We want you to think of your back-to-school experience as a sandwich (stick with us here!). That first day with students is the flavorful filling, but the real secret to a successful start is what happens before and after. In this episode, we’re sharing our Back to School Sandwich framework filled with first day of school teacher tips to help you prepare emotionally and logistically, protect your energy, and recover with intention!

Prefer to read? Grab the episode transcript and resources in the show notes here: https://www.secondstorywindow.net/podcast/first-day-of-school-tips/

Resources:

• Join the Teacher Approved Club!
• Freebie: Cheers and Chat Invitation
• Guided Discovery of School Tools 
• Back to School Readiness Checklists
• The Spellshop, by Sarah Beth Durst
• Connect with us on Instagram @2ndstorywindow.
• Shop our teacher-approved resources.
• Join our Teacher Approved Facebook group.
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

Related Episodes to Enjoy:

• Episode 144, How to Plug-and-Play Your First Day of School Plans
• Episode 145, Our Best Tools for First-Day Planning
• Episode 146, Never Pick Up Another Stray Crayon: Why We Love Guided Discovery
• Episode 211, The 3 Questions Every Student Needs Answered in the First 3 Days of School
• Episode 213, 6 Simple Goals to Make Open House or Back-to-School Night a Success
• Episode 215, Here’s EXACTLY What to Do in the First 20 Minutes on the First Day of School

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 217 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 back to school sandwich.

That's what happens right before and right after that very first

day with students. And we're sharing a suggestion for how to

wrap up your first day with a little bit of fun.

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

share a quick win that you can try right away. Emily, what is

our suggestion this week?

This week, try creating a teacher prep soundtrack for

yourself. Put together a playlist of songs that energize

you and make you feel confident, whether it's upbeat pop or

calming instrumental music or throwback hits that make you

smile. Having a go-to playlist can be a game changer when

you're setting up your classroom.

Music really can shift your whole mood and energy

level. Plus, if you are feeling good while you're working, that

positive energy carries over into everything you create for

your students and their families.

And if you have a new playlist every year, then it

will be like when you hear those songs you can remember the year

that you're setting up that classroom. That could be a fun

idea.

That could be fun.

If you like this idea, or anything else we share here on

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

rating and review on Apple podcasts or Spotify?

Over the years, Emily and I have created an extensive

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

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

we are spotlighting our Guided Discovery resource. Tell us

about this one, Emily.

This one's one of our favorites, and we talked about

it in detail in Episode 146. So the short version is that Guided

Discovery is a hands on way to introduce students to your

expectations around managing and using school tools. So if you're

tired of smashed glue sticks and chewed pencils, this is the

resource for you.

Now, it's got a long name because we need it to come up in

search. So it's called the Guided Discovery of classroom

procedures and rules for school supplies for back to school, but

there is a link in the show notes if you want a shortcut.

So in this resource, we give you a set of Google slides

and a scripted lesson plan for introducing more than 20 common

school tools. So of course, we cover pencils and crayons and

scissors, but there's also materials for dice and

clipboards and magnet letters and Chromebooks. We tried to

really cover all the bases.

Yes, and you definitely don't have to do all of them,

but for any tools that you use, you will be so glad to have

this. Each lesson covers the six parts of a Guided Discovery

activity, so that you are inviting students into the

process of establishing the standards that they are

agreeing, hopefully, to follow all year.

And what I really love is that for each of the school

tools, there's a quick fun activity so students can

experience using that tool right away. So for example, if you're

introducing markers, there's a small coloring page. For

clipboards, there's a short around the room scavenger hunt

so they can practice using a clipboard. Each activity is

targeted to keep things engaging, but also moving

Lots of o's in so. Plus, besides the lesson materials,

quickly.

This is one of our resources that gets the best

feedback. And here's a little share from Lynn, who said, "This

has been a game changer for how my students use our classroom

materials. It is easy to assume that kids will know how to use

pencils and erasers, but they don't know my expectations. Now

they do, and I am so much happier because

there are a whole bunch of resources to help you address

any hiccups down the road. When someone stabs the glue with

their scissors or colors on the carpet, there are materials just

waiting for you so you can address the problem right away.

So head to the show notes and grab the link for the Guided

Discovery of School Tools resource. It will make your

whole year run smoother.

You know, we've been talking all summer about getting

ready for back to school, and we realize that there's this one

piece we haven't really addressed yet, and that's what

happens right before and right after the very first day with

students.

This time of year, it's really easy to lose yourself in

all of the thoughts around classroom setup and getting your

systems ready. You likely have a million checklists for labeling

supplies, planning procedures or organizing desks. And of course,

those things absolutely matter.

Yeah, but we know you know how important they are. But

often what gets overlooked is you as the teacher. How do you

prepare yourself, both emotionally and practically, for

that huge moment when your classroom goes from organized

and empty to full of real kids? What do you do with all the

nerves and energy and expectations leading up to that

day?

And then in just seven short, or not so short, hours

after they arrive, they all leave. The door closes, the room

is quiet again, and I can feel that moment. You're just left

standing in the whirlwind of everything that just happened.

And that moment deserves some attention too.

Yeah, so today we're talking about what we're calling

the back to school sandwich. So it's not lunch, although, yes,

definitely pack a lunch, especially on the first day

you're going to want it, but the emotional and practical layers

that surround the first day of school. Because just like a good

sandwich, the most important stuff might be in the middle,

sure, but without the bread and the toppings on either side, it

just it all falls apart, and it's not nearly as tasty.

So that first day is the filling. Stick with us here.

It's big, it's flavorful, maybe even a little messy, but what

you do before and after is what's going to hold everything

together. And if you take care of those two pieces, the whole

thing is a lot more satisfying and a lot less likely to fall

apart and stain your cute new first day of school outfit.

To make your back to school sandwich as sturdy and

satisfying as possible, we're breaking it down into three

simple categories of teacher self-care that apply before and

after that all important first day.

First is emotional prep. This is all about checking in

with yourself and making sure that you're grounded and headed

in the right direction. Next is the logistical basics. These are

the small, practical choices that make a big difference to

your well being. And finally, comes your recovery plan. This

is where you create space to breathe, reflect and regroup,

because the way you land matters just as much as how you launch.

So let's take a look at that bottom slice of bread. What

you need to do before the first day to set yourself up for

success. And we're gonna start where we always start by

identifying our purpose.

Yes, it is so easy to get lost in the busyness that comes

with back to school. That's how we end up running ourselves

ragged, but somehow we still don't feel prepared, even though

we're working nonstop. To combat this, we're going to take a

couple of minutes to figure out what matters. First, stop and

reflect on what kind of teacher you want to be this year. Think

about the parts of teaching that bring you joy and the kind of

impact you hope to have on your students.

A great addition to this exercise is setting a one word

theme to guide your year. Maybe it's steady or wonder or grace

or joy, just one word that you can come back to when things get

overwhelming. You can write it on a sticky note and put it

somewhere where you will see it every day.

We talked about choosing a one word theme back in episode

27 if you want to go back in time and revisit that. But we

also have some guiding questions in our back to school readiness

checklist, if you want a page that's already all set up to

collect all of your thoughts.

While you're in that reflective space, the readiness

checklist resource also has a goal setting page, plus some

more pages specifically focused on teacher prep, like a page for

listing what you're letting go of, writing yourself permission

slips, and writing a quick note of encouragement to yourself.

You can print it and stick it in your plan book, your desk

drawer, or even just take a screenshot and set it as your

phone lock screen.

Oh, and set a reminder to take a photo of your classroom

once it's all set up. You've worked so hard to get it ready,

celebrate the moment before the kids come in and mess it all up.

Now, let's talk about prepping your personal launch

plan. You have to remember to take care of the human behind

the teacher. So map out what your ideal morning looks like on

that first day. When will you wake up? What will you eat? What

music will help you feel grounded?

With that vision in mind, what can you do in advance to

make morning smoother? Maybe pack your lunch, lay out your

clothes, fill your teacher bag and get your own kids' backpacks

ready the night before. Every little step you can do ahead of

time helps.

We shared lots of good tips for this back in episode

209 so give that a listen if you want a refresher. But another

handy suggestion is to stock a desk drawer or a cabinet with

your survival essentials. You may want to set up a day one

emergency kit with things like tissues, band aids, lozenges and

extra snacks that you want to have handy on the first day.

Yeah, in the first couple days of school, there just is

not a lot of wiggle room if your contact lens gets dirty, or you

get a stomach ache, you're kind of stuck. So make sure you have

on hand anything that you don't want to be caught without.

And I know we've mentioned this before, but one

of the best gifts you can give yourself is not working late on

the first day. So for that to happen, you need to prepare day

two at the same time that you prepare day one. We promise it's

not as tricky as it sounds. Episodes 144, 145, and 146 walk

you through exactly how to streamline your first day of

school plans and extend that process through the first week.

Think how happy you will be at the end of that first day,

to waltz out of the school at 3:30 and have a long, relaxing

evening ahead of you. But you know, first we need to make sure

that that evening is actually relaxing.

Start by deciding how you're going to transition when

students leave. Will you sit quietly for five minutes, text a

friend, take a walk around the building? Have a plan so you're

not left floundering. And if you want a fun idea, make sure to

listen to the end of the episode, because we have a fun

Next create a cozy landing zone at home, pillows,

tip to share.

snacks, soft lighting your favorite show all queued up.

Everything you need to really relax. Stock the recovery kit we

talked about in episode 209. Make it easy to take it easy.

Need that on a shirt.

Yeah. Also make an intentional plan for how you can

minimize demands for a few days. Maybe your kids get extra screen

time for the first week of school. Maybe you're getting

more takeout than you normally do, and that's totally okay. The

start of the school year is just a season. It's not your whole

life.

Alright. That is the before the first day of school

bread slice. That's a sentence I never imagined saying. Make time

to reflect on what you want to have happen, prepare for your

personal launch, and set up your recovery plan.

So next comes the filling, but we have spent all

summer covering the middle of this sandwich—lesson plans,

community building, classroom setup and so much more. If you

need some ideas, make sure to scroll back to some of our past

summer episodes in your podcast feed.

And now we can talk about the top slice of bread, what to

do after you make it through that first day. We'll follow the

same pattern as we did before, of figuring out your emotional

prep, your logistical basics and then your recovery plan.

Once the students leave, take five minutes to jot down

what went well, what didn't, and what you want to try differently

tomorrow. Celebrate small wins, even if the win is I made it

through or I remember five names. Even small

accomplishments deserve to be celebrated.

And there is also a sheet for this in the back to school

readiness checklist. We really have thought of everything. So

grab that if you don't have it already.

I always say we overthink things so that you don't have

to. So you also want to set a reminder in your phone to take a

photo of your classroom after the students leave. Notice how

it's already changed because your students were there.

There's something beautiful, really about seeing that

transformation.

Once you've had a moment to recover and reflect, focus on

the logistics of getting day two set up. Hopefully you have had a

chance to prepare most of the materials in advance. If not, do

whatever you can to make the morning of the second day flow

as easily as possible. Yes, I know you are so tired right now,

but you will probably still be that tired in the morning.

A suggestion that might help us to plan one easy win for

day two. So maybe it's a favorite read aloud, a simple

game, or even showing a 15 minute video. Focus on teaching

your essential procedures and activities to build your class

community, and you'll have all the important stuff covered.

As you're wrapping up your work day, do what you can

to protect your energy. It's totally okay to skip the chatty

teachers lounge or to say, I need to recharge, I'll catch up

with you tomorrow. It's okay to be smart about your limits, even

if that teacher across the hall might not understand.

Once you've cleaned up day one, and set up day two, and

finally made it back to your front door, it's time to recover

with intention. So treat yourself the way you would treat

a tired toddler. Eat something comforting, take a warm bath if

you like a bath, go to bed early. You've just done

something incredibly hard, and you deserve that kindness.

Use that recovery kit you prepped, or start one now. Put

on jammies as soon as you're home, do a puzzle, read a book,

watch a movie, get out of coloring a book. Prioritize the

things that give you the space to bounce back.

Or if you've got a totally different personality,

maybe you want to hit the gym, re-energize with a night out, or

start a brand new project. This is not our journey, but we love

that for you.

Whatever type of recovery you need is the right choice.

And like we mentioned earlier, give yourself permission to

lower the bar at home. Use paper plates. Let everyone zone out on

their devices for a while. Order dinner without guilt. You're not

letting things slide. You're being strategic when your energy

is so limited.

If you are someone with a tough inner critic, this can be

hard to accept, but really, the best thing you can do during a

stressful time is to give yourself grace. Nothing good

comes from making yourself feel guilty for not meeting some

random standard of perfection. Beating yourself up won't

suddenly give you more energy. So be kind to yourself and

accept that this is a normal part of such a huge transition.

I wish I had understood this back when I was teaching.

I know.

I was, I would really beat myself up about not having

it together. But you know what this is, just a few days, you

will figure it out, and things will get back to normal, we

promise.

Plus, I think most people don't have it together. We

assume everyone else has it together. I think nobody has it

together. And just remember the first day of school is just one

day in a whole year of teaching, but it can feel so big and

overwhelming. So remember that the real magic happens in how

you prepare yourself, not just your classroom, and how you take

care of yourself after.

We would love to hear your tips for what to do before

and after the first day. Come join the conversation in our

Teacher Approved Facebook group.

Now for our Teacher Approved Tip of the Week, where

we share an actionable tip to help you elevate what matters

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

to wrap up the first day of school was some fun. So tell us

what you have in mind, Heidi.

Oh, I'm so excited about this, I'm doing little hand

claps. That's probably terrible for the audio. Oh, but this is a

fun one. Now, as you know, the first day of school leaves most

of us just running on pure adrenaline. Once the kids leave,

it's so easy to either dive straight into day two prep or

get stuck in one of those never ending hallway conversations

that somehow just suck your will to live.

Yeah, that's why I love your idea of a quick cheers and

chat check in with your grade level team, or maybe your

teacher friends. It's just structured enough to feel

special and meaningful, but it's light enough that it won't

hijack your whole afternoon or require a lot of your energy.

So here's how to make it work. First, decide your goal.

Are you looking to debrief the day, share a few laughs, or just

celebrate that you survived? Decide if you are hosting in

your classroom or somewhere else in the school, and then pick

your timing. I would recommend right after dismissal, because

you want to grab everyone before they scatter to start prepping

for tomorrow.

Then decide if you're doing this with your grade level

team, just your teacher besties, or the whole staff. Keep the

refreshments simple, but a little special. Grab some

sparkling cider, a fun mix soda or even chocolate milk if that's

your vibe. Don't plan on something like donuts or muffins

that will require an extra errand before school, because we

want this to be painless, not adding to your crazy first

morning of school.

Oh, yeah, absolutely not. And the nice thing about

limiting it to a drink is you can pick it up from the store

weeks in advance, and it is really easy to make things a

little more special with something as simple as those

dollar store champagne flutes.

Yeah, and nobody wants a bunch of extra work at the start

of the school year, so disposable champagne flutes for

the win. The next step is to send out an invitation a few

days in advance so it doesn't get lost in the back to school

chaos. Clearly promise that it will be very quick or people

will not be excited to attend.

And then once everyone arrives, literally, set a timer

for 10 minutes, 15 minutes max. This is really important. By

setting a timer, you show that you understand how stressed

everyone is and that you respect their time.

And your time, because you still got stuff to do, of

course.

Then offer one or two simple questions for everyone to

answer, something like, what made you smile today? Or, what

are you proud of right now? This keeps things moving and makes

sure that everyone gets a chance to share without it turning into

a whole complaint session, or without a few strong

personalities hijacking the whole thing. And finally, just

wrap it up with a quick toast to the new school year.

It's such a simple thing, but it can transform an

exhausting afternoon into a moment of real connection and

perspective, all while protecting your time and energy

for getting ready for tomorrow. From time to time, we all need a

reminder that we're not in this alone, and it's especially

important to build those relationships with your

coworkers.

If this sounds like something you would be

interested in doing, we have a little freebie for you. We give

you a step by step guide for how to organize a cheers and chat

check in, and have an editable invitation that you can use. We

even include ideas for your toast to the new year and some

recipes. I'm using air quotes, a few simple recipes for some

fancy sodas.

Well, we're from Utah, so we know a fancy soda. Okay, so

we were not gonna leave you all hanging, and we'll have a link

to this in the show notes where you can go grab it for free.

It's a freebie.

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

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

credit?

I'm giving extra credit to ice cream taste testing.

Well, I would like to co sign that.

Yeah, we did this as a family recently, and it was just

so much fun. Everybody loved it. I got, I don't know, eight pints

of fun ice cream flavor. So I went for, like, fancier brands

or really unique flavors, and then I got those little plastic

condiment cups, and then I put a scoop of each flavor into each

cup. But I mean by scoop, it's probably more like...

A melon baller.

Yes, a robust spoonful. So everyone could get, you know,

maybe a couple spoonfuls out of it, just enough to taste, and

then everyone would have a stack of cups to try. This way. I

wasn't having to, like, run back and forth scooping for each

flavor. I did all the scooping in advance, and then put it

right back in the freezer to hold up. And then I numbered the

cup so that we could all try the same one at the same time. And

then we gave it a rating out of 10. I think last year we did it

out of five, but the kids wanted to do it out of ten. And then I

averaged all the scores. So our winner this year was Van Lewin,

which my father speaks Dutch, and he let me know I am not at

all pronouncing that correctly, but you'll forgive me. It is

their pistachio flavor, and it was tasty and so fun. I loved

it, and that was a really yummy flavor.

Yes, I was shocked that the kids liked it.

I thought that would be the least favorite, pistachio. I

got it because I like pistachio, and I was like, Well, I'm

getting it for me, but everybody loved it, even the kids. It was

so good.

Yeah, it was really good. I've been craving it now.

Highly recommend it. We also, in our family, celebrate a

little holiday called flavor day, which is Labor Day. But

when my youngest was younger, much younger, she thought it was

flavor day, and kept calling it flavor day. And we decided that

from henceforth it shall be known as flavor day. And so we

usually go get ice cream. So if you would like to adopt flavor

day for your own family. I think an ice cream taste test would be

an excellent way to celebrate that.

Yes, that would be perfect.

And this is the exact kind of thing we talk about on

our other podcast, the Holiday Headstart. So if you want to

hear more about traditions and ice cream, come on over to the

Holiday Headstart. That was an unplanned plug.

And we really would love to have you there. If how we

plan back to school resonates with you, you will love how we

plan Christmas.

Get a load of how we prepare for Christmas.

Oh, boy, yeah, we're not ready.

We overthought that one too so you don't have to. What

are you giving extra credit to, Heidi?

I'm giving extra credit to the book The Spell Shop by

Sara Beth Durst. I think the second in this series just came

out recently, which I haven't read yet, but just read the

spell shop, and it was so sweet. I love a cozy fantasy. And this

just checked all the right boxes. The blurb on Amazon calls

it a hallmark rom com full of mythical creatures and fueled by

cinnamon rolls and magic. And I could not have summed it up any

better.

Sign me up.

So I'm not sure how to pronounce this character's name.

That is the downside to fantasy novels is like, how do we say

these names? We don't know, so I'm just going to give it my

best guess. But the premise is that librarian Kyla and her

sentient spider plant Kaz, I was calling him Kaz, I don't know if

that's right. They escape a revolution and return to the

tiny island where Kyla grew up. Her goal is to build a life

while at the same time hiding the forbidden magic books that

she saved from the burning library. And so she ends up

opening a jam shop that just happens to sell spells on the

side. And of course, along the way, she learns that life is

better when you have other people to trust. It's very sweet

and imaginative. If you're looking for something to escape

into, like after a long first day of school, it's just the

perfect little getaway into imagination.

Oh, I love it. I'm putting on my TBR right now.

That is it for today's episode. Remember to prep your

back to school sandwich. Take care of yourself before, during

and after that first day. You have got this and we are

cheering you on every step of the way.

And don't forget to grab our cheers and chat freebie from

the link in the show notes.

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.