.</b>

<b>And then say, you</b>

<b>know, change the, you know,</b>

<b>make sure to grab the deck of cards, make</b>

<b>sure to do this, whatever.</b>

<b>Do this first.</b>

<b>So that'll just keep</b>

<b>me on track and stuff.</b>

<b>If I don't have time to go back and fix</b>

<b>it at that moment,</b>

<b>which I probably don't.</b>

<b>So I think that</b>

<b>reflection piece is really key</b>

<b>as part of</b>

<b>making sure your planning goes smoothly,</b>

<b>because if you don't reflect,</b>

<b>it's kind of pointless</b>

<b>that you put in all that work.</b>

<b>And the second thing I'll say is I</b>

<b>started in the last couple of years</b>

<b>getting a little more selfish.</b>

<b>OK, you know, we're teachers, we put</b>

<b>ourselves out there.</b>

<b>We're killing ourselves</b>

<b>for the kids and everything.</b>

<b>Mary knows, what was it?</b>

<b>Like four years ago, I broke</b>

<b>my leg and it's a horrible.</b>

<b>Oh, yeah.</b>

<b>I like it's I have so</b>

<b>much metal in me now.</b>

<b>I'm a cyborg and I still</b>

<b>can't walk without a cane.</b>

<b>And I was like last year, I was like, I'm</b>

<b>going Spanish, French, Japanese,</b>

<b>Spanish, again, English, I'm bouncing</b>

<b>between all the stuff.</b>

<b>And I am not carving out enough time to</b>

<b>do the exercises that I need to do.</b>

<b>And I'm exhausted by the end of the day.</b>

<b>So I went through and I found little five</b>

<b>minute exercise videos in the target</b>

<b>language.</b>

<b>Uh oh, we lost her.</b>

<b>I wanted them to be, you know,</b>

<b>oh, did you lose me for just a second?</b>

<b>Yeah, I'm back.</b>

<b>OK.</b>

<b>Oh, yep, I know I can see.</b>

<b>All right. So I'll talk fast.</b>

<b>So I don't want to do</b>

<b>like yoga in Spanish</b>

<b>because I don't really feel that I can</b>

<b>get cultural with that.</b>

<b>So like with Japanese, it's really easy.</b>

<b>I've got that agiotiso stuff.</b>

<b>And you know, so but I went through and I</b>

<b>found little five minute stretching</b>

<b>videos and when I'm like, ah, I've got a</b>

<b>little bit of extra time in class.</b>

<b>My wiggle room is, guys, I need to do my</b>

<b>exercises and you need to learn your body</b>

<b>parts and you need to</b>

<b>learn left and right.</b>

<b>So here we're doing this little five</b>

<b>minute stretching video.</b>

<b>So everybody on your feet, you know, and</b>

<b>it's a good brain break.</b>

<b>It's good in the middle of the class when</b>

<b>they need to be woken up and everything.</b>

<b>Um, so so that's my wiggle room is making</b>

<b>it really selfish for me.</b>

<b>What do I want to do?</b>

<b>I like music.</b>

<b>Hey, guys, we're going</b>

<b>to listen to a song now.</b>

<b>Let's here's the</b>

<b>words projected on screen.</b>

<b>So that's selfish for me.</b>

<b>And it keeps me, I</b>

<b>think, a little more grounded.</b>

<b>As a teacher, you know,</b>

<b>when things get really crazy.</b>

<b>So so that's my my advice is reflect,</b>

<b>reflect, reflect and then your extra</b>

<b>planning stuff, think about what you</b>

<b>enjoy, because if you enjoy it,</b>