September 8, 2025 • 23 mins
Wouldn't it be nice if your classroom could run like clockwork, with students knowing exactly what to do without constant reminders? In this episode, we’re showing you how to connect your procedures into seamless routines that stick, so everything from morning arrival to end-of-day chaos feels easier. You’ll learn our three-step process (anchor, expand, and reinforce), fun strategies for keeping routines consistent, and the “Core Four” every classroom needs: calm morning starts, orderly hallway movement, smooth transitions, and efficient end-of-day procedures. With these tools, your classroom will practically run itself, freeing you up to focus on teaching and building connections with your students!
Prefer to read? Grab the episode transcript and resources in the show notes here: https://www.secondstorywindow.net/podcast/classroom-routines/
Resources:
- Ladystacks Book Tracker
- 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 48, How to Make Classroom Transitions Simple with Clear Beginning and Endings
- Episode 49, Rapid Classroom Transitions: How to Save 45 Hours a Year
- Episode 50, 3 Guidelines to Make Classroom Transitions Work Smarter Not Harder
- Episode 89, Hallway Behavior Management: 4 Essential Plans for Improving Hallway Classroom Management
- Episode 93, Teacher Morning Routine: 10 Tips for Creating Your Perfect Plan
- Episode 94, A Great Day Before School Even Starts: Your Perfect Teacher Morning Routine at School
- Episode 95, 4 Must-Have Characteristics of Your Classroom Morning Routine
- Episode 120, Supporting New Teachers with Ashleigh From Rainbow Skies for New Teachers
- Episode 160, 4 Dismissal Routine Tips for Teachers to Calm the End-of-Day Chaos
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Heidi (00:01):
This is episode 223 of Teacher Approved.
You're listening to TeacherApproved, the podcast helping
educators elevate what mattersand simplify the rest. I'm
Heidi.
We're so glad you're tuning in today. Let's get to
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 at secondstorywindow.net.
the show.
(00:34):
Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today's
episode, we are talking abouthow to turn your individual
procedures into routines thatactually stick, and sharing a
teacher approved tip forhandling your own routines.
Heidi (00:49):
Let's start with a try it tomorrow, where we share a quick
win to help you boost yourclassroom community. Emily, what
is our suggestion for this week?
Emily (00:56):
Well, if you haven't already, take a couple minutes
during your prep time today toset up a table to track positive
communication for each student.A simple way to do this is to
list students' names down theside and then have a column for
each month. Then it's easy tokeep track of which families
you've reached out to recently.Making communication with
families a positive experienceand not just something that
(01:18):
happens when there's trouble,can go a long way to
strengthening the school homepartnership. And I can vouch for
this from the parent side, thatI hate feeling like every time I
see an email from a teacher thatsomething must be wrong. So it
would be great if sometimes it'spositive communication as well.
Heidi (01:35):
Well, if you like this idea or anything else that we
share on the podcast, would youtake a second and give us a five
star rating? Ratings and reviewsare one way that new listeners
find us. So really, truly, everyrating and review is a huge help
to us.
Emily (01:48):
So if you've been listening for a while, you know
that we are big believers, thatalmost seems like an
understatement, huge fans ofstrong classroom procedures. We
have talked a lot about how todesign them, how to teach them,
using our tell try tally talkmethod, and how to course
correct when they slide.
Heidi (02:07):
But, this might be hard to believe, there is actually
one part of procedures that wehave never tackled. How do you
take all of those individualprocedures that you have been
working so hard to teach andlink them into routines that
your students can actuallyfollow? And today we're going to
tell you how to make thoseroutines stick without having to
turn into the nagging police.
Emily (02:28):
So think of a single procedure as one Lego brick. It
does what it needs to do, but ifyou want something that really
works for you, like a smoothmorning start, you need to snap
those bricks together.
Heidi (02:40):
I love that analogy, and that's perfect for your Lego
family.
Emily (02:43):
Yes.
Heidi (02:45):
A routine is a string of procedures in a set order that
is done so often that it runs onautopilot. The goal is that the
brain doesn't have to think. Itjust does.
Emily (02:55):
Think back to how you taught your individual
procedures. If you used our telltry tally talk method—are we
going to start calling that the4T method? Are we going to, I
don't know, but we'll stick withtell try tally talk. If you used
our method, you clearlyexplained the procedure and
modeled each step. You had yourstudents try it out with your
guidance, you tallied howeverything went and celebrated
(03:16):
progress, and then you talkedover what worked, what was
tricky, what practice wasneeded.
Heidi (03:20):
That method works beautifully for individual
procedures, but let's dive intohow to connect those procedures
into a seamless routine. Thistime we will use a three step
process of anchoring, expandingand reinforcing.
Emily (03:35):
Wait, but there's no alliteration in that one.
Heidi (03:37):
I feel like we're really letting the side down. It all
has an "ing," does that count?
Emily (03:41):
Okay. That is something, I guess. But you know we love a
process, so let's look at thefirst step in this new process,
which is anchoring. This iswhere you pick one solid
procedure that's already workingwell and use it as the
foundation for the wholeroutine. Think of this as the
core of your routine. It's theone thing that, when it's in
place makes everything elseeasier.
Heidi (04:03):
For a morning routine, this might be students unpacking
their backpacks correctly. Fortransitions, it could be having
students respond quickly to yourattention signal.
Emily (04:12):
So the key here is to choose something that's already
pretty solid. Don't try toanchor a routine to a procedure
that is still wobbly. You wantyour strongest procedure as your
foundation.
Heidi (04:22):
And here's where a lot of teachers get tripped up. They
try to teach the entire morningroutine as one giant procedure.
And I have done this myself, butlet me tell you friends, that's
like trying to swallow awatermelon whole.
Emily (04:36):
Oh, that sounds miserable. That's gonna end
badly. If your morning routineincludes coming into the
building, entering theclassroom, unpacking backpacks,
making lunch choices, gettingmaterials, starting morning
work, and knowing what to dowhile waiting for others, that
is not one procedure. That'slike seven procedures that have
to happen in sequence.
Heidi (04:56):
And when you look at it that way, it's no wonder that
your kids are having a hard timefollowing through. They just
can't master that many steps inone go. A good rule of thumb is
that if a procedure has morethan about five steps or so,
give or take, it's time to breakit down. The smaller you can
make each task, the more deeplystudents can internalize it.
Emily (05:17):
And when they're shorter, they're faster to teach too. So
that's just a little win. Okay,so identify the Keystone
procedure in each routine and goall in on making it run like
clockwork. That is the firststep. Then you can start
expanding. This means adding thenext logical step in the
sequence.
Heidi (05:35):
If unpacking backpacks is your anchor to your morning
routine, the next step might bemaking your lunch choice without
having to be reminded. That usedto kill me every day. How many
days are we in school? Anyway,you want that to be automatic,
and then you would teach thatprocedure separately, right?
Tell try tally talk, until it'ssolid.
Emily (05:54):
Then you'd start connecting them in your
student's mind. The studentsalready know how to do each
piece, but you're helping themsee how it all flows together.
So first unpack your backpackusing our five steps, then make
your lunch choice using ourthree steps.
Heidi (06:09):
Keep expanding one procedure at a time until you
have built the full routine. Youknow, plan on this taking at
least two weeks. That is totallynormal, and it's to be expected.
Emily (06:19):
If things start to fall apart as you're connecting
procedures, pull back for aminute and try to pinpoint the
issue, instead of plowing ahead,because you want this all done
and out of your hair.
Heidi (06:30):
Oh, yes, figuring out a problem now will save you from
having to deal with it for ninemore months.
And that brings us to the finalstep, which is reinforcing. This
is where the magic happens,because this is when your
routine moves from something wedo because the teacher told us
to, to something we just do.
Emily (06:48):
This is the point where your routine will either take
off or fizzle out. The goal isto train your students brains to
run this sequence without youprompting them every step of the
way, and that only happens withintentional, repeated
reinforcement.
Heidi (07:02):
Think of it like teaching kids to tie their shoes. If
you've ever lived through that,you don't just show them once
and then expect them to do itperfectly every time. You have
to practice a lot.
Emily (07:13):
Yep, and it's going to take a lot of practice with your
routines too. But that doesn'tmean it has to be drudgery. Have
some fun with it. You could setup a bingo board or a tic tac
toe board with all of thedifferent procedures that make
up your dismissal routine. Everytime they complete one part of
the routine without needinginstructions from you, they get
to cross off a square. If theyget a bingo or a tic tac toe,
(07:34):
they get a small reward, andwhen the whole board is full,
they get a larger reward.
Heidi (07:39):
Yeah, we want to make sure that practice doesn't start
feeling like a punishment.Another thing that I like to do
with my students was to timethem. I would say something
like, okay, yesterday, it tooktwo minutes and 28 seconds for
everyone to get their notebooksput away and come to the rug. I
think we can do it faster. Canwe do it in two minutes? Kids
love racing. And the nice thingabout this is that it can
(08:00):
motivate them to kind of pusheach other to move more quickly,
so you're not the one having to,you know, nudge them along.
Let's let that positive peerpressure work in your favor.
Emily (08:11):
If you are doing whole class rewards for practicing
routines or anything else, don'tlet a few kids ruin it for
everyone. If you've got one ortwo little ones with some
special behavior challenges,like maybe they'll go slow on
purpose, just because everyoneelse wants them to hurry, then
you can just kind of take themout of the equation.
Heidi (08:27):
Right. If all but your two most challenging darlings
are at the carpet, count that asa win. Way to hustle, everyone,
you made it to the carpet in oneminute and 58 seconds. And then
when someone raises their handto point out that Dimitri still
isn't at the carpet, just makeit a non issue. You know what,
you worry about you and I willworry about Dimitri.
Emily (08:47):
Yeah, especially because getting attention for it is
probably exactly what Dimitriwants. And it's just a good
reminder that most of ourmanagement plans will work for
most of our kids most of thetime. So put your focus there.
You can set up a personalizedplan for Dimitri at a different
time, but it will only makethings worse if we turn him into
the class scapegoat. That's notgood for anyone.
Heidi (09:09):
And besides making routine practice fun, you can
also reinforce your expectationsby turning it over to the
students. Try assigning helpersfor routine checks. Have a
materials monitor who remindsclassmates about getting their
pencils, or a line leader whomodels proper hallway behavior.
Emily (09:25):
That's nice, because then you're not having to oversee
everything that happens. Andwhen routines start to slide,
because they will, especiallyafter a long weekend or a
holiday, go back to practicingthem just like a sports team
runs drills.
Heidi (09:39):
Don't feel like you have failed if you need to reteach a
routine. This is somethinghonestly that I struggled with.
I used to see this as a failureas a teacher, but it is just a
predictable part of dealing withkids. They need repetition, and
sometimes you need to refreshthose neural pathways to get
everyone back on track.
Emily (09:58):
Now you likely have dozens of routines needed to
make your classroom run, butit's important that you're
putting a lot of time and energyinto streamlining what we call
the core four, and these are theroutines that truly make or
break your school day.
Heidi (10:11):
And if you have taught before, you can probably guess
what these are, but they are acalm morning start, orderly
hallway movement, controlledtransitions, and efficient end
of day routines. If you canmaster these four, everything
else in your day becomes so mucheasier.
Emily (10:28):
So let's walk through what it looks like to anchor,
expand and reinforce our corefour routines. And we'll kick
things off with a calm morningstart.
Heidi (10:36):
For your morning routine, your anchor might be getting the
backpack procedure down. Oncethat's solid, you expand it with
lunch choice, then gettingmaterials, then starting morning
work. Each step gets taught andpracticed separately before you
try to link them.
Emily (10:50):
When it comes to reinforcing your morning
routine, visual supports areyour best friend. Post the steps
of each routine where studentscan reference them, or where you
can send students to check ifthey've forgotten something.
Heidi (11:02):
Yeah, you definitely want to outsource the work of keeping
kids on track as much aspossible. So let a display help
you out. You could make a chartor project slides each morning
with the steps that you wantstudents to follow. I was very
analog. I used sentence stripsand magnets to put them on my
board because I didn't want tohave to write it out every day.
Emily (11:20):
Yep, I did the same thing, and it definitely does
not need to be fancy. So justmake sure you're posting them
where kids can see them everysingle day, even in the middle
of May, and that they're goingto know exactly where to look
each time. It's always going tobe in the same place.
Heidi (11:34):
And if they ask you what they're supposed to be doing,
point them to the display, sothey get in the habit of
checking that instead of turningto you for the answers.
Emily (11:42):
Exactly.
Heidi (11:42):
Morning routines have to run without much teacher input
because you're busy handlingyour own routine of getting the
day started. Those posted stepsgive kids a way to stay on track
without needing you to promptevery single thing.
Emily (11:56):
If you want a deeper dive, maybe the deepest of
dives, on morning routines,check out our three part Morning
Routine series, which is inepisodes 93, 94 and 95 where we
talk about how to set up yourown morning routines, as well as
your students.
Heidi (12:13):
For the next in our core four routines is hallway
movement, and you might anchorthis one with the signal to line
up. Then you can expand towalking without talking, then
how to walk while you'recarrying supplies, and then what
to do when you arrive at yourdestination.
Emily (12:27):
Reinforcing your hallway routine can be a lot of fun. So
try announcing that you'vechosen a mystery walker. If this
student remembers yourprocedures as you travel to your
destination, they'll get aprize, and it's easier to watch
this if you like our strategyfor walking at the back of your
class instead of at the front.
Heidi (12:44):
That does make it simpler, or you can get real
good at walking backwards.
Emily (12:47):
Yes, you know, both are good skills to have.
Heidi (12:49):
The prize for the mystery walker can be as simple as a
high five or a sticker. It's themystery of it all, not the prize
that is going to be mostinfluential on getting your
students to meet yourexpectations. And another fun
idea is called line freeze.Ashley from Rainbow Skies for
Teachers, shared this with usback in episode 120.
Emily (13:10):
Oh, and you should definitely go back and listen to
that so you can hear it in herdelightful Australian accent.
But basically it's a bit likered light, green light. You lead
your line down the hall normallyat the front of the line, but
every once in a while, you fliparound and look at the kids.
Their goal is to freeze in placeas soon as you turn.
Heidi (13:27):
That is a really fun game, and it's perfect for the
hallway because it can be donesilently. Ashley says that she
has done it with kids fromkindergarten to sixth grade, and
that they all enjoy it. So givethat one a try if you want to
add a little whimsy to yourhallway routine.
Emily (13:40):
And go back to check out episode 89 if you want even more
hallway tips.
But for now, let's look at howto handle your transition
routines. A good place to starthere is by anchoring your
attention signal. When that'ssolid, expand into listening for
all the directions before theystart moving, cleaning up
workspaces, then gettingmaterials for the next activity,
(14:01):
and then transitioning to thenew location quickly.
Heidi (14:04):
And we did another three part deep, deep dive in episodes
48, 49 and 50. This one happenedto be on transitions this time
because, as you may havenoticed, they are tricky, and
they can eat up a lot of yourlearning time. So revisit those
episodes, and also check outepisode 160 if you want tips for
our final core routine,dismissal.
Emily (14:26):
This one is hard because you are so tired by this point
in the day. So do what you canto automate this routine as much
as possible. You could anchor itwith your procedure for tidying
up desks, then expand to gettingtake home materials, then
packing backpacks and thengetting ready for dismissal.
Heidi (14:43):
The end of the day is a great time to add in some
student ownership asreinforcement. Besides regular
class jobs like sharpeningpencils, you can assign students
to hand out papers, pass outlunch boxes, check that everyone
cleaned under their desk, andreally, anything else that the
kids are capable of doing, makethem do it.
Emily (15:00):
For sure, don't take it on yourself to do all of the
work. And the beauty of thisapproach is that once these
routines are solid, yourclassroom really does start to
run like clockwork.
Heidi (15:09):
Now this does take a lot of time and energy and
intention. I want to be clearabout that, because we know how
much work this is, but wepromise solid routines are worth
it, even if they're not yourfavorite thing to teach.
Emily (15:23):
I know, no one goes into teaching because they love
procedures. Although maybe wedo. Do we? We talk about them a
lot, maybe we do.
Heidi (15:30):
I didn't start out loving procedures, like, I got there
once I saw what they could dofor me.
Emily (15:31):
That's I was gonna say. I think we love procedures because
we love what they give you as ateacher. And obviously, no
student says their favorite partof school is your efficient
dismissal routine.
Heidi (15:44):
But it would be nice if they pointed that out. But it's
procedures and the routines thatthey create that are going to
make the good parts of teaching,the stuff you like, possible.
They enable you to be the kindof teacher you want to be.
They're what create consistencyso students feel safe and know
what to expect. They preventproblems by minimizing
opportunities for kids to testyour limits, and they free you
(16:07):
up to focus on your studentsinstead of logistics.
Emily (16:10):
So let's wrap up with a quick recap of how to turn
procedures into routines thatstick. First, anchor your
routine to one solid procedurethat's already working well,
then expand by adding oneprocedure at a time until you've
built the full sequence.Finally, reinforce the routine
as a whole, not just theindividual steps.
Heidi (16:30):
Focus on your core four routines—morning start, hallway
movement, classroom transitions,and end of day. These make or
break your classroom flow. Solook for opportunities to
reinforce your expectations, sostudents will want to meet them.
Emily (16:45):
And remember that this will take time. Plan on at least
two weeks for the basicstructures to stick, but there
will still be a period ofwatching and reinforcing before
it becomes truly automatic.
Heidi (16:56):
And we would love to hear how you're building routines
this year. Come join theconversation in our Teacher
Approved Facebook group.
Emily (17:04):
Now for our Teacher Approved Tip of the Week, where
we share an actionable tip tohelp you elevate what matters
and simplify the rest. Thisweek's teacher approved tip is
to create your own routines. Sotell us about this, Heidi.
Heidi (17:16):
Well, have you ever noticed how satisfying it is
when your own personal routinesjust click? Like when you
develop that evening routinewhere you prep everything for
the next day, and then morningyou feels like you have gained a
superpower. Well, let's leaninto that. This week, pick one
routine in your personal lifethat's feeling a little chaotic
(17:37):
and apply the same anchoring,expanding and reinforcing
approach we talked about today.
Emily (17:42):
So maybe that'll be your after school routine, or your
Sunday meal prep, or even justhow you unwind in the evening.
Start with one solid step that'salready working and then build
from there.
Heidi (17:53):
And we did talk about teacher morning routines as part
of our morning routine deepdive. So the ones that focus on
teachers specifically areepisodes 93, which is your
getting out the door morningroutine, and episode 94 that's
like, once you get to schoolmorning routine. So definitely
check those out. And just likewith your students, give
yourself time to practice andadjust. Those neuronal pathways
(18:16):
need repetition at home, too.
Emily (18:17):
The best part is that when your personal routines are
running smoothly, you'll havemore mental energy for all of
the amazing teaching you want todo.
Heidi (18:23):
All right, to wrap up the show, we're sharing what we're
giving extra credit to thisweek. Emily, what gets your
extra credit?
Emily (18:31):
I'm giving us credit to the Good Hang podcast with Amy
Poehler. Have you listened tothis, Heidi?
Heidi (18:36):
I haven't. It keeps showing up in my feed, so I've
been meaning to, I just haven'thad a chance yet.
Emily (18:40):
Same, and I just barely started listening a couple days
ago, and it has exceeded myexpectations. I think Amy might
have been born to be apodcaster, not an actress. I
like her as an actress, too, tobe clear.
Heidi (18:52):
I keep getting ads for her master class on improv, and
she's so delightful. I keepthinking, do I need to take a
master class on improv? I don'twant to do improv, but she's so
fun.
Emily (19:03):
Be worth it to hang out with Amy. And usually I don't
care to watch video podcasts. Ijust want to listen to a
podcast. But I got fed one ofthese on YouTube, and I was
like, Oh, this is so fun. And sonow I just kind of have it on in
the corner while I'm working thelast few days, and it's been so
fun. And seriously, everyepisode is genuinely a good
hang. And one thing I love thatshe does is at the beginning of
(19:25):
each episode, she does a videochat with someone she knows who
also knows her guest for theepisode, and then they say good
things about the guests behindtheir backs.
Heidi (19:33):
That is so fun!
Emily (19:34):
It's so cute. So like, before she talked to Andy
Samberg, she called Seth Meyers,and they talked about him, and
like, how they got to know himand what they love about him.
And then Seth, like, gave her anidea for a joke to play on Andy.
And it was just fun. It was socute.
Heidi (19:50):
That's such a fun way to introduce a guest.
Emily (19:52):
I know, it just felt so, it's just wholesome and fun, and
it just makes me smile. So ifyou need a mood booster, check
out the Good Hang podcast.
Heidi (20:00):
Well, I'll definitely have to try that out, because
I'm going to be working forquite a while today.
Emily (20:04):
Yeah, pull it up. Start with the Adam Scott episode,
because you're a Parks andRec-er. So start with that one,
even though you haven't watchedSeverance, so you won't get all
the Severance talk, it's stillworth it to hear them talk about
Ben and Leslie is just so cute.
Heidi (20:19):
They're so good. I do love that. Okay, I'll definitely
have to check that out.
Emily (20:22):
Okay, let me know what you think. What's getting your
extra credit?
Heidi (20:25):
Well, I'm giving extra credit to the Lady Stacks
Ultimate Book Tracker.
Emily (20:30):
Ooh, it sounds fancy.
Heidi (20:31):
Now, I haven't been someone who keeps track of my
reading, because when I tried, Iwould get too caught up on how
much or how little I wasreading, and then it would start
to feel like a chore, or that Iwas being graded and I was
failing somehow. So I had tostop doing that. But I kept
seeing ads. I'm so susceptiblefor ads, apparently.
Emily (20:51):
Apparently.
Heidi (20:51):
But I kept getting ads for this digital reading
tracker. And 100% I have to say,I only bought it because I was
trying to figure out how thisperson, Lady Stacks, how she
managed to get the images towork well in Google Sheets,
because it's a whole, you get awhole little like library image,
but it's all in Google Sheets.And I have to say, I could not
(21:15):
figure it out, because thosetabs are locked.
Emily (21:17):
Oh, dang it.
Heidi (21:18):
But it turns out that it has been fun to play around with
just putting in my own reading.So what you do is you type your
book titles on one tab and thena little book is added to your
cute library picture on the nexttab.
Emily (21:30):
Oh, cute.
Heidi (21:31):
It's very satisfying. I love seeing my little library
grow, and there's lots of info,like page totals and graphs. I
haven't been on story graphbecause I know a lot of people
use that instead of good reads,so I think it might be similar
to that. But I don't know thatyou get to make a cute library
in story graphs.
Emily (21:46):
I bet not. And I the reason I haven't switched to
story graph is I don't thinkit's free, and I don't want to
pay.
Heidi (21:52):
Oh, that's annoying.
Emily (21:53):
Well, not, I'll pay for something. I just don't want to
pay continuously for a tool. Icould be wrong, though. The
people listening may be like,No, it's, you don't have to pay
for it. I have no idea. I shouldhave probably checked that
before I made that statement,but it sticks in my head that
that's why I didn't switch over,was like, Oh, I don't want to
pay for it.
Heidi (22:10):
That's good to know. Well, I did have to pay for the
book tracker, but it has beenfun. I thought, Oh, I could make
a new sheet for each year andhave my little library just
built up, so.
Emily (22:20):
That's so cute. I'm definitely gonna check it out. I
do use Goodreads, but thereisn't an easy, satisfying way
to, like, see everything you'veread. It's kind of utilitarian.
And I also get stressed out inGoodreads about the reviews,
because I feel I overthink thestars, because sometimes, well,
(22:40):
I really enjoyed this. So it'slike a four star, but really
it's the writing's not thatgreat, the story's not that
great. It's probably more like athree star, but I liked it. So,
you know, I just spend too mucheffort on that. Plus, I feel so
guilty ever giving anybody.
Heidi (22:52):
I know it's hard.
Emily (22:53):
Like, less than, yeah, I feel bad every time I give even
a three star. I'm like, Oh, I'msuch a jerk. So.
Heidi (22:59):
Well, now you can rate lowly in private. No one will
ever see it.
Emily (23:03):
There we go. Okay, I'll check it out.
Heidi (23:05):
And there's a link in the show notes if anyone else wants
to check it out.
That's it for today's episode.Remember our three steps for
connecting your individualprocedures into smooth running
classroom routines, and then youcan try out those same steps to
your own routines.
We hope you enjoyed this episodeof Teacher Approved. I'm Heidi.
Emily (23:26):
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 (23:33):
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 (23:39):
Bye.
This is episode 223 of Teacher Approved.
You're listening to TeacherApproved, the podcast helping
educators elevate what mattersand simplify the rest. I'm
Heidi.
We're so glad you're tuning in today. Let's get to
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 at secondstorywindow.net.
the show.
(00:34):
Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today's
episode, we are talking abouthow to turn your individual
procedures into routines thatactually stick, and sharing a
teacher approved tip forhandling your own routines.
Heidi (00:49):
Let's start with a try it tomorrow, where we share a quick
win to help you boost yourclassroom community. Emily, what
is our suggestion for this week?
Emily (00:56):
Well, if you haven't already, take a couple minutes
during your prep time today toset up a table to track positive
communication for each student.A simple way to do this is to
list students' names down theside and then have a column for
each month. Then it's easy tokeep track of which families
you've reached out to recently.Making communication with
families a positive experienceand not just something that
(01:18):
happens when there's trouble,can go a long way to
strengthening the school homepartnership. And I can vouch for
this from the parent side, thatI hate feeling like every time I
see an email from a teacher thatsomething must be wrong. So it
would be great if sometimes it'spositive communication as well.
Heidi (01:35):
Well, if you like this idea or anything else that we
share on the podcast, would youtake a second and give us a five
star rating? Ratings and reviewsare one way that new listeners
find us. So really, truly, everyrating and review is a huge help
to us.
Emily (01:48):
So if you've been listening for a while, you know
that we are big believers, thatalmost seems like an
understatement, huge fans ofstrong classroom procedures. We
have talked a lot about how todesign them, how to teach them,
using our tell try tally talkmethod, and how to course
correct when they slide.
Heidi (02:07):
But, this might be hard to believe, there is actually
one part of procedures that wehave never tackled. How do you
take all of those individualprocedures that you have been
working so hard to teach andlink them into routines that
your students can actuallyfollow? And today we're going to
tell you how to make thoseroutines stick without having to
turn into the nagging police.
Emily (02:28):
So think of a single procedure as one Lego brick. It
does what it needs to do, but ifyou want something that really
works for you, like a smoothmorning start, you need to snap
those bricks together.
Heidi (02:40):
I love that analogy, and that's perfect for your Lego
family.
Emily (02:43):
Yes.
Heidi (02:45):
A routine is a string of procedures in a set order that
is done so often that it runs onautopilot. The goal is that the
brain doesn't have to think. Itjust does.
Emily (02:55):
Think back to how you taught your individual
procedures. If you used our telltry tally talk method—are we
going to start calling that the4T method? Are we going to, I
don't know, but we'll stick withtell try tally talk. If you used
our method, you clearlyexplained the procedure and
modeled each step. You had yourstudents try it out with your
guidance, you tallied howeverything went and celebrated
(03:16):
progress, and then you talkedover what worked, what was
tricky, what practice wasneeded.
Heidi (03:20):
That method works beautifully for individual
procedures, but let's dive intohow to connect those procedures
into a seamless routine. Thistime we will use a three step
process of anchoring, expandingand reinforcing.
Emily (03:35):
Wait, but there's no alliteration in that one.
Heidi (03:37):
I feel like we're really letting the side down. It all
has an "ing," does that count?
Emily (03:41):
Okay. That is something, I guess. But you know we love a
process, so let's look at thefirst step in this new process,
which is anchoring. This iswhere you pick one solid
procedure that's already workingwell and use it as the
foundation for the wholeroutine. Think of this as the
core of your routine. It's theone thing that, when it's in
place makes everything elseeasier.
Heidi (04:03):
For a morning routine, this might be students unpacking
their backpacks correctly. Fortransitions, it could be having
students respond quickly to yourattention signal.
Emily (04:12):
So the key here is to choose something that's already
pretty solid. Don't try toanchor a routine to a procedure
that is still wobbly. You wantyour strongest procedure as your
foundation.
Heidi (04:22):
And here's where a lot of teachers get tripped up. They
try to teach the entire morningroutine as one giant procedure.
And I have done this myself, butlet me tell you friends, that's
like trying to swallow awatermelon whole.
Emily (04:36):
Oh, that sounds miserable. That's gonna end
badly. If your morning routineincludes coming into the
building, entering theclassroom, unpacking backpacks,
making lunch choices, gettingmaterials, starting morning
work, and knowing what to dowhile waiting for others, that
is not one procedure. That'slike seven procedures that have
to happen in sequence.
Heidi (04:56):
And when you look at it that way, it's no wonder that
your kids are having a hard timefollowing through. They just
can't master that many steps inone go. A good rule of thumb is
that if a procedure has morethan about five steps or so,
give or take, it's time to breakit down. The smaller you can
make each task, the more deeplystudents can internalize it.
Emily (05:17):
And when they're shorter, they're faster to teach too. So
that's just a little win. Okay,so identify the Keystone
procedure in each routine and goall in on making it run like
clockwork. That is the firststep. Then you can start
expanding. This means adding thenext logical step in the
sequence.
Heidi (05:35):
If unpacking backpacks is your anchor to your morning
routine, the next step might bemaking your lunch choice without
having to be reminded. That usedto kill me every day. How many
days are we in school? Anyway,you want that to be automatic,
and then you would teach thatprocedure separately, right?
Tell try tally talk, until it'ssolid.
Emily (05:54):
Then you'd start connecting them in your
student's mind. The studentsalready know how to do each
piece, but you're helping themsee how it all flows together.
So first unpack your backpackusing our five steps, then make
your lunch choice using ourthree steps.
Heidi (06:09):
Keep expanding one procedure at a time until you
have built the full routine. Youknow, plan on this taking at
least two weeks. That is totallynormal, and it's to be expected.
Emily (06:19):
If things start to fall apart as you're connecting
procedures, pull back for aminute and try to pinpoint the
issue, instead of plowing ahead,because you want this all done
and out of your hair.
Heidi (06:30):
Oh, yes, figuring out a problem now will save you from
having to deal with it for ninemore months.
And that brings us to the finalstep, which is reinforcing. This
is where the magic happens,because this is when your
routine moves from something wedo because the teacher told us
to, to something we just do.
Emily (06:48):
This is the point where your routine will either take
off or fizzle out. The goal isto train your students brains to
run this sequence without youprompting them every step of the
way, and that only happens withintentional, repeated
reinforcement.
Heidi (07:02):
Think of it like teaching kids to tie their shoes. If
you've ever lived through that,you don't just show them once
and then expect them to do itperfectly every time. You have
to practice a lot.
Emily (07:13):
Yep, and it's going to take a lot of practice with your
routines too. But that doesn'tmean it has to be drudgery. Have
some fun with it. You could setup a bingo board or a tic tac
toe board with all of thedifferent procedures that make
up your dismissal routine. Everytime they complete one part of
the routine without needinginstructions from you, they get
to cross off a square. If theyget a bingo or a tic tac toe,
(07:34):
they get a small reward, andwhen the whole board is full,
they get a larger reward.
Heidi (07:39):
Yeah, we want to make sure that practice doesn't start
feeling like a punishment.Another thing that I like to do
with my students was to timethem. I would say something
like, okay, yesterday, it tooktwo minutes and 28 seconds for
everyone to get their notebooksput away and come to the rug. I
think we can do it faster. Canwe do it in two minutes? Kids
love racing. And the nice thingabout this is that it can
(08:00):
motivate them to kind of pusheach other to move more quickly,
so you're not the one having to,you know, nudge them along.
Let's let that positive peerpressure work in your favor.
Emily (08:11):
If you are doing whole class rewards for practicing
routines or anything else, don'tlet a few kids ruin it for
everyone. If you've got one ortwo little ones with some
special behavior challenges,like maybe they'll go slow on
purpose, just because everyoneelse wants them to hurry, then
you can just kind of take themout of the equation.
Heidi (08:27):
Right. If all but your two most challenging darlings
are at the carpet, count that asa win. Way to hustle, everyone,
you made it to the carpet in oneminute and 58 seconds. And then
when someone raises their handto point out that Dimitri still
isn't at the carpet, just makeit a non issue. You know what,
you worry about you and I willworry about Dimitri.
Emily (08:47):
Yeah, especially because getting attention for it is
probably exactly what Dimitriwants. And it's just a good
reminder that most of ourmanagement plans will work for
most of our kids most of thetime. So put your focus there.
You can set up a personalizedplan for Dimitri at a different
time, but it will only makethings worse if we turn him into
the class scapegoat. That's notgood for anyone.
Heidi (09:09):
And besides making routine practice fun, you can
also reinforce your expectationsby turning it over to the
students. Try assigning helpersfor routine checks. Have a
materials monitor who remindsclassmates about getting their
pencils, or a line leader whomodels proper hallway behavior.
Emily (09:25):
That's nice, because then you're not having to oversee
everything that happens. Andwhen routines start to slide,
because they will, especiallyafter a long weekend or a
holiday, go back to practicingthem just like a sports team
runs drills.
Heidi (09:39):
Don't feel like you have failed if you need to reteach a
routine. This is somethinghonestly that I struggled with.
I used to see this as a failureas a teacher, but it is just a
predictable part of dealing withkids. They need repetition, and
sometimes you need to refreshthose neural pathways to get
everyone back on track.
Emily (09:58):
Now you likely have dozens of routines needed to
make your classroom run, butit's important that you're
putting a lot of time and energyinto streamlining what we call
the core four, and these are theroutines that truly make or
break your school day.
Heidi (10:11):
And if you have taught before, you can probably guess
what these are, but they are acalm morning start, orderly
hallway movement, controlledtransitions, and efficient end
of day routines. If you canmaster these four, everything
else in your day becomes so mucheasier.
Emily (10:28):
So let's walk through what it looks like to anchor,
expand and reinforce our corefour routines. And we'll kick
things off with a calm morningstart.
Heidi (10:36):
For your morning routine, your anchor might be getting the
backpack procedure down. Oncethat's solid, you expand it with
lunch choice, then gettingmaterials, then starting morning
work. Each step gets taught andpracticed separately before you
try to link them.
Emily (10:50):
When it comes to reinforcing your morning
routine, visual supports areyour best friend. Post the steps
of each routine where studentscan reference them, or where you
can send students to check ifthey've forgotten something.
Heidi (11:02):
Yeah, you definitely want to outsource the work of keeping
kids on track as much aspossible. So let a display help
you out. You could make a chartor project slides each morning
with the steps that you wantstudents to follow. I was very
analog. I used sentence stripsand magnets to put them on my
board because I didn't want tohave to write it out every day.
Emily (11:20):
Yep, I did the same thing, and it definitely does
not need to be fancy. So justmake sure you're posting them
where kids can see them everysingle day, even in the middle
of May, and that they're goingto know exactly where to look
each time. It's always going tobe in the same place.
Heidi (11:34):
And if they ask you what they're supposed to be doing,
point them to the display, sothey get in the habit of
checking that instead of turningto you for the answers.
Emily (11:42):
Exactly.
Heidi (11:42):
Morning routines have to run without much teacher input
because you're busy handlingyour own routine of getting the
day started. Those posted stepsgive kids a way to stay on track
without needing you to promptevery single thing.
Emily (11:56):
If you want a deeper dive, maybe the deepest of
dives, on morning routines,check out our three part Morning
Routine series, which is inepisodes 93, 94 and 95 where we
talk about how to set up yourown morning routines, as well as
your students.
Heidi (12:13):
For the next in our core four routines is hallway
movement, and you might anchorthis one with the signal to line
up. Then you can expand towalking without talking, then
how to walk while you'recarrying supplies, and then what
to do when you arrive at yourdestination.
Emily (12:27):
Reinforcing your hallway routine can be a lot of fun. So
try announcing that you'vechosen a mystery walker. If this
student remembers yourprocedures as you travel to your
destination, they'll get aprize, and it's easier to watch
this if you like our strategyfor walking at the back of your
class instead of at the front.
Heidi (12:44):
That does make it simpler, or you can get real
good at walking backwards.
Emily (12:47):
Yes, you know, both are good skills to have.
Heidi (12:49):
The prize for the mystery walker can be as simple as a
high five or a sticker. It's themystery of it all, not the prize
that is going to be mostinfluential on getting your
students to meet yourexpectations. And another fun
idea is called line freeze.Ashley from Rainbow Skies for
Teachers, shared this with usback in episode 120.
Emily (13:10):
Oh, and you should definitely go back and listen to
that so you can hear it in herdelightful Australian accent.
But basically it's a bit likered light, green light. You lead
your line down the hall normallyat the front of the line, but
every once in a while, you fliparound and look at the kids.
Their goal is to freeze in placeas soon as you turn.
Heidi (13:27):
That is a really fun game, and it's perfect for the
hallway because it can be donesilently. Ashley says that she
has done it with kids fromkindergarten to sixth grade, and
that they all enjoy it. So givethat one a try if you want to
add a little whimsy to yourhallway routine.
Emily (13:40):
And go back to check out episode 89 if you want even more
hallway tips.
But for now, let's look at howto handle your transition
routines. A good place to starthere is by anchoring your
attention signal. When that'ssolid, expand into listening for
all the directions before theystart moving, cleaning up
workspaces, then gettingmaterials for the next activity,
(14:01):
and then transitioning to thenew location quickly.
Heidi (14:04):
And we did another three part deep, deep dive in episodes
48, 49 and 50. This one happenedto be on transitions this time
because, as you may havenoticed, they are tricky, and
they can eat up a lot of yourlearning time. So revisit those
episodes, and also check outepisode 160 if you want tips for
our final core routine,dismissal.
Emily (14:26):
This one is hard because you are so tired by this point
in the day. So do what you canto automate this routine as much
as possible. You could anchor itwith your procedure for tidying
up desks, then expand to gettingtake home materials, then
packing backpacks and thengetting ready for dismissal.
Heidi (14:43):
The end of the day is a great time to add in some
student ownership asreinforcement. Besides regular
class jobs like sharpeningpencils, you can assign students
to hand out papers, pass outlunch boxes, check that everyone
cleaned under their desk, andreally, anything else that the
kids are capable of doing, makethem do it.
Emily (15:00):
For sure, don't take it on yourself to do all of the
work. And the beauty of thisapproach is that once these
routines are solid, yourclassroom really does start to
run like clockwork.
Heidi (15:09):
Now this does take a lot of time and energy and
intention. I want to be clearabout that, because we know how
much work this is, but wepromise solid routines are worth
it, even if they're not yourfavorite thing to teach.
Emily (15:23):
I know, no one goes into teaching because they love
procedures. Although maybe wedo. Do we? We talk about them a
lot, maybe we do.
Heidi (15:30):
I didn't start out loving procedures, like, I got there
once I saw what they could dofor me.
Emily (15:31):
That's I was gonna say. I think we love procedures because
we love what they give you as ateacher. And obviously, no
student says their favorite partof school is your efficient
dismissal routine.
Heidi (15:44):
But it would be nice if they pointed that out. But it's
procedures and the routines thatthey create that are going to
make the good parts of teaching,the stuff you like, possible.
They enable you to be the kindof teacher you want to be.
They're what create consistencyso students feel safe and know
what to expect. They preventproblems by minimizing
opportunities for kids to testyour limits, and they free you
(16:07):
up to focus on your studentsinstead of logistics.
Emily (16:10):
So let's wrap up with a quick recap of how to turn
procedures into routines thatstick. First, anchor your
routine to one solid procedurethat's already working well,
then expand by adding oneprocedure at a time until you've
built the full sequence.Finally, reinforce the routine
as a whole, not just theindividual steps.
Heidi (16:30):
Focus on your core four routines—morning start, hallway
movement, classroom transitions,and end of day. These make or
break your classroom flow. Solook for opportunities to
reinforce your expectations, sostudents will want to meet them.
Emily (16:45):
And remember that this will take time. Plan on at least
two weeks for the basicstructures to stick, but there
will still be a period ofwatching and reinforcing before
it becomes truly automatic.
Heidi (16:56):
And we would love to hear how you're building routines
this year. Come join theconversation in our Teacher
Approved Facebook group.
Emily (17:04):
Now for our Teacher Approved Tip of the Week, where
we share an actionable tip tohelp you elevate what matters
and simplify the rest. Thisweek's teacher approved tip is
to create your own routines. Sotell us about this, Heidi.
Heidi (17:16):
Well, have you ever noticed how satisfying it is
when your own personal routinesjust click? Like when you
develop that evening routinewhere you prep everything for
the next day, and then morningyou feels like you have gained a
superpower. Well, let's leaninto that. This week, pick one
routine in your personal lifethat's feeling a little chaotic
(17:37):
and apply the same anchoring,expanding and reinforcing
approach we talked about today.
Emily (17:42):
So maybe that'll be your after school routine, or your
Sunday meal prep, or even justhow you unwind in the evening.
Start with one solid step that'salready working and then build
from there.
Heidi (17:53):
And we did talk about teacher morning routines as part
of our morning routine deepdive. So the ones that focus on
teachers specifically areepisodes 93, which is your
getting out the door morningroutine, and episode 94 that's
like, once you get to schoolmorning routine. So definitely
check those out. And just likewith your students, give
yourself time to practice andadjust. Those neuronal pathways
(18:16):
need repetition at home, too.
Emily (18:17):
The best part is that when your personal routines are
running smoothly, you'll havemore mental energy for all of
the amazing teaching you want todo.
Heidi (18:23):
All right, to wrap up the show, we're sharing what we're
giving extra credit to thisweek. Emily, what gets your
extra credit?
Emily (18:31):
I'm giving us credit to the Good Hang podcast with Amy
Poehler. Have you listened tothis, Heidi?
Heidi (18:36):
I haven't. It keeps showing up in my feed, so I've
been meaning to, I just haven'thad a chance yet.
Emily (18:40):
Same, and I just barely started listening a couple days
ago, and it has exceeded myexpectations. I think Amy might
have been born to be apodcaster, not an actress. I
like her as an actress, too, tobe clear.
Heidi (18:52):
I keep getting ads for her master class on improv, and
she's so delightful. I keepthinking, do I need to take a
master class on improv? I don'twant to do improv, but she's so
fun.
Emily (19:03):
Be worth it to hang out with Amy. And usually I don't
care to watch video podcasts. Ijust want to listen to a
podcast. But I got fed one ofthese on YouTube, and I was
like, Oh, this is so fun. And sonow I just kind of have it on in
the corner while I'm working thelast few days, and it's been so
fun. And seriously, everyepisode is genuinely a good
hang. And one thing I love thatshe does is at the beginning of
(19:25):
each episode, she does a videochat with someone she knows who
also knows her guest for theepisode, and then they say good
things about the guests behindtheir backs.
Heidi (19:33):
That is so fun!
Emily (19:34):
It's so cute. So like, before she talked to Andy
Samberg, she called Seth Meyers,and they talked about him, and
like, how they got to know himand what they love about him.
And then Seth, like, gave her anidea for a joke to play on Andy.
And it was just fun. It was socute.
Heidi (19:50):
That's such a fun way to introduce a guest.
Emily (19:52):
I know, it just felt so, it's just wholesome and fun, and
it just makes me smile. So ifyou need a mood booster, check
out the Good Hang podcast.
Heidi (20:00):
Well, I'll definitely have to try that out, because
I'm going to be working forquite a while today.
Emily (20:04):
Yeah, pull it up. Start with the Adam Scott episode,
because you're a Parks andRec-er. So start with that one,
even though you haven't watchedSeverance, so you won't get all
the Severance talk, it's stillworth it to hear them talk about
Ben and Leslie is just so cute.
Heidi (20:19):
They're so good. I do love that. Okay, I'll definitely
have to check that out.
Emily (20:22):
Okay, let me know what you think. What's getting your
extra credit?
Heidi (20:25):
Well, I'm giving extra credit to the Lady Stacks
Ultimate Book Tracker.
Emily (20:30):
Ooh, it sounds fancy.
Heidi (20:31):
Now, I haven't been someone who keeps track of my
reading, because when I tried, Iwould get too caught up on how
much or how little I wasreading, and then it would start
to feel like a chore, or that Iwas being graded and I was
failing somehow. So I had tostop doing that. But I kept
seeing ads. I'm so susceptiblefor ads, apparently.
Emily (20:51):
Apparently.
Heidi (20:51):
But I kept getting ads for this digital reading
tracker. And 100% I have to say,I only bought it because I was
trying to figure out how thisperson, Lady Stacks, how she
managed to get the images towork well in Google Sheets,
because it's a whole, you get awhole little like library image,
but it's all in Google Sheets.And I have to say, I could not
(21:15):
figure it out, because thosetabs are locked.
Emily (21:17):
Oh, dang it.
Heidi (21:18):
But it turns out that it has been fun to play around with
just putting in my own reading.So what you do is you type your
book titles on one tab and thena little book is added to your
cute library picture on the nexttab.
Emily (21:30):
Oh, cute.
Heidi (21:31):
It's very satisfying. I love seeing my little library
grow, and there's lots of info,like page totals and graphs. I
haven't been on story graphbecause I know a lot of people
use that instead of good reads,so I think it might be similar
to that. But I don't know thatyou get to make a cute library
in story graphs.
Emily (21:46):
I bet not. And I the reason I haven't switched to
story graph is I don't thinkit's free, and I don't want to
pay.
Heidi (21:52):
Oh, that's annoying.
Emily (21:53):
Well, not, I'll pay for something. I just don't want to
pay continuously for a tool. Icould be wrong, though. The
people listening may be like,No, it's, you don't have to pay
for it. I have no idea. I shouldhave probably checked that
before I made that statement,but it sticks in my head that
that's why I didn't switch over,was like, Oh, I don't want to
pay for it.
Heidi (22:10):
That's good to know. Well, I did have to pay for the
book tracker, but it has beenfun. I thought, Oh, I could make
a new sheet for each year andhave my little library just
built up, so.
Emily (22:20):
That's so cute. I'm definitely gonna check it out. I
do use Goodreads, but thereisn't an easy, satisfying way
to, like, see everything you'veread. It's kind of utilitarian.
And I also get stressed out inGoodreads about the reviews,
because I feel I overthink thestars, because sometimes, well,
(22:40):
I really enjoyed this. So it'slike a four star, but really
it's the writing's not thatgreat, the story's not that
great. It's probably more like athree star, but I liked it. So,
you know, I just spend too mucheffort on that. Plus, I feel so
guilty ever giving anybody.
Heidi (22:52):
I know it's hard.
Emily (22:53):
Like, less than, yeah, I feel bad every time I give even
a three star. I'm like, Oh, I'msuch a jerk. So.
Heidi (22:59):
Well, now you can rate lowly in private. No one will
ever see it.
Emily (23:03):
There we go. Okay, I'll check it out.
Heidi (23:05):
And there's a link in the show notes if anyone else wants
to check it out.
That's it for today's episode.Remember our three steps for
connecting your individualprocedures into smooth running
classroom routines, and then youcan try out those same steps to
your own routines.
We hope you enjoyed this episodeof Teacher Approved. I'm Heidi.
Emily (23:26):
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 (23:33):
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 (23:39):
Bye.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com