234. How to Plan Teaching in December So January Feels Easy

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Heidi (00:00):
This is episode 234 of Teacher Approved.
You're listening to TeacherApproved, the podcast helping
educators elevate what mattersand simplify the rest. I'm
Heidi.

Emily (00:14):
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 (00:35):
Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today's
episode, we're laying out a planfor how to stay on top of your
December essentials and stillfind time to prep for January,
and we're sharing all of ourbest tips for work packet
success.

Heidi (00:48):
But let's start with a try it tomorrow, where we share
a quick win that you can try inyour classroom right away. So
Emily, what do we have thisweek?

Emily (00:55):
Tomorrow, invite your students to write a quick thank
you note. It can be to aclassmate, another teacher, a
school staff member, or even tothemselves.

Heidi (01:05):
I love that. You can keep it simple. You know, just fold
up a piece of paper and let themwrite one or two sentences. The
act of showing appreciationhelps kids slow down, reflect
and connect with others.

Emily (01:17):
It's such a great way to infuse a little more gratitude
into the day. And bonus, it onlytakes two minutes.

Heidi (01:22):
If you like this idea or anything else we share here on
the podcast, would you take asecond and give us a five star
rating? Ratings and reviews areone way that new listeners find
us, so every one is actually ahuge help to us.

Emily (01:34):
December in the classroom is a strange mix of joy and
chaos. On one hand, there's somuch to love about this time of
year, the excitement, thetraditions, the sparkle in the
kids eyes. Being a teacher inDecember can be so much fun.

Heidi (01:49):
But on the other hand, you're juggling performances,
assemblies, half days, absences,and a level of collective energy
that makes you wonder if someonefilled the water fountain with
Red Bull.

Emily (02:01):
In the past, maybe you've tried white knuckling your way
through lessons while half theclass is absent and the other
half is bouncing off the walls,or maybe you just gave up
entirely.

Heidi (02:10):
But there is a smarter way to approach December, one
that keeps students engaged,protects your sanity and
actually set you up for aneasier January.

Emily (02:19):
That's what we're talking about today, how to plan content
that works with the realities ofteaching children in December.

Heidi (02:26):
So if you joined us last week, you'll remember that we
shared the smooth Decemberframework to help you get ready
for January. Instead of tryingto prep it all, focus on four

specific things (02:34):
your pockets of prep, your classroom reset plan,
your student engagement hook,and your teacher comfort plan.

Emily (02:41):
If you missed that episode, definitely go back and
check it out, because it laysthe groundwork for what we'll be
diving into today. Now thatyou've identified your pockets
of prep, we'll make a plan forusing them to tackle your
December tasks.

Heidi (02:54):
And planning December starts with an important
decision. When are you going tostop teaching new content? We
call this, cleverly enough, yourstop new content date, and it's
basically what it sounds like.It's the last day that you'll
introduce anything new to yourstudents before winter break.

Emily (03:12):
Despite what your pacing guide may say, at some point in
December, teaching new contentreally just stops being
productive because kids are toodistracted and the absences are
too frequent.

Heidi (03:23):
And then you end up reteaching everything in January
anyway, which means you aren'tactually saving time by pushing
through. You're just creatingmore work for yourself.

Emily (03:30):
So how do you figure out when that stopping point should
be? A good rule of thumb is toplan to stop teaching new
content about two to four schooldays before your winter break
starts.

Heidi (03:41):
Now to figure out your specific day, ask yourself a few
questions. First, what is yourlast full week of school? That's
probably when you want to wrapup any new units.

Emily (03:50):
Second, when do interruptions start piling up?
If you've got concerts,assemblies or parties scheduled,
those are likely to eat up a lotof your instructional time.

Heidi (03:59):
And third, which units absolutely must be finished
before break? You might have toteach double math lessons for a
day or two so that you're notstarting January already behind,
but that is doable.

Emily (04:09):
So take a look at what has to happen before the end of
the month, and work backwardsfrom there. Then choose your
official stop teaching newcontent date and write it in
your planner. Circle it and makeit official.

Heidi (04:22):
That's the finish line. Everything before that date,
you're covering your regularcontent. Everything after that
date, you are in a differentmode.

Emily (04:31):
And that shift is where the magic happens, because once
you're past that date, your goalisn't to teach new material,
it's to reinforce, review, andreset.

Heidi (04:40):
This time of year, your schedule is as full of
interruptions as Swiss cheese isfull of holes, and that's why we
call these Swiss cheese weeks.

Emily (04:47):
We did have a cute name for that. Those are the weeks
where there's a regular day ofschool planned, but the day is
anything but regular.

Heidi (04:56):
And you know that makes planning really tricky. You
can't pretend it's business asusual, but you also can't just
throw everything out the window.

Emily (05:03):
Because you just aren't going to have the same amount of
instructional time that younormally do, you need a clear
picture of what's essential.Take a look at your pacing
guide, your scope and sequence,and anything else that informs
your planning. What contentabsolutely has to be covered
before you start winter break?

Heidi (05:18):
These are your must do's. This is what has to be done
before you hit your stop newcontent date. When time gets
short or your kids aredistracted, focus on the must
do's and be flexible witheverything else. Knowing what
you absolutely have to coverhelps you recognize where you
can make a cut without gettingcompletely behind.

Emily (05:37):
Of course, no matter how well you plan, the day can still
go off the rails if studentbehavior does too. So next week
we will talk about how to keepexpectations alive and your
classroom running smoothly allthe way to break.

Heidi (05:49):
Okay, are you with us so far? You have now identified
your stop new content date,you've got a strategy for
covering essential content. Andnow the big question, what do
you actually do during thoselast few days before break if
you're not going to teach anynew content?

Emily (06:03):
So those days are for review, reflection, and reset.
Plan as many independentactivities as your students can
handle, and look for ways tolimit how much time you have to
spend teaching whole group orsmall group lessons.

Heidi (06:17):
Obviously, this is not a long term plan. Your students do
need lessons, but two daysbefore a break, is another math
lesson really gonna make thedifference in their achievement
this year?

Emily (06:28):
No, I think not. In fact, it may make things harder,
because your class will bechecked out, and trying to force
them to focus will lead toresistance and behavior problems
and resentment and reteachinglater, all the stuff they didn't
absorb. So adopt a Plan Bschedule and make everyone's
life happier.

Heidi (06:44):
Now, to be clear, this is not about time filler. You're
not wasting learningopportunities. You're just
restructuring how that learninghappens. Think review
worksheets, games, digitalpractice or educational videos.
This is the time to revisiteverything that you have covered
in the last four months.

Emily (07:01):
One of my favorite meaningful time fillers was
setting up stations and havingkids rotate through all the math
games that they had learned thisyear. It got kids moving, it
gave them a chance to review,and I got to sneak in a little
pocket of prep for my own tasks.

Heidi (07:14):
You can also use these post new content days to refresh
procedures. By December, some ofyour routines have probably
gotten a little sloppy. Tightenthese up now so that you can hit
the ground running when youreturn in January.

Emily (07:26):
Also consider if you want to reset your class jobs,
reorganize your classroomlibrary, or have kids clean out
their desks, because future youwill be so grateful to walk into
a tidy, organized classroom inJanuary.

Heidi (07:38):
And you know, our favorite thing is helping out a
future you. And in yourplanning, don't forget some
joyful structure. These areactivities that feel festive and
special, but they are stillstructured and calm. Work
packets are one of our favoriteforms of joyful structure, and
we will talk about those in ourteacher approved tip, but also
consider seasonal read alouds,kindness challenges or simple

(08:00):
art projects.

Emily (08:02):
The goal is to sprinkle in some seasonal spark while
still keeping the structure highand preventing overwhelm.

Heidi (08:08):
Okay, let's pull everything together so you know
exactly what to do next. Stepone, identify your stop, new
content date and put it on thecalendar. That's your finish
line. Everything before thatdate is new learning. Everything
after that date is for review,reflection, and reset.

Emily (08:26):
Step two, figure out your December must do's. These are
the lessons and assessments youabsolutely need to finish before
that date.

Heidi (08:33):
Inside the December teacher survival kit, there are
two pages to help you with this.One is the December content to
cover page, and that's where youlist all of the lessons,
activities and assessments thatyou would like to teach. And
then, based on that list, youcreate your must do's and could
do's page.

Emily (08:50):
That step alone is a game changer, because it helps you
see what really matters and whatcan wait until January.

Heidi (08:55):
Step three is to make a list of meaningful activities
for those post content days.Think review, projects, or calm
seasonal activities that yourstudents can do independently.
And there's a page for this inthe survival kit too. It's
organized by categories likereview, learning games and
videos, so that you can gatherall of your ideas in one place.

Emily (09:16):
In these last few days before the break, plan as many
independent activities as yourstudents can handle. This is how
you get ahead without adding toyour stress. While your students
are busy doing their independentwork, you've created a little
pocket of prep time where youcan tackle your independent
work, meaning all the tasks ittakes to wrap up December and
plan the start of January.

Heidi (09:36):
Step four is to make a master list of all of the tasks
needed to plan and prepare yourDecember content, your
meaningful time fillers, and thefirst few days back in January.
The list will be long, but don'tworry, our next step is our
secret weapon. Step five is touse your pockets of prep
planner.

Emily (09:55):
This is the key to the whole system, and here's why.
The pockets of prep plannerhelps you match every task to
your situation. It's organizedaround where you are working:
digital tasks, classroom tasks,workroom tasks, and by how much
time and energy you have.

Heidi (10:11):
Now, obviously you could do this with just a piece of
paper if you don't have thesurvival kit, but the survival
kit has cool drop down menus soyou can quickly tag each task
based on priority and the effortthat it requires to complete.

Emily (10:25):
Yeah, it's a pain to fill it out, but this sheet is the
most teacher approved of all ourteacher approved tips. We cannot
overstate how helpful this is.Let's say your students are
watching a short video. You'vegot 15 minutes, you're in your
classroom and you're running onlow energy. You open your list
and see create January welcomeslides. Boom, that's the perfect
15 minute low energy classroombased task for that moment.

Heidi (10:48):
Without that list, you're going to be spending your
limited pocket of prep thinking,oh, what should I do now? But
this way, you can just look atyour list. You can see exactly
what fits the moment. Nodecision fatigue, no wasted
minutes and no wondering what'simportant. You just pick, do,
and move on.

Emily (11:04):
And truly, those small moments add up. A 10 minute
pocket here, a 15 minute pocketthere, that's how you're going
to make real progress withoutworking nights or weekends or
winter break.

Heidi (11:14):
Yes. So let's recap. Step one, pick your stop new content
date. Step two, decide yourDecember must do's. Step three,
plan meaningful time fillers.Step four, make your December to
do list. Step five, plug thosetasks into your pockets of prep
planner.

Emily (11:33):
Follow these steps and you will walk out in December
knowing that everything forJanuary is ready to go, and that
winter break actually gets to bea stress free break.

Heidi (11:43):
So now you've got a full plan for how to get through
December with your sanityintact. But before we wrap up,
we want to leave you with onefinal reminder. The reason that
all of this matters.

Emily (11:53):
This isn't just about checklists and planners. It's
about protecting your futureself. As you're planning your
December, keep in mind whatfuture you needs. What would
make walking into your classroomin January feel calm instead of
chaotic?

Heidi (12:06):
Maybe it's having a stack of January materials already
copied and waiting in thatJanuary ready bin that you
prepared last week. Maybe it'smaking sure all of the December
decorations are taken downbefore you leave. Or maybe it's
clearing the stack of papers onyour counter so your room feels
fresh and organized.

Emily (12:22):
Use those last few days strategically. While kids are
working on their goal settingactivity, you're gathering books
for your next read aloud. Whilethey're doing a work packet,
you're setting up your Januarymath slides.

Heidi (12:32):
Small bits of prep now save you so much stress later.
Future You deserves to walk intoJanuary feeling ready, not
behind.

Emily (12:40):
We'd love to hear how you're preparing for teaching in
December. Come join theconversation in our Teacher
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 prepare
some work packets. Tell us aboutit, Heidi.

Heidi (12:59):
A work packet is exactly what it sounds like, a
collection of worksheets stapledtogether, but the magic is in
how you put it together and howyou present it to your class.

Emily (13:10):
And look, I can hear some eye rolls out there.

Heidi (13:12):
That's a skill.

Emily (13:14):
This is our unpopular opinion. Work packets are not
all wrong, and they may soundlike boring, busy work. But hear
us out, because when you do themright, kids genuinely love them.

Heidi (13:25):
And we're not exaggerating, they do get
excited.

Emily (13:27):
Yes.

Heidi (13:28):
So let's start with what goes in a work packet. The focus
should be on reviewing academiccontent, but you want to
sprinkle in a few just for funpages to keep the kids engaged.
A packet can be any size, but wehave found that 12 page packets
are really ideal. So you wouldmaybe have four pages of festive
math review, four pages oflanguage arts review and four

(13:50):
pages of fun.

Emily (13:51):
That amount of work easily keeps students busy for
90 minutes to two hours. But,and this is the important part,
don't try to do it all in onesitting. The first work session
can be longer because theinterest is really high. So you
could maybe do 30 to 40 minutesin one go. But after that, 20
minute stretches are about aslong as kids can manage before
they need a break.

Heidi (14:11):
And the longer you're doing a packet, you might need
to, like, make those stretches alittle bit shorter.

Emily (14:15):
Yeah.

Heidi (14:16):
So here's how this might look in your day. After your
morning routine, you introducethe work packet, and you give
kids 30 or 35 minutes to work onit, and then you know, you take
a break for recess.

Emily (14:26):
When they come back, you could do another 15 minutes of
work. And then you do somethingdifferent, a video, a read
aloud, a movement break, andthen later in the day, you give
them another 20 minutes to keepworking on their packets.

Heidi (14:38):
Now let's talk about how to make your work packet feel
special instead of like apunishment. First try organizing
it around a theme. It could besomething as broad as winter or
December, or something morespecific, like gingerbread or
penguins.

Emily (14:51):
The content on each page doesn't have to be about the
theme. You could have a page oftwo digit subtraction practice,
but if there's a snowman graphicon the page, it feels festive
and fun.

Heidi (15:01):
Yeah, clip art makes it all exciting. Besides giving it
a theme, mix up the content.Alternate between math, language
arts and fun pages so that itdoesn't feel like a workbook.

Emily (15:11):
And third, leverage the power of choice. When you
introduce the packet to yourclass, make a big deal about
this. You get to decide whatorder you work in. You can start
wherever you want and do thepages in any order.

Heidi (15:22):
Kids feel so much more invested when they have control
over their work. That simplechoice transforms this whole
experience.

Emily (15:30):
Now, if there is a specific page you need everyone
to complete, like, maybe youwant to use one page for a
grade, you can include that inthe directions, like everyone
needs to do the multiplicationpractice on page three. But
after that, you can do the pagesin any order.

Heidi (15:44):
And here is our copy saving tip. Reduce your master
pages to 50% and then copy twoactivities onto one page. Now,
if you run those copies doublesided, you can fit four
activities onto a single sheetof paper.

Emily (15:58):
And obviously that does reduce the amount of room for
writing, and we've done thissuccessfully with students as
young as second grade, but ifyou teach first grade or
kindergarten, you might want totest out the reduced page size
first. In second grade, I feellike some of them enjoy the
challenge of having to write inthese tiny little spaces.

Heidi (16:17):
The beauty of work packets is that they are
engaging for students, and theygive you time to work. While
your class is quietly reviewingtwo digit addition and solving
winter themed word searches, youcan be preparing materials for
January, organizing yourclassroom and tackling anything
else on that pockets of preplist.

Emily (16:35):
It's a total win win. Students are doing meaningful
review work, and you're gettingahead instead of falling behind.
So if you're looking for asimple, low stress way to fill
some of that post content timein December, give work packets a
try. Your students mightsurprise you with how much they
enjoy them.
To wrap up the show, we'resharing what we're giving extra
credit to this week. Emily, whatget your extra credit?
I'm giving extra credit to thecoconut milk bath soak from

(16:59):
Herbivore.

Heidi (16:59):
Okay.

Emily (17:00):
Listen, this stuff is not cheap. In fact, I've had two
jars of this for years that I'vebeen hoarding because it's too
special. I didn't want to justuse it on any old bath. But I
finally decided that was stupid,because they were literally
getting dusty. I'm like, I'mgoing to use them. I'm just
going to use them. And then Ifigured I'd use it up, and then
forget all about it. But the badnews is that it actually is

(17:21):
amazing, and now I want to buymore. But it smells incredible
and it makes your skin feel sosoft. So put this on a splurge
list for yourself, or a reallynice gift for a bath loving
friend. And I just saw it's on alightning deal on Amazon, so I'm
gonna have to go grab a couplemore jars.

Heidi (17:38):
Yeah, that's a good idea. And think about how you might
want to pamper yourself duringwinter break. Everyone deserves
a long, luxurious bath, so mightwant to grab those.

Emily (17:47):
That's why I'm sharing it right now. I figured it would be
good for self care or a reallygood gift idea.

Heidi (17:51):
Perfect.

Emily (17:52):
Check it out. Link's in the show notes. What are you
giving extra credit to, Heidi?

Heidi (17:56):
I guess this is self care, but it's much less
exciting. I'm giving extracredit to the Nexcare max hold
waterproof bandages.

Emily (18:05):
Ooh, la, la.

Heidi (18:05):
And that's a mouthful to say. I will put a link to them
in the show notes. But if youare at the store and you're
looking at the all of thebandages, these ones have black
writing on the front of the boxthat says max hold. And they
definitely live up to the name.It says they hold for up to 48
hours, but literally, after 48hours, I had to get out my

(18:26):
sharpest little craft scissorsand do Band Aid surgery to get
it off. Like I just couldn'tpeel up any of the edges. They
were too secure. But the thingis, this hasn't given me any
kind of allergic reaction that Inormally get from wearing band
aids for a long time. And Iactually did try switching over
to regular band aids, and by theend of the day, half my leg was
covered in hives, so.

Emily (18:44):
It's the worst.

Heidi (18:45):
If you have a need for waterproof band aids, definitely
grab a box of bees. I have beenvery impressed.

Emily (18:51):
Well, I'll have to add them to the stash.

Heidi (18:55):
That is it for today's episode. Figure out your stop
new content date and workbackwards from there. You have
got this.
We hope you enjoyed this episodeof Teacher Approved. I'm Heidi.

Emily (19:08):
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 (19:15):
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 (19:21):
Bye.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

The Burden

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}234. How to Plan Teaching in December So January Feels Easy

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

The Burden

All Episodes

234. How to Plan Teaching in December So January Feels Easy

Stuff You Should Know