July 7, 2025 • 22 mins
Feeling that familiar tug of guilt during summer break? In this episode, we’re sharing a simple, six-step system for back to school teacher prep that helps you feel calm, confident, and well-rested, without letting work take over your summer. Learn how to use just one hour a week to tackle high-impact tasks, stay focused on what matters most, and actually enjoy your break!
Prefer to read? Grab the episode transcript and resources in the show notes here: https://www.secondstorywindow.net/podcast/back-to-school-teacher-prep/
Resources:
- BTS Success Course
- Editable Classroom Seating Chart Maker Tool
- Tell, Try, Tally, Talk Slides
- Back to School Readiness Checklists
- Zero Days by Ruth Ware
- Podcast: Happier with Gretchen Rubin
- Join the Teacher Approved Club!
- Connect with us on Instagram @2ndstorywindow.
- Shop our teacher-approved resources.
- Join our Facebook group, Teacher Approved
- Leave your review on Apple Podcasts!
Related Episodes to Enjoy:
- Episode 55, Thriving as a Teacher: One Helpful Strategy
- Episode 87, 4 Important Ways to Build Classroom Community At Back to School
- Episode 201, 20 Easy Back-to-School Teacher Tasks You Can Totally Do From the Couch
- Episode 203, 6 Teacher Traps We’re Saying No to This Back to School Season
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Heidi (00:00):
This is episode 205 of Teacher Approved.
You're listening to TeacherApproved, the podcast helping
educators elevate what mattersand simplify the rest. I'm
Heidi.
Emily (00:13):
And I'm Emily. We're the creators behind Second Story
Window, where we give researchbased and teacher approved
strategies that make teachingless stressful and more
effective. You can check out theshow notes and resources from
each episode atsecondstorywindow.net.
Heidi (00:29):
We're so glad you're tuning in today. Let's get to
the show.
Emily (00:36):
Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today's
episode, we're talking about howto use just one hour a week this
summer to start the year readyand rested. And we're sharing a
teacher approved tip forcreating a summer planning
ritual that actually sticks.
Heidi (00:52):
But first, it's time for a try it tomorrow, a favorite
quick win that you can try inyour life right away. Emily,
what is our suggestion thisweek?
Emily (01:00):
This week, try the five minute Friday flip. Do you like
the alliteration?
Heidi (01:06):
If nothing else, the title is awesome.
Emily (01:08):
Every Friday, spend just five minutes flipping through
your teaching materials, whetherthat's your teacher binders, a
curriculum guide, or even yourphone's camera roll from this
past school year. Just flip andnotice what catches your eye, no
pressure to do anything withwhat you find. Just let your
brain start making someconnections for next year.
Heidi (01:27):
I love this because it is gentle prep with zero guilt.
You're just, you know, plantingseeds for future planning,
without the pressure to have itall figured out right now.
Emily (01:37):
If you like this idea or anything else we share here on
the podcast, would you take asecond give us a five star
rating and review on Applepodcasts?
Heidi (01:45):
Over the years, Emily and I have created an extensive
library of back to schoolproducts. To help you find the
tools that will make the startof your New Year easier, today
we are spotlighting our editableclassroom seating chart maker.
Tell us more about this, Emily.
Emily (01:59):
Oh, we love this product so much. Not only will it help
you at the start of the year,but it will be such a huge
support all year long. One ofthe simplest, most effective
behavior management tools atyour disposal is your classroom
seating arrangement. If you'reintentional about how you assign
seats, you can minimize orcompletely eliminate so many
hassles.
Heidi (02:20):
In this product, we walk you step by step through our, I
want to say patented system.
Emily (02:25):
It should be patented.
Heidi (02:28):
Trademark, copyright, something. But we walk you
through our system for strategicseating, and we give you over 90
different seating arrangementsand list the pros and cons of
each one.
Emily (02:39):
And we even include seating options for the carpet,
so you can help minimize anyproblems there as well.
Heidi (02:44):
Now, since you're not going to know your students at
the start of the year, thestrategy part of assigning seats
isn't going to help you too muchyet, but the desk arrangement
part can be a huge lifesaver,even in the first few days. So
the first thing you need to dois choose an arrangement that
fits your seating options,whether you have desks or tables
or those weird triangle tablethingies, then you need to
(03:06):
choose an arrangement that willfit your space.
Emily (03:09):
The last three steps of choosing an arrangement are the
most crucial but oftenoverlooked. Choose a seating
arrangement that supports yourteaching style. If you do a lot
of cooperative work, choose anarrangement that lets students
work together. Also look for anarrangement that minimizes your
walking. You're on your feet allday. Do yourself a favor, and
make sure that you can reacheach student seat in the minimum
Heidi (03:31):
And last of all, and this is the secret sauce, keep as
number of steps.
many students as possible, asclose to you as possible. The
number one deterrent for offtask behavior is proximity to
the teacher. So leverage thatpower as much as you can.
Emily (03:47):
We walk you through all of this in the editable
classroom seating chart maker,and you can find a link to that
in the show notes. But if youwant more information, make sure
you go back to Episode 97 wherewe lay out this strategy in
detail.
Heidi (04:00):
Well, now we are well into summer, and chances are
good that you've had at leastone moment so far where that
little voice in your head asked,should you be doing something
for school right now?
Emily (04:11):
Oh, yeah, that critical little voice that whispers,
everyone else is probablypicking out their first week
outfits and color coding theirlesson plan binders, and you're
watching Netflix at 2pm on aTuesday??
Heidi (04:22):
I hate that voice so much.
Emily (04:24):
I know it's a jerk.
Heidi (04:25):
She gets the better of me more times than I care to admit
publicly. She's how you knowbefore I know it, I find myself
elbow deep in prep I didn't planon doing, and then my summer
relaxation turns into a guiltridden productivity spiral. Ah,
good times.
Emily (04:42):
But we're not going to do that anymore. Instead, we're
going to focus on doing theright things in small, steady
steps that protect rest andbuild readiness. We promise, it
really is possible to start theyear feeling calm and prepared
without sacrificing your summersanity.
Heidi (04:58):
This week, we are talking about what just one intentional
hour each week can do for yourback to school prep. Gretchen
Rubin, from the Happier Podcast,which is a podcast that we love,
has a great hack that she callsPower Hour. She schedules time
once a week to power through thetasks that she can't normally
get herself to deal with.
Emily (05:16):
And because it rhymes, you know, it's valid advice. So
we are going to take Gretchen'sPower Hour idea and turn it into
teacher Power Hour. Veryoriginal, as you can tell, but
instead of using that time tocall the electric company or
figure out your taxes, we'regoing to focus on our back to
school tasks, and we've got asix step system to help you make
it happen. We love a system.
Heidi (05:38):
The first step is to build a strong foundation by
clarifying what matters to you.Second, start a list of Power
Hour tasks so you don't wasteprecious minutes trying to
figure out what to work on,which is always my downfall.
Third, schedule your time.Fourth, and this is the hardest
one, protect your time. Makesure you reschedule if another
obligation conflicts with yourtime, and then make yourself
(06:01):
actually do the work. And that'swhy that step is the hardest
part.
Emily (06:06):
And then comes the fun part. Step five is to celebrate
your accomplishments, and thenall you have to do is step six,
which is to repeat it next week.
Heidi (06:14):
sound too hard, does it? So pour yourself a lemonade or
throw on your walking shoes, andlet's talk about how to use one
hour a week to prep for back toschool like the smart, seasoned
teacher you are.
Emily (06:26):
Let's start where we always do by clarifying what
matters. Before you make asingle list or organize a single
supply, we want you to get clearon your goal. If you joined us
for our recent webinar, wereferred to this goal as your
readiness anchor.
Heidi (06:40):
A readiness anchor is simply the answer to this
question, how do you want tofeel as you walk into your
classroom on your first dayback? For now, forget how you
might feel or what you want toaccomplish before then, or how
you want your classroom to look,just ask yourself how you want
to feel.
Emily (06:57):
And then this feeling is going to become your North Star.
And we cannot stress thisenough, it's important to
actually choose your word, notjust think about choosing a
word. If you don't name what youwant, what happens is you end up
chasing every task that crossesyour mind, because you have no
way of knowing which tasks arethe ones that actually matter.
Heidi (07:17):
So choose your readiness anchor. Maybe you want to feel
calm or grounded, maybe you wantto feel excited or energized,
maybe you want to feel organizedor in control. However you want
to feel is the exact rightanswer.
Emily (07:30):
Here is why this matters so much. When you know how you
want to feel, it becomes so mucheasier to prioritize your prep
time. Every decision getsfiltered through that goal. For
example, if your readiness goalis to feel calm, then maybe you
want to focus on tasks thatreduce last minute scrambling,
like printing your welcomeletter, prepping your first day
slides, or arranging your desks.And maybe you want to use our
(07:53):
desk arrangement tool to helpyou with that.
Heidi (07:55):
Yeah, that would be handy dandy. But if your readiness
goal is to feel excited, maybeyour prep focuses on your
favorite parts of teaching, likepicking a fun new read aloud, or
prepping a first week projectthat you can't wait to share
with your students, or planninga classroom theme that gets you
pumped to decorate.
Emily (08:13):
See the difference? When your tasks align with your why,
they stop feeling like choresand start feeling like
confidence boosters. And wethink this is so important that
we have updated our BTS Successcourse to start with a whole
module on teacher recovery andemotional anchoring, because
everything else is going to flowfrom there.
Heidi (08:32):
So before you do anything else, pause this podcast and get
clear on your readiness anchor.We're serious. This is your
homework. Write it down. Put itsomewhere that you can see it.
Let it guide every choice youmake about how to spend your
summer prep time.
Emily (08:47):
Okay, you got it? Do you have your word? Good. That's
step one. Step two is to makeyour Power Hour task list. This
is where you jot down all of thetasks that will contribute to
your readiness goal. If yourgoal is to feel balanced, your
list will be full of tasks likeprepping freezer meals, creating
standard operating proceduresfor repeated tasks and
(09:08):
streamlining your workflow.
Heidi (09:10):
Ideally, try to use this time to focus on light touch
prep. Light touch prep means lowtime, low effort, high payoff.
These are the tasks that in onefocused hour can move the needle
significantly without drainingyour summer energy.
Emily (09:25):
On the one hand, you could spend three hours deep
cleaning your classroom library,or you could spend one hour
creating a digital welcomepacket that parents will
reference all year long. Bothare helpful, but one gives you
way more bang for your buck.
Heidi (09:38):
Here are some examples of light touch prep that pack a
punch. Creating templates forthings that you know you will
need, like your weeklynewsletter format, your
substitute plans and your parentcommunication scripts.
Emily (09:50):
Drafting a first day slide deck with all of your
procedures and expectations. Youcan always tweak it later, but
having the bones ready means oneless thing to stress about in
August, and we have a whole setof Google slides that you can
adapt to fit any procedure, andthis will save you lots of time.
Check out the link to our telltry tally talk slides in the
show notes.
Heidi (10:10):
Even something as simple as setting up your digital grade
book with student names, if youare lucky enough to already have
your class list. That 10 minutesnow can save you 30 minutes
later.
Emily (10:19):
The key here is choosing tasks that future you will
genuinely thank present you fordoing. And the beautiful thing
is, these are exactly the kindof tasks that fit perfectly into
one focused hour.
Heidi (10:30):
Remember, you're not trying to solve every classroom
challenge or prep every lessonat this point. The goal is to
set yourself up so that you canhit the ground running when it's
time to actually get back towork.
Emily (10:40):
Make sure you keep your list of Power Hour tasks
somewhere handy. If you have ourback to school readiness
checklists, we recently added aPower Hour list, so you can
download the updated file andthen just copy the Power Hour
sheet to your existingspreadsheet. If you already have
them, it's super easy to dothat.
Heidi (10:57):
If you don't have the back to school readiness
checklists, this is your sign tograb them now. There are 50
pages in there, and knowing us,we'll probably add more to that
over the summer.
Emily (11:06):
Yeah, by the time this comes out, there might be two
more pages.
Heidi (11:09):
Who knows. But all of these pages help you clarify
your goals and maximize yourtime. They are a serious BTS
lifesaver, and you can find themat the link in the show notes.
Emily (11:20):
Power Hour can be a motivating way to tackle some
meaningful tasks. But as everyteacher knows, there are just
some things that just have toget done, and we can't magic
wand them away. Labels need tobe made, folders need to be
organized, copies need to berun. All the fun stuff.
Unfortunately, all that tediousstuff is real and it's not going
anywhere.
Heidi (11:39):
So here is our system for handling the must do tasks
without letting them take overyour summer. First, make your
must do list. Get everything outof your head and onto paper. All
of the copying, labeling,organizing, decorating, whatever
you know has to happen beforestudents walk through your door.
Emily (11:57):
And then group similar tasks together. Make a list of
all the copies you need to make.Make a list of everything that
needs a label on it. Make a listof everything you need to finish
for your wall displays. This isjust so much more efficient than
bouncing between different typesof tasks.
Heidi (12:11):
Now to actually get those dreaded tasks done, assign each
batch to one of your weeklysummer prep hours. One week
might be copy all the things,and another week might be label
and organize supplies.
Emily (12:25):
A little pro tip that works with anything, not just
schoolwork, is to pair it. Ifit's not your favorite task,
pair it with a treat. Get yourfavorite iced drink to sip while
you stand over the copier.Listen to a fun audio book while
you're organizing supplies, puton a movie in the background
while you're cutting outbulletin board letters.
Heidi (12:43):
You could even lean into the summeriness of it all and
sit on the patio while you stufffolders. You don't have to
suffer through the tediousstuff. Make it as pleasant as
possible. And remember, it'sjust one hour a week. You can do
anything for one hour.
Emily (12:57):
And if you want help prioritizing which tasks
actually matter versus whichones you can skip, we break that
down in BTS success too, so thatyou're not wasting time on busy
work that won't actually helpyour classroom run smoother. And
you can find a link to thecourse in the show notes.
Heidi (13:12):
Okay, so you've got your readiness goal. You know what
light touch prep looks like, andyou have your plan for the must
do tasks. Now comes the reallyimportant part—actually making
it happen.
Emily (13:23):
These are steps three and four, schedule it and protect
it. The secret to making ithappen is treating this like any
other important appointment inyour life. Choose your hour.
Maybe having a set hour eachweek will work best for you, or
maybe it's more of a movablefeast.
Heidi (13:38):
Oh, that sounds exciting. For you, Saturday morning before
the rest of the house wakes upmight work best. Maybe it's
Tuesday evening after your yogaclass, when you're already
feeling calm and centered. Ormaybe you hire a neighborhood
team to come play with your kidson Wednesday afternoons while
you escape to a coffee shop foran hour. The specific time
doesn't matter. What matters isthat it's consistent and
(14:00):
protected. This is a date withfuture you and future you does
not want you to stand her up.
Emily (14:06):
When you're looking at a blank calendar, it's easy to
start out with good intentions.Following through, however, is a
genuine challenge. If you'restruggling to put your ideas
into practice, go back toEpisode 55 where we discuss
another Gretchen Rubin idea, thefour tendencies. This helps you
pinpoint what it takes for youto meet your own inner
expectations. That way you'releaning on your strengths and
(14:27):
not your weaknesses.
Heidi (14:29):
One thing that might help with follow through is to make
as many decisions ahead of timeas possible. If it helps to have
a loose structure, try assigninga theme to each week's Power
Hour. Emily, why don't you sharewith us the sample plan for how
you might use your summer hours?
Emily (14:43):
Sure. So maybe week one, you're going to set your
readiness goal and make yourmust do list. Get clear on what
you're working toward, and thenchoose a quick win from your
list and complete it right awayto build that positive momentum.
Then in week two, prep one lighttouch task that aligns with your
readiness goal. So maybe that'smaking slides for your arrival
procedure or your dismissalroutine, and then batch one
(15:06):
thing from your tedious taskslist.
Heidi (15:08):
And if you want help with those, there are priority lists
and task batching lists and theBack To School Readiness
Checklist to help you out.
Emily (15:16):
And then in week three, you could plan and prep
materials for your first day. Nomatter your readiness anchor
goal, you're going to need afirst day plan.
Heidi (15:24):
Week four, draft your communication templates, things
like your welcome letter, yourclassroom newsletter format, or
how to help students at homehandouts. Also prepare
everything that you will needfor your meet the teacher open
house.
Emily (15:37):
And then in week five, plan something fun that excites
you about the new year. Maybeit's a special first day
activity or a themed unit you'vebeen wanting to try.
Heidi (15:45):
That's just five hours, but it's five huge wins, and
your August self is going to beso relieved. So it's time for
step five in our Power Hour preproutine, which is to celebrate
your accomplishments. You'reshowing up for yourself when it
would be much easier not to andthat is a huge win. Even if you
didn't check everything off yourlist during your hour, write
(16:06):
down what you did get done andgive yourself a well deserved
pat on the back and maybe even afun little treat, because you
deserve it.
Emily (16:14):
I read a book called Tiny Habits, where he teaches you how
to take little, teeny stepstowards your goals by making
these, like, micro habits, andthen after you do it, you're
supposed to celebrate. And sohis example was like, if every
time you wash your hands, you'regonna do five squats, then
afterwards you should like, giveyourself a high five towards the
(16:35):
mirror, or you should like, do alittle dance. And honestly, I
think psychologically, thismight be a good tip. So maybe
come up with, like, a reallittle celebration for yourself
at the end of your power hour.Or, you know, you could give
yourself a little treat too.That's fine.
Heidi (16:50):
And step six is to do it all again. Decide what you want
to work on next, schedule anhour for each week, and then
follow through. The beauty ofthis one hour system is that you
can adapt it to whatever youneed in whatever season of
summer you're in.
Emily (17:04):
If you're in the early weeks of summer break and you
want to do absolutely nothingschool related for a while,
cool, perfect. Start your onehour routine in a couple weeks.
If you're headed back to schoolin a couple weeks and feeling
behind, also perfect, you stillhave time to make a huge
difference. You just might needmaybe two or three power hours
per week. That still gives youplenty of time to enjoy your
summer and still start the yearfeeling ready.
Heidi (17:26):
So as you're listening, assuming you're not driving,
open up your calendar andschedule your power hour for
this week. Make sure you'veclarified your readiness goal
and have a list of essentialtasks to help you meet that
goal. Get everything on thecalendar and protect that time.
Once you're done working, take aminute to celebrate how much you
got done, and then do it allagain next week, and think how
(17:47):
amazing you'll feel by the timethat first day rolls around.
Emily (17:51):
We would love to hear about your Power Hour plan. Come
join the conversation in ourTeacher Approved Facebook group.
Now for our Teacher Approved Tipof the Week, where we share an
actionable tip to help youelevate what matters and
simplify the rest. This week'steacher approved tip is create a
calming planning ritual thatsignals prep time to your brain.
So tell us about this, Heidi.
Heidi (18:12):
Well, one of the biggest challenges of summer prep is
that our brains don'tautomatically switch into work
mode when we are at home in ourpajamas. So we want to create a
simple ritual that helps signalto your brain that it's time to
focus. This sounds serious, butI promise it doesn't have to be
complicated. Maybe it's making aspecial cup of tea, lighting a
candle or playing a specificplaylist. Maybe it's sitting in
(18:35):
a particular spot in your houseor clearing off a specific
workspace. The key here isconsistency. Use the same ritual
every time and your brain wasgoing to start associating those
cues with focused, productivethinking. It's kind of like
training yourself to get intowork mode on command.
Emily (18:54):
This may sound like a fluffy little time waster, but
science backs us up on this.Prepping for a new school year
can quietly trigger your brain'sstress response. You're thinking
about everything that went wronglast year, what might go wrong
this year, and how much you haveto do. That kind of pressure can
make your brain feel like it'sin danger. And when that
happens, it shuts down the exactparts that you most need right
(19:15):
now, the creativity, the focus,the problem solving.
Heidi (19:18):
And that's where a short calming ritual comes in. By
taking a few minutes to breathedeeply, ground yourself, and
reconnect with your purpose,you're activating the
parasympathetic nervous system,and that's the part of your body
that says, hey, you're safe,you've got this.
Emily (19:32):
This ritual isn't just aimed at creating a nice
feeling. It's about trainingyour brain to treat planning
time as a space of confidenceand clarity, not panic or
perfectionism. Spending fiveprecious minutes of your hour to
start peacefully will help yoube much more productive during
the rest of that hour.
Heidi (19:49):
And when your hour is up, consider having a closing ritual
too. Close the laptop, blow outthe candle, put away your
supplies. This helps your braintransition back to summer mode,
and it prevents that, I'm alwaysthinking about school, feeling
that can tend to creep in.
Emily (20:03):
And throw in your mini celebration too. I want you to
be having a mini dance party atthe end of your power hour.
Heidi (20:09):
To wrap up the show, we are sharing what we're giving
extra credit to this week.Emily, what gets your extra
credit?
Emily (20:14):
credit to the book Zero Days by Ruth Ware. It's about a
woman who's in a race againsttime to find the person who
murdered her husband and clearher name as the main suspect.
Heidi (20:25):
Oh, wow.
Emily (20:26):
Yes. It's really engaging, super fast paced
thriller, and it's perfect forwhen you just want to get sucked
into a book, which I recentlydid, so I blew through it in
just a few days.
Heidi (20:37):
Well, that sounds like a perfect summer read.
Emily (20:37):
What are you giving extra credit to, Heidi?
Heidi (20:38):
I'm giving extra credit to you, Emily.
Emily (20:41):
Me??
Heidi (20:42):
We recently had our Teacher Summer Talk Summit, and
it was so wonderful. And Emilycrushed it. She has put so much
work into this. I know on theuser end, it probably doesn't
seem like that much went intoit, because you're just like,
well, I listened to it. Andthere was some cute stuff on
Facebook and Instagram, but thatwas months of work. She has
(21:06):
worked so hard. So many latenights. You know, she'll be
texting me at midnight, still ather computer. So all the extra
credit for that, Emily. Goodjob, and Melanie and Sara and
everyone else that helped alongthe way, and all of the tech
nightmares. Oh, it was so muchwork, but she did an amazing
job. It was a stellar event, andit was so fun. And I think
teachers got so much out of it.So hopefully all of you joined
(21:28):
us there as well.
Emily (21:29):
Yes, I loved that. It was a really great experience, even
if I did have to work reallyhard, but I learned a lot, and
hopefully next year will beeasier.
Heidi (21:37):
Fingers crossed.
That is it for today's episode.Remember, start with just one
hour a week and your readinessgoal. Make summer prep work for
you, not against you.
Emily (21:47):
And don't forget our teacher approved tip for
creating a summer planningritual. And if you're looking
for more structured support inyour planning, check out BTS
Success at the link in the shownotes.
Heidi (21:59):
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm
Heidi.
Emily (22:03):
And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
or subscribe in your podcast appso that you never miss an
episode.
Heidi (22:10):
You can connect with us and other teachers in the
Teacher Approved Facebook group.We'll see you here next week.
Bye for now.
Emily (22:16):
Bye.
This is episode 205 of Teacher Approved.
You're listening to TeacherApproved, the podcast helping
educators elevate what mattersand simplify the rest. I'm
Heidi.
Emily (00:13):
And I'm Emily. We're the creators behind Second Story
Window, where we give researchbased and teacher approved
strategies that make teachingless stressful and more
effective. You can check out theshow notes and resources from
each episode atsecondstorywindow.net.
Heidi (00:29):
We're so glad you're tuning in today. Let's get to
the show.
Emily (00:36):
Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today's
episode, we're talking about howto use just one hour a week this
summer to start the year readyand rested. And we're sharing a
teacher approved tip forcreating a summer planning
ritual that actually sticks.
Heidi (00:52):
But first, it's time for a try it tomorrow, a favorite
quick win that you can try inyour life right away. Emily,
what is our suggestion thisweek?
Emily (01:00):
This week, try the five minute Friday flip. Do you like
the alliteration?
Heidi (01:06):
If nothing else, the title is awesome.
Emily (01:08):
Every Friday, spend just five minutes flipping through
your teaching materials, whetherthat's your teacher binders, a
curriculum guide, or even yourphone's camera roll from this
past school year. Just flip andnotice what catches your eye, no
pressure to do anything withwhat you find. Just let your
brain start making someconnections for next year.
Heidi (01:27):
I love this because it is gentle prep with zero guilt.
You're just, you know, plantingseeds for future planning,
without the pressure to have itall figured out right now.
Emily (01:37):
If you like this idea or anything else we share here on
the podcast, would you take asecond give us a five star
rating and review on Applepodcasts?
Heidi (01:45):
Over the years, Emily and I have created an extensive
library of back to schoolproducts. To help you find the
tools that will make the startof your New Year easier, today
we are spotlighting our editableclassroom seating chart maker.
Tell us more about this, Emily.
Emily (01:59):
Oh, we love this product so much. Not only will it help
you at the start of the year,but it will be such a huge
support all year long. One ofthe simplest, most effective
behavior management tools atyour disposal is your classroom
seating arrangement. If you'reintentional about how you assign
seats, you can minimize orcompletely eliminate so many
hassles.
Heidi (02:20):
In this product, we walk you step by step through our, I
want to say patented system.
Emily (02:25):
It should be patented.
Heidi (02:28):
Trademark, copyright, something. But we walk you
through our system for strategicseating, and we give you over 90
different seating arrangementsand list the pros and cons of
each one.
Emily (02:39):
And we even include seating options for the carpet,
so you can help minimize anyproblems there as well.
Heidi (02:44):
Now, since you're not going to know your students at
the start of the year, thestrategy part of assigning seats
isn't going to help you too muchyet, but the desk arrangement
part can be a huge lifesaver,even in the first few days. So
the first thing you need to dois choose an arrangement that
fits your seating options,whether you have desks or tables
or those weird triangle tablethingies, then you need to
(03:06):
choose an arrangement that willfit your space.
Emily (03:09):
The last three steps of choosing an arrangement are the
most crucial but oftenoverlooked. Choose a seating
arrangement that supports yourteaching style. If you do a lot
of cooperative work, choose anarrangement that lets students
work together. Also look for anarrangement that minimizes your
walking. You're on your feet allday. Do yourself a favor, and
make sure that you can reacheach student seat in the minimum
Heidi (03:31):
And last of all, and this is the secret sauce, keep as
number of steps.
many students as possible, asclose to you as possible. The
number one deterrent for offtask behavior is proximity to
the teacher. So leverage thatpower as much as you can.
Emily (03:47):
We walk you through all of this in the editable
classroom seating chart maker,and you can find a link to that
in the show notes. But if youwant more information, make sure
you go back to Episode 97 wherewe lay out this strategy in
detail.
Heidi (04:00):
Well, now we are well into summer, and chances are
good that you've had at leastone moment so far where that
little voice in your head asked,should you be doing something
for school right now?
Emily (04:11):
Oh, yeah, that critical little voice that whispers,
everyone else is probablypicking out their first week
outfits and color coding theirlesson plan binders, and you're
watching Netflix at 2pm on aTuesday??
Heidi (04:22):
I hate that voice so much.
Emily (04:24):
I know it's a jerk.
Heidi (04:25):
She gets the better of me more times than I care to admit
publicly. She's how you knowbefore I know it, I find myself
elbow deep in prep I didn't planon doing, and then my summer
relaxation turns into a guiltridden productivity spiral. Ah,
good times.
Emily (04:42):
But we're not going to do that anymore. Instead, we're
going to focus on doing theright things in small, steady
steps that protect rest andbuild readiness. We promise, it
really is possible to start theyear feeling calm and prepared
without sacrificing your summersanity.
Heidi (04:58):
This week, we are talking about what just one intentional
hour each week can do for yourback to school prep. Gretchen
Rubin, from the Happier Podcast,which is a podcast that we love,
has a great hack that she callsPower Hour. She schedules time
once a week to power through thetasks that she can't normally
get herself to deal with.
Emily (05:16):
And because it rhymes, you know, it's valid advice. So
we are going to take Gretchen'sPower Hour idea and turn it into
teacher Power Hour. Veryoriginal, as you can tell, but
instead of using that time tocall the electric company or
figure out your taxes, we'regoing to focus on our back to
school tasks, and we've got asix step system to help you make
it happen. We love a system.
Heidi (05:38):
The first step is to build a strong foundation by
clarifying what matters to you.Second, start a list of Power
Hour tasks so you don't wasteprecious minutes trying to
figure out what to work on,which is always my downfall.
Third, schedule your time.Fourth, and this is the hardest
one, protect your time. Makesure you reschedule if another
obligation conflicts with yourtime, and then make yourself
(06:01):
actually do the work. And that'swhy that step is the hardest
part.
Emily (06:06):
And then comes the fun part. Step five is to celebrate
your accomplishments, and thenall you have to do is step six,
which is to repeat it next week.
Heidi (06:14):
sound too hard, does it? So pour yourself a lemonade or
throw on your walking shoes, andlet's talk about how to use one
hour a week to prep for back toschool like the smart, seasoned
teacher you are.
Emily (06:26):
Let's start where we always do by clarifying what
matters. Before you make asingle list or organize a single
supply, we want you to get clearon your goal. If you joined us
for our recent webinar, wereferred to this goal as your
readiness anchor.
Heidi (06:40):
A readiness anchor is simply the answer to this
question, how do you want tofeel as you walk into your
classroom on your first dayback? For now, forget how you
might feel or what you want toaccomplish before then, or how
you want your classroom to look,just ask yourself how you want
to feel.
Emily (06:57):
And then this feeling is going to become your North Star.
And we cannot stress thisenough, it's important to
actually choose your word, notjust think about choosing a
word. If you don't name what youwant, what happens is you end up
chasing every task that crossesyour mind, because you have no
way of knowing which tasks arethe ones that actually matter.
Heidi (07:17):
So choose your readiness anchor. Maybe you want to feel
calm or grounded, maybe you wantto feel excited or energized,
maybe you want to feel organizedor in control. However you want
to feel is the exact rightanswer.
Emily (07:30):
Here is why this matters so much. When you know how you
want to feel, it becomes so mucheasier to prioritize your prep
time. Every decision getsfiltered through that goal. For
example, if your readiness goalis to feel calm, then maybe you
want to focus on tasks thatreduce last minute scrambling,
like printing your welcomeletter, prepping your first day
slides, or arranging your desks.And maybe you want to use our
(07:53):
desk arrangement tool to helpyou with that.
Heidi (07:55):
Yeah, that would be handy dandy. But if your readiness
goal is to feel excited, maybeyour prep focuses on your
favorite parts of teaching, likepicking a fun new read aloud, or
prepping a first week projectthat you can't wait to share
with your students, or planninga classroom theme that gets you
pumped to decorate.
Emily (08:13):
See the difference? When your tasks align with your why,
they stop feeling like choresand start feeling like
confidence boosters. And wethink this is so important that
we have updated our BTS Successcourse to start with a whole
module on teacher recovery andemotional anchoring, because
everything else is going to flowfrom there.
Heidi (08:32):
So before you do anything else, pause this podcast and get
clear on your readiness anchor.We're serious. This is your
homework. Write it down. Put itsomewhere that you can see it.
Let it guide every choice youmake about how to spend your
summer prep time.
Emily (08:47):
Okay, you got it? Do you have your word? Good. That's
step one. Step two is to makeyour Power Hour task list. This
is where you jot down all of thetasks that will contribute to
your readiness goal. If yourgoal is to feel balanced, your
list will be full of tasks likeprepping freezer meals, creating
standard operating proceduresfor repeated tasks and
(09:08):
streamlining your workflow.
Heidi (09:10):
Ideally, try to use this time to focus on light touch
prep. Light touch prep means lowtime, low effort, high payoff.
These are the tasks that in onefocused hour can move the needle
significantly without drainingyour summer energy.
Emily (09:25):
On the one hand, you could spend three hours deep
cleaning your classroom library,or you could spend one hour
creating a digital welcomepacket that parents will
reference all year long. Bothare helpful, but one gives you
way more bang for your buck.
Heidi (09:38):
Here are some examples of light touch prep that pack a
punch. Creating templates forthings that you know you will
need, like your weeklynewsletter format, your
substitute plans and your parentcommunication scripts.
Emily (09:50):
Drafting a first day slide deck with all of your
procedures and expectations. Youcan always tweak it later, but
having the bones ready means oneless thing to stress about in
August, and we have a whole setof Google slides that you can
adapt to fit any procedure, andthis will save you lots of time.
Check out the link to our telltry tally talk slides in the
show notes.
Heidi (10:10):
Even something as simple as setting up your digital grade
book with student names, if youare lucky enough to already have
your class list. That 10 minutesnow can save you 30 minutes
later.
Emily (10:19):
The key here is choosing tasks that future you will
genuinely thank present you fordoing. And the beautiful thing
is, these are exactly the kindof tasks that fit perfectly into
one focused hour.
Heidi (10:30):
Remember, you're not trying to solve every classroom
challenge or prep every lessonat this point. The goal is to
set yourself up so that you canhit the ground running when it's
time to actually get back towork.
Emily (10:40):
Make sure you keep your list of Power Hour tasks
somewhere handy. If you have ourback to school readiness
checklists, we recently added aPower Hour list, so you can
download the updated file andthen just copy the Power Hour
sheet to your existingspreadsheet. If you already have
them, it's super easy to dothat.
Heidi (10:57):
If you don't have the back to school readiness
checklists, this is your sign tograb them now. There are 50
pages in there, and knowing us,we'll probably add more to that
over the summer.
Emily (11:06):
Yeah, by the time this comes out, there might be two
more pages.
Heidi (11:09):
Who knows. But all of these pages help you clarify
your goals and maximize yourtime. They are a serious BTS
lifesaver, and you can find themat the link in the show notes.
Emily (11:20):
Power Hour can be a motivating way to tackle some
meaningful tasks. But as everyteacher knows, there are just
some things that just have toget done, and we can't magic
wand them away. Labels need tobe made, folders need to be
organized, copies need to berun. All the fun stuff.
Unfortunately, all that tediousstuff is real and it's not going
anywhere.
Heidi (11:39):
So here is our system for handling the must do tasks
without letting them take overyour summer. First, make your
must do list. Get everything outof your head and onto paper. All
of the copying, labeling,organizing, decorating, whatever
you know has to happen beforestudents walk through your door.
Emily (11:57):
And then group similar tasks together. Make a list of
all the copies you need to make.Make a list of everything that
needs a label on it. Make a listof everything you need to finish
for your wall displays. This isjust so much more efficient than
bouncing between different typesof tasks.
Heidi (12:11):
Now to actually get those dreaded tasks done, assign each
batch to one of your weeklysummer prep hours. One week
might be copy all the things,and another week might be label
and organize supplies.
Emily (12:25):
A little pro tip that works with anything, not just
schoolwork, is to pair it. Ifit's not your favorite task,
pair it with a treat. Get yourfavorite iced drink to sip while
you stand over the copier.Listen to a fun audio book while
you're organizing supplies, puton a movie in the background
while you're cutting outbulletin board letters.
Heidi (12:43):
You could even lean into the summeriness of it all and
sit on the patio while you stufffolders. You don't have to
suffer through the tediousstuff. Make it as pleasant as
possible. And remember, it'sjust one hour a week. You can do
anything for one hour.
Emily (12:57):
And if you want help prioritizing which tasks
actually matter versus whichones you can skip, we break that
down in BTS success too, so thatyou're not wasting time on busy
work that won't actually helpyour classroom run smoother. And
you can find a link to thecourse in the show notes.
Heidi (13:12):
Okay, so you've got your readiness goal. You know what
light touch prep looks like, andyou have your plan for the must
do tasks. Now comes the reallyimportant part—actually making
it happen.
Emily (13:23):
These are steps three and four, schedule it and protect
it. The secret to making ithappen is treating this like any
other important appointment inyour life. Choose your hour.
Maybe having a set hour eachweek will work best for you, or
maybe it's more of a movablefeast.
Heidi (13:38):
Oh, that sounds exciting. For you, Saturday morning before
the rest of the house wakes upmight work best. Maybe it's
Tuesday evening after your yogaclass, when you're already
feeling calm and centered. Ormaybe you hire a neighborhood
team to come play with your kidson Wednesday afternoons while
you escape to a coffee shop foran hour. The specific time
doesn't matter. What matters isthat it's consistent and
(14:00):
protected. This is a date withfuture you and future you does
not want you to stand her up.
Emily (14:06):
When you're looking at a blank calendar, it's easy to
start out with good intentions.Following through, however, is a
genuine challenge. If you'restruggling to put your ideas
into practice, go back toEpisode 55 where we discuss
another Gretchen Rubin idea, thefour tendencies. This helps you
pinpoint what it takes for youto meet your own inner
expectations. That way you'releaning on your strengths and
(14:27):
not your weaknesses.
Heidi (14:29):
One thing that might help with follow through is to make
as many decisions ahead of timeas possible. If it helps to have
a loose structure, try assigninga theme to each week's Power
Hour. Emily, why don't you sharewith us the sample plan for how
you might use your summer hours?
Emily (14:43):
Sure. So maybe week one, you're going to set your
readiness goal and make yourmust do list. Get clear on what
you're working toward, and thenchoose a quick win from your
list and complete it right awayto build that positive momentum.
Then in week two, prep one lighttouch task that aligns with your
readiness goal. So maybe that'smaking slides for your arrival
procedure or your dismissalroutine, and then batch one
(15:06):
thing from your tedious taskslist.
Heidi (15:08):
And if you want help with those, there are priority lists
and task batching lists and theBack To School Readiness
Checklist to help you out.
Emily (15:16):
And then in week three, you could plan and prep
materials for your first day. Nomatter your readiness anchor
goal, you're going to need afirst day plan.
Heidi (15:24):
Week four, draft your communication templates, things
like your welcome letter, yourclassroom newsletter format, or
how to help students at homehandouts. Also prepare
everything that you will needfor your meet the teacher open
house.
Emily (15:37):
And then in week five, plan something fun that excites
you about the new year. Maybeit's a special first day
activity or a themed unit you'vebeen wanting to try.
Heidi (15:45):
That's just five hours, but it's five huge wins, and
your August self is going to beso relieved. So it's time for
step five in our Power Hour preproutine, which is to celebrate
your accomplishments. You'reshowing up for yourself when it
would be much easier not to andthat is a huge win. Even if you
didn't check everything off yourlist during your hour, write
(16:06):
down what you did get done andgive yourself a well deserved
pat on the back and maybe even afun little treat, because you
deserve it.
Emily (16:14):
I read a book called Tiny Habits, where he teaches you how
to take little, teeny stepstowards your goals by making
these, like, micro habits, andthen after you do it, you're
supposed to celebrate. And sohis example was like, if every
time you wash your hands, you'regonna do five squats, then
afterwards you should like, giveyourself a high five towards the
(16:35):
mirror, or you should like, do alittle dance. And honestly, I
think psychologically, thismight be a good tip. So maybe
come up with, like, a reallittle celebration for yourself
at the end of your power hour.Or, you know, you could give
yourself a little treat too.That's fine.
Heidi (16:50):
And step six is to do it all again. Decide what you want
to work on next, schedule anhour for each week, and then
follow through. The beauty ofthis one hour system is that you
can adapt it to whatever youneed in whatever season of
summer you're in.
Emily (17:04):
If you're in the early weeks of summer break and you
want to do absolutely nothingschool related for a while,
cool, perfect. Start your onehour routine in a couple weeks.
If you're headed back to schoolin a couple weeks and feeling
behind, also perfect, you stillhave time to make a huge
difference. You just might needmaybe two or three power hours
per week. That still gives youplenty of time to enjoy your
summer and still start the yearfeeling ready.
Heidi (17:26):
So as you're listening, assuming you're not driving,
open up your calendar andschedule your power hour for
this week. Make sure you'veclarified your readiness goal
and have a list of essentialtasks to help you meet that
goal. Get everything on thecalendar and protect that time.
Once you're done working, take aminute to celebrate how much you
got done, and then do it allagain next week, and think how
(17:47):
amazing you'll feel by the timethat first day rolls around.
Emily (17:51):
We would love to hear about your Power Hour plan. Come
join the conversation in ourTeacher Approved Facebook group.
Now for our Teacher Approved Tipof the Week, where we share an
actionable tip to help youelevate what matters and
simplify the rest. This week'steacher approved tip is create a
calming planning ritual thatsignals prep time to your brain.
So tell us about this, Heidi.
Heidi (18:12):
Well, one of the biggest challenges of summer prep is
that our brains don'tautomatically switch into work
mode when we are at home in ourpajamas. So we want to create a
simple ritual that helps signalto your brain that it's time to
focus. This sounds serious, butI promise it doesn't have to be
complicated. Maybe it's making aspecial cup of tea, lighting a
candle or playing a specificplaylist. Maybe it's sitting in
(18:35):
a particular spot in your houseor clearing off a specific
workspace. The key here isconsistency. Use the same ritual
every time and your brain wasgoing to start associating those
cues with focused, productivethinking. It's kind of like
training yourself to get intowork mode on command.
Emily (18:54):
This may sound like a fluffy little time waster, but
science backs us up on this.Prepping for a new school year
can quietly trigger your brain'sstress response. You're thinking
about everything that went wronglast year, what might go wrong
this year, and how much you haveto do. That kind of pressure can
make your brain feel like it'sin danger. And when that
happens, it shuts down the exactparts that you most need right
(19:15):
now, the creativity, the focus,the problem solving.
Heidi (19:18):
And that's where a short calming ritual comes in. By
taking a few minutes to breathedeeply, ground yourself, and
reconnect with your purpose,you're activating the
parasympathetic nervous system,and that's the part of your body
that says, hey, you're safe,you've got this.
Emily (19:32):
This ritual isn't just aimed at creating a nice
feeling. It's about trainingyour brain to treat planning
time as a space of confidenceand clarity, not panic or
perfectionism. Spending fiveprecious minutes of your hour to
start peacefully will help yoube much more productive during
the rest of that hour.
Heidi (19:49):
And when your hour is up, consider having a closing ritual
too. Close the laptop, blow outthe candle, put away your
supplies. This helps your braintransition back to summer mode,
and it prevents that, I'm alwaysthinking about school, feeling
that can tend to creep in.
Emily (20:03):
And throw in your mini celebration too. I want you to
be having a mini dance party atthe end of your power hour.
Heidi (20:09):
To wrap up the show, we are sharing what we're giving
extra credit to this week.Emily, what gets your extra
credit?
Emily (20:14):
credit to the book Zero Days by Ruth Ware. It's about a
woman who's in a race againsttime to find the person who
murdered her husband and clearher name as the main suspect.
Heidi (20:25):
Oh, wow.
Emily (20:26):
Yes. It's really engaging, super fast paced
thriller, and it's perfect forwhen you just want to get sucked
into a book, which I recentlydid, so I blew through it in
just a few days.
Heidi (20:37):
Well, that sounds like a perfect summer read.
Emily (20:37):
What are you giving extra credit to, Heidi?
Heidi (20:38):
I'm giving extra credit to you, Emily.
Emily (20:41):
Me??
Heidi (20:42):
We recently had our Teacher Summer Talk Summit, and
it was so wonderful. And Emilycrushed it. She has put so much
work into this. I know on theuser end, it probably doesn't
seem like that much went intoit, because you're just like,
well, I listened to it. Andthere was some cute stuff on
Facebook and Instagram, but thatwas months of work. She has
(21:06):
worked so hard. So many latenights. You know, she'll be
texting me at midnight, still ather computer. So all the extra
credit for that, Emily. Goodjob, and Melanie and Sara and
everyone else that helped alongthe way, and all of the tech
nightmares. Oh, it was so muchwork, but she did an amazing
job. It was a stellar event, andit was so fun. And I think
teachers got so much out of it.So hopefully all of you joined
(21:28):
us there as well.
Emily (21:29):
Yes, I loved that. It was a really great experience, even
if I did have to work reallyhard, but I learned a lot, and
hopefully next year will beeasier.
Heidi (21:37):
Fingers crossed.
That is it for today's episode.Remember, start with just one
hour a week and your readinessgoal. Make summer prep work for
you, not against you.
Emily (21:47):
And don't forget our teacher approved tip for
creating a summer planningritual. And if you're looking
for more structured support inyour planning, check out BTS
Success at the link in the shownotes.
Heidi (21:59):
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm
Heidi.
Emily (22:03):
And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
or subscribe in your podcast appso that you never miss an
episode.
Heidi (22:10):
You can connect with us and other teachers in the
Teacher Approved Facebook group.We'll see you here next week.
Bye for now.
Emily (22:16):
Bye.
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