Do you feel like you’re stuck in back-to-school survival mode while the rest of the year flies by? You’re not alone! In this episode, we’re talking about an October Reset for teachers - our favorite way to shift from the September sprint to a sustainable teaching routine. We’ll share five essential strategies to help you recover from the post-September crash, evaluate what’s working (and what’s not) in your classroom systems, and focus your energy where it really counts.

Prefer to read? Grab the episode transcript and resources in the show notes here: https://www.secondstorywindow.net/podcast/october-reset-for-teachers/

Resources:

• Join the Teacher Approved Club!
• Atmosphere, by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love, by India Holton
• Connect with us on Instagram @2ndstorywindow.
• Shop our teacher-approved resources.
• Join our Facebook group, Teacher Approved
• Leave your review on Apple Podcasts!

Related Episodes to Enjoy:

• Episode 32, 5 Classroom Management Questions to Help Banish Bad Class Habits
• Episode 94, A Great Day Before School Even Starts: Your Perfect Teacher Morning Routine At School
• Episode 176, Our 4 Tried and True Tricks to Reset a Rough Day of School
• Episode 223, The Core 4 Routines Every Classroom Needs to Run Like Clockwork

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

This is episode 226 of Teacher Approved.

You're listening to Teacher Approved, the podcast helping

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

Heidi.

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

Window, where we give research based and teacher approved

strategies that make teaching less stressful and more

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

each episode at secondstorywindow.net.

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

the show.

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

episode, we are talking about the October reset, how to

transition from back to school survival mode to sustainable

teaching that actually feels good. Plus we're sharing a

teacher approved tip for recharging your energy bank.

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

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

away. Emily, what's our suggestion for this week?

Well, this week, try the one minute check in with

yourself right before students arrive. You just set a timer on

your phone and spend 60 seconds just noticing how you're

feeling—tired, excited, overwhelmed, ready. You don't

have to fix anything or change anything. It's just a good

moment to acknowledge however you're feeling.

I love this. I think this is so helpful, because sometimes

we are so busy running on autopilot, especially as

teachers, that we don't even realize we're exhausted until we

have reached a point where we're completely depleted. Taking a

minute to just pause and think about how you're handling things

can really help you make better choices about your energy

throughout the day, and hopefully save you from reaching

that depleted point.

Yes, love that. If you like this idea or anything else

we share here on the podcast, we would love it if you would take

a second and give us a five star rating and review in your

podcast app.

Well, Emily, can you believe it? September is almost

over.

I don't know how the months just get faster as the

year goes on, like January never ends, and then once we're

hitting September, it's just like, zoom, zoom, zoom. But I'm

hoping I can get my feet under me now that it feels like we're

settling back into the old routine.

Oh, yes, totally the same. I swear the Fourth of July

was, should have just been last week. And now we're talking

about October.

I know it's basically Christmas.

Yes, I've definitely got whiplash. I don't know what's

going on. And I guess it makes sense, because we spend all

summer prepping for back to school, and we have all the

effort of trying to get the year off the ground, and that by the

time we finally get through those weeks, we're just wiped

out.

Yeah, so tired. And unfortunately, at that point,

there's not a break in sight, at least not in the near sight.

That can feel pretty overwhelming. It's like trying

to nap while pedaling a bike. The house projects, the family

needs, the personal goals that you put on pause, they're all

now clamoring for your attention all at once.

Not to mention that all of the school demands aren't

going anywhere. So if no one is going to give us a break, we're

going to have to manufacture one. And October is actually the

perfect time for what Emily and I are calling the October reset.

Everything's better with a title.

Yes.

So if you think of it like gardening, September was

the planting season. You're doing all that intensive back

breaking work of getting everything established.

Right. There was all your room prep, procedure teaching,

so much procedure teaching, relationship building. That was

like preparing the soil and getting all your little seeds in

the ground.

And now you're in a different season, the intensive

planting is done, but that doesn't mean the work stops.

You're just in a different phase, the tending phase, and

tending requires a completely different kind of energy.

Which this is actually good news, because you cannot

sustain planting season energy for another eight months, you

would just completely burn out. Oh, for sure.

Even if you love your students and your work, teaching

is super demanding. It takes energy and time every single

day. So it's natural to feel a little drained and wonder, how

am I going to sustain this?

That is the question. So today we're going to help you

figure out how to shift from planting mode to tending mode,

and we've got five strategies for making this transition

effective so that you can build something sustainable instead of

just white knuckling your way to June.

Our first strategy is to give yourself permission to feel

the crash, and by crash I mean that drained battery feeling

that shows up in October. This has a little different flavor

than that end of school year exhaustion that I'm sure you're

familiar with. Maybe it's pumpkin spice, or maybe it's

knowing that there are still eight months to summer break.

But either way, it is something we all face.

Oh, this is so important. When you are high on September

adrenaline, running on four hours of sleep and still getting

200 task cards laminated, just feels like a normal Tuesday

afternoon. But October comes in with a hard dose of reality.

I used to think something was wrong with me when I felt

tired and kind of flat after the excitement of the new year wore

off, because I'd started so strong. Why couldn't I just keep

going that way?

Right. And when we tell ourselves that operating at

level 10 every day is normal, but all we can muster today is

level 6 energy, it kind of feels like a failure. But the truth is

that running on back to school adrenaline is not sustainable.

Your body is actually doing exactly what it's supposed to by

slowing down now.

It's like how marathon runners don't try to maintain

their sprint pace for all 26 miles. September was a sprint,

and of course, you're tired now.

Yes, and the worst part is that while you are recovering

from that sprint, you suddenly notice all of the plates that

you dropped while you were in survival mode. Maybe your

friends all think you're mad at them and you don't remember the

last time you exercised.

And there's a good chance all that produce you bought back

when you were so sure that this was the year you were gonna pack

a salad for lunch every day has just turned into a lovely

science experiment in your fridge. All that to say, there's

probably a lot that needs your attention.

Oh, all of the poor, poor lettuce that is lost in the name

of back to school stress. It has lived its whole life just to end

up as mush in the back of my fridge. For me, this was the

most disheartening part. Well, not the lettuce part. But,

although, that is sad, RIP lettuce, but the way that life

just fell apart when school started. Honestly, as we were

working on the notes for this episode, I got a little teary

just thinking about it. When you're pushing through the

exhaustion to try to maintain good momentum at school, and

when you finally get a second to come up for air, and then the

first thing you see is the laundry pile that's overtaking

the bed. And once you see that, every other ignored task starts

clamoring for attention, and that moment can feel so

overwhelming, to say the least.

But since you know that that rough moment of wake up is

coming, you can plan for it. Decide now on a simple reminder

you can repeat to pull yourself out of that spiral. So try

something like, this is a normal part of the process. I've

figured this out before, and I will do it again, or, it's okay

to rest before I restore.

The chaos of regular life at the start of October is not a

reflection of your worth or your competence. It's just the

natural result of spending your energy on a very demanding

season. Don't put pressure on yourself to have everything back

to normal all at once.

You will be much happier if you start small with just one

or two neglected tasks and take it from there. So remember,

you're not behind, you're not stuck, and you're definitely not

alone.

Yeah, I think most teachers feel this way in

October, even the veterans who've been around the block a

few times. The difference is whether you beat yourself up

about it or you use it as information to make better

choices going forward.

And that's what we want to help you do today, use this

awareness to build something better.

So that sets us up for our second strategy for October,

and that is to identify what's growing and identify what's just

taking up space. So going back to our garden metaphor, by

October, you can see which plants are thriving and which

ones are struggling.

And what does that mean in your classroom? Well, that

means looking at your systems and routines and asking, what's

working what's making my life easier, and what's just creating

more work without any real benefit.

I love this, because it's not about throwing everything

out and starting over, please don't do that, but it's about

being strategic with your energy. Maybe your morning

routine is running smoothly. That is so great. Keep watering

that.

But maybe your homework system is causing you more

stress than it's worth. Maybe you're stressing over those

anchor charts that none of your students even bother to

reference, those might be weeds you need to pull.

Another place where weeds sneak in is with technology. If

you have got a new tech tool or a program that seemed like the

answer to all of your prayers but isn't living up to the hype,

see if that's something you can shelf for now.

Oh yeah, that shiny new app that was going to

revolutionize everything, but is actually a daily headache. This

is actually easier to see in October than it was in

September, because now you have some real data. So you've lived

with these systems for a few weeks now.

Right, in September, everything feels urgent and

important, but now you can step back and ask yourself, Is this

actually helping my students learn, or is it just something I

think I should be doing?

You can apply this same filter at home too. Look at what

was truly essential for keeping your household running in

September, and put time and effort into making those systems

as supportive as possible.

And then take a good look at the rest of the demands on

your time. Use the major life derailment that came with the

start of the school year to get perspective on what is worth

preserving and maybe what needs to go.

The third strategy for your October reset is to build

in micro recoveries. Think of these as little moments

throughout your day where you can reset your energy instead of

just pushing through until you collapse.

This approach is so different from the I'm just

going to wait till winter break mentality. We are talking about

tiny breaks that you can actually take during your

regular school day.

Even two or three minutes really can make a difference. So

maybe it's drinking your coffee while looking out the window

instead of grading papers, or taking three deep breaths before

you pick up your students from specialty classes.

You might actually do a form of this naturally. Do you

ever just sit in your car for a few minutes when you get home,

no phone, no to do list, just sitting? Maybe, if you're like

me, you might beat yourself up a bit about taking this pause in

the car, because there is a perfectly good, much more

comfortable couch waiting inside. But sometimes having the

space to breathe is the bridge we need between demands.

I know I feel like the car is like this zone in between

responsibilities, and so if you're sitting in your car with

it not on, somehow you're like hidden from the responsibilities

of your life if you're just in that secret space in your car.

Especially if you've got kids waiting inside who are

going to want things from you.

Oh, amen. I usually just stay there until someone comes

looking for me. So this is creating little buffer zones in

your day, instead of going from zero to 60 and then back again

all day long.

Yeah, that is a sure fire recipe for exhaustion. The key

is that these micro recoveries have to be realistic. As

restorative as it would be to spend your planning time

meditating.

I almost laughed out loud.

Yeah, it's not very practical. So look for

opportunities that fit in a real classroom with real constraints.

Although if you do manage to meditate during your prep

time, tell us your secret. So maybe you're going to do a 30

second desk tidy at the end of the day as a micro recovery that

can help you switch from teaching mode to prepare for

tomorrow mode. Or you can try giving yourself a soft landing

routine once you're home from school. Let your kids have 15

minutes of screen time so you can reset before diving into

making dinner. Transitions take work, so look for ways to make

them a little gentler. And before I had kids, when I got

home from school, I would lay on the couch and watch a rerun of

The OC.

I love that as a reset.

Our fourth strategy for your October reset is to protect your

energy. This is about recognizing that your energy is

not unlimited, and being strategic about where you spend

it.

I think teachers are really bad at this, because we

just care so much. We want to give everything to everyone, and

even if we just give the bare minimum, the list of demands is

never ending. But it's also not sustainable to live like that.

Oh, right, so this is where you have to make some hard

choices about where your energy goes. Maybe you spend less time

on bulletin boards and more time on planning engaging lessons, or

maybe you simplify your grading system so you have more energy

for relationship building.

One question I find useful is what are two or three

things that will have the biggest impact on my students

learning? Those are the things worth spending your energy on.

One way to make this more doable is to make it visual, and

you can do this with a list. Write down your to do list for

the week and circle the two or three tasks that have the

largest impact on student learning. Those are your non

negotiables. Everything else can bend, flex, or wait.

We really can't give equally to every expectation, so

we have to be strategic about identifying what truly matters,

even if that might mean disappointing other people. Your

principal might want you to volunteer for multiple

committees. Your grade level team might want you to do the

bulk of the planning, but you have to protect your core energy

for what matters most.

I want to recognize that I understand that disappointing

people does not come naturally to a lot of people, and by

Yeah.

It will probably feel uncomfortable, but try reminding

people, I mean women.

yourself that saying no to an outside expectation means you

get to say yes to your students needs and your own well being.

Every time, good enough is still good.

Which brings us to our final strategy for your October

reset, and that is to focus on consistency over perfection.

Going back to our gardening metaphor, plants don't need

fireworks to grow. In fact, that sounds like a hazard.

Yes.

They need steady sunlight and water, and classrooms are

the same.

This is huge for teachers, because we tend to

have grand visions, and social media definitely hasn't helped

this. But putting too much effort into having

Instagram-worthy organization and perfectly optimized routines

and lessons that have students hanging on every word is how

teachers burn out.

So instead of striving for the most beautiful

classroom, maximizing every moment or orchestrating a daily

dog and pony show, just show up consistently where it matters.

Make sure students have what they need, leave space for

connection and reset, and teach the standards in engaging but

low prep ways. That's what makes the difference for you and your

students.

I think about this with things like grading. I know the

expectation from your administration might be that you

grade every assignment, but it's better for everyone if you're

consistent about only assessing the work that can inform your

teaching, and you can give everything else a pass or a fail

and call that graded.

Yeah, your students benefit more from steady,

consistent effort than from extraordinary, sporadic effort.

The nice thing is that you are the one who gets to

decide what works for your classroom and your life. That

doesn't mean you have to cut everything down to bare bones

and just do the minimum, but rather look at this as an

opportunity to clear out what doesn't serve you so you have

room to inject more joy into your day.

A sustainable teacher life isn't just about doing less

work, it's about adding fuel to what lights you up. Think about

the things you love about teaching. Maybe that is the

perfectly coordinated bins or big over the top lessons. If

that's for you, then find ways to make that manageable.

But if what you love about teaching is quiet moments

with your students, sharing a funny new book, or watching a

student learn something new, find ways to slow down and be

present in those experiences.

Sometimes it's not about adding something new, it's about

making sure we recognize the good stuff that's already

happening.

And there is so much good stuff. Ultimately, the goal is

to create something you can maintain, a happy little garden

that you can tend without burning yourself out.

Okay, so I'm going to recap our five strategies for

the October reset. First, give yourself permission to feel the

crash. Second, identify what's growing and what's just taking

up space. Third, build in micro recoveries. Fourth, protect your

energy, and finally, focus on consistency over perfection.

The beautiful thing about October is that you still have

time to adjust. Your classroom routines aren't set in stone

yet, your students are still learning what to expect from

you. So this is actually the perfect time to make changes.

And remember, this isn't about doing less or caring less.

It's about doing things in a way that is sustainable, so you can

actually make it to June feeling good about your year.

We would love to hear all about how you are handling your

October reset. Come share with us in the Teacher Approved

Facebook group.

Now for our Teacher Approved Tip of the Week, where

we share an actionable tip to help you elevate what matters

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

to create your October energy trio. Tell us more about it,

Heidi.

Well, I love this tip. First of all, it sounds like an

appetizer sampler, which everyone loves those.

They'd probably be all pumpkin based if it's October.

But the good thing about this tip is it's creating your

own personal energy management system, and it only takes about

10 minutes to set up, but it can make a real difference in how

sustainable your days feel. Think of it like having a

toolkit ready to go when you need it most. So here's how it

works. First, choose one energy gainer, something that actually

brings life back into your day. We're looking for something that

genuinely makes you feel more alive or connected to why you

love teaching.

That could be something like reading aloud to your

students, playing music during transitions, or buying yourself

fresh flowers once a week. The key is that it has to be

something that taps into what truly energizes you, not just

something you think you should enjoy.

After you choose your energy gainer, choose one energy

saver, something that you're going to streamline or let go

for now, maybe it's switching from elaborate bulletin board

displays to simple functional ones. Or maybe it's giving

yourself permission to use the same math warm up routine for

two weeks instead of planning something new every day.

This might be something you'll do every day all year,

but if you're struggling, focus on something to help you through

just the next few weeks. The goal is to free up energy during

this transition time so you can focus on what matters most. You

can always add complexity back later, when you're feeling more

grounded.

And the third part of our energy trio is to choose one

energy transformer. This is a simple ritual that helps you

soften transitions throughout your day. This could be a mantra

you repeat when you unlock your classroom door in the morning,

or playing a specific song while you tidy up your desk at the end

of the day.

That car sitting that we talked about earlier is a

perfect example of an energy transformer. Think about a

transition that's draining for you and create a buffer zone

that helps you shift from one demand to the next with a little

more grace.

Write these down where you'll see them, because when

you're having a tough day, it's really easy to forget that you

And here's the beautiful part, once you start paying

have these tools available. Having them visible reminds you

that you have choices about how you spend and restore your energy.

attention to what actually gives you energy versus what drains

it, you'll get better at making those kinds of choices naturally

throughout your day.

So here's your challenge. Take a few minutes this week to

identify your energy trio—one thing that fills your tank, one

thing you're going to simplify, and one ritual that helps you

transition more smoothly. Your October self will definitely

thank you.

Alright, to wrap up the show. We are sharing what we're giving

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

credit?

I'm giving extra credit to the book Atmosphere by Taylor

Jenkins Reid. So I really knew very little going into this book

other than that it was set in the early 1980s space program.

But if anybody, if you haven't heard anything about this, maybe

just go into it that way, of just just knowing sort of the

setting. And it really did blow me away, like I had heard really

good things about it, but I wasn't sure what I was gonna

think. But oh yeah, I loved it so much. And of course, it's

getting tons of buzz. So I will just add my voice to say that

everyone should add it to their TBR if they haven't.

She writes such unique settings, and they're all so

varied.

Yes, and I feel like I have no interest in tennis, and

I loved Carrie Soto is back, and I maybe have a little more

interest in space, but even still, I don't know that it's

like something I'm super into, but I was completely engrossed

in the whole thing. And there's so much more to the story than

just the fact that the main characters are astronauts.

Well, I'll have to add it to my list. What are you giving us

credit to this week, Heidi?

Well, I'm also giving extra credit to a book. This is

the Ornithologist Field Guide to love by India Holton.

Ooh.

It sounds like a dry, dusty textbook, but it is not,

it is very funny. So it's set in, like, 1880s I think London,

1870s, 1880s, something like that. And it follows two rivals

to lovers, academics Devin and Beth, who are trying to win the

birder of the year competition. It's normal Victorian London,

except they have magical birds, so it's just kind of a weird

little touch. And so the world of birding in this London is

cutthroat, to say the least. So they're having all these hijinks

of people out to sabotage them. And of course, they have to go

on the road to find this one special bird. And they get to a

small town and there's only one room left at the inn.

I love that trope.

And guess what happens.

Do they have to share a bed?

Oh no, there are seven beds.

Oh!

So if you think that's funny, you would like this book.

I think I'm gonna like it.

It just takes all the little tropes and turns them on

their head. It's very funny. There was a line where she says,

like her mind let out a thought she didn't know it was holding.

So it takes all of the normal things and just puts a funny

little spin on it. It was very funny.

Our romance readers will get those references.

Well, that is it for today's episode. Try out our

strategies for the October reset, and don't forget our

teacher approved tip for recharging your energy.

We are cheering you on as you transition from planting

season to tending season. And if you enjoyed this episode, please

consider giving us a five star rating and review.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of teacher approved. I'm

Heidi.

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

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

episode.

You can connect with us and other teachers in the

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

Bye for now.

Bye.