July 15, 2025 • 33 mins
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Social media has never been my favorite part of business. Like many of you, I’ve spent more time than I’d like to admit spiraling over what to post and how it might be received. But this episode with Kate Gilbert flipped my mindset entirely. Kate is a business coach with a unique blend of tough love and grace, and she’s on a mission to help entrepreneurs ditch the pressure and show up online with authenticity.
Kate isn’t here for hustle culture or the pressure to post daily. Instead, she brings a refreshingly compassionate perspective—one that treats social media more like a casual kitchen party than a constant performance. Her signature “Candy Crush rule” helped me reframe the algorithm not as a judge, but as just a system. What really matters is showing up with intention, on your own terms.
In a world where AI-generated everything is the norm, Kate reminds us that being real is actually our greatest asset. She shares powerful stories of entrepreneurs who built trust and connection by showing up as their imperfect selves—moldy fridges and all. If social media has ever made you doubt yourself, this episode will help you see it as a tool for connection, not perfection!
03:30 - Overcoming feelings of social media anxiety
11:10 - What is the candy crush rule for social media success?
16:49 - Vanity metrics don’t equal business success (and what we SHOULD be focusing on instead)
21:46 - Social media as an important touchpoint, even for introverts
24:51 - Authenticity trumps perfection in our current low-trust environment
Links & Resources:
- Follow me on Instagram @kristendoyle.co
- Kate's Free "YIKES! I Should Post!" Guide
- Check out my Everything Page: a one-stop shop for savvy selling!
- The Savvy Seller Collective
- Join my private Facebook community: Savvy Teacher Sellers
- More resources for growing your TPT business
- Rate & review The Savvy Teacher Seller on Apple Podcasts
Connect With Kate:
Show Notes: https://kristendoyle.co/episode156
Tired of constantly hustling to sell your digital products? Check out my free 19-minute training where I show you how to turn all those products you already have into a profitable, automated business.
Get more freedom and less stress ➡️ watch now at kristendoyle.co/training
Check out my Everything Page at https://kristendoyle.co/everything
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Heidi (00:01):
This is episode 207 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 (00:28):
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 are sharing back toschool tasks that you can tackle
without a class list, and we'llleave you with a teacher
approved tip for creating abarrel task calendar.
Heidi (00:50):
Let's start with a try it tomorrow, where we share a quick
win that you can try in yourlife right away. Emily, what is
our suggestion this week?
Emily (00:57):
This week, why not try planning one low key get
together with a colleague? Texta teacher friend and suggest
something simple, like coffee, awalk, meeting at the pool, or
even just sitting on someone'sporch. Keep it casual and
pressure free. Summerfriendships hit different than
school year relationships, andyou both deserve a chance to
(01:18):
enjoy each other's companywithout all the school pressure
being the focus of yourconversation.
Heidi (01:23):
If you like this idea or anything else we share here on
the podcast, would you do us ahuge favor and leave us a five
star rating and a review?
Ratings and reviews are one waythat new listeners can find us,
so really, every rating andreview is such a huge help to
us.
Emily (01:37):
Over the years, we have created an extensive library of
back to school products. So tohelp you find the tools that
will make the start of the newyear easier, today we're
spotlighting our Procedures andRoutines Planning Guide.
Heidi (01:51):
Well, if you've been with us for a while, you know there's
one thing we do really well hereat Teacher Approved, and that is
overthinking. So Emily and I putour overthinking into overdrive
to come up with thoroughchecklists and literally
hundreds of guiding questions tohelp you think through all of
the possible procedures that youmight need for your classroom.
Our goal was to think throughall of the details so that you
(02:13):
aren't going to miss anything inyour planning.
Emily (02:15):
I like to say this resource is robust because it is
stuffed full of good stuff. Soyou get the procedures and
routines checklist, which is 26pages, the procedures planning
guide, which is 54 pages, andthen a digital version of each
of those. So the checklists arein Google Docs, and the
(02:37):
procedures planning guide is inGoogle Slides, and then you get
a teacher's guide for using thisresource.
Heidi (02:43):
Considering how you want your class to run now is going
to pay off so much in the firstfew days of school, and it will
carry you through the wholeyear. And bonus, this is
something that you can easily doon your laptop with a good show
on in the background. You'removing the needle by doing
something essential, but you'renot having to give up your
summer to do it, and that's thebest kind of prep.
Emily (03:03):
You can find a link to the digital procedures and
routines planning guide in theshow notes.
Heidi (03:10):
Okay, let's talk about that mid summer feeling. You
know the one. It's July, you areenjoying your break. There's
that little voice in the back ofyour head saying, I should
probably start thinking aboutschool soon.
Emily (03:22):
But then you remember you don't even have your class list
yet. So you think, Well, I can'treally do anything meaningful
until I know who my studentsare, right? And then you go back
to your summer reading or yourNetflix binge.
Heidi (03:33):
If that sounds familiar, you are not alone, but here's a
little tough love. Waiting to doanything until you know
everything might just be holdingyou back more than you think.
Emily (03:45):
So today, we are giving you a shortcut to feeling
prepared with a gentler, lowpressure approach that doesn't
require having all the puzzlepieces just yet. These are the
class list free tasks that helpyou feel prepared without having
to do all the hard stuff now.
Heidi (04:01):
If you listen to episode 201 on TV tasks and episode 205
about Power Hour, this is kindof like their calm, cozy cousin.
Today we are talking aboutpainless prep. These are tasks
that are low time, low effort,no deadline, and totally couch
friendly. Yes, you can getthings done while watching
Bravo.
Emily (04:22):
But first we want to acknowledge the emotional
roadblocks here. We know some ofyou are thinking, if I start
doing school stuff, it meanssummer is over, or maybe you're
worried about doing the wrongthing because you don't have all
the information.
Heidi (04:33):
And those feelings totally make sense. Waiting
feels safer than startingwithout your full information.
Nobody wants to waste effort oropen the door to school thoughts
and have the rest of summerswallowed up by work.
Emily (04:46):
But it really doesn't have to be like that. There's a
way to start gently. If youjoined us for our July secret
webinar or for last week'sepisode, hopefully you remember
us talking about your readinessanchor. This is how you want to
feel when you walk into yourclassroom on day one. Maybe
that's calm or confident orenergized.
Heidi (05:06):
That goal can be your filter for deciding what's worth
doing now. But if you can't evenface thinking about that
readiness anchor yet, that'stotally okay too. Pick a gentler
starting place. Sometimes thebest way to be overwhelmed isn't
to do everything, it's just todo something, something easy,
something straightforward andbonus, something you can do from
(05:26):
the couch with snacks.
Emily (05:28):
It's always better with snacks. When you start with
something simple and clear,you're creating momentum, not
just adding to a to do list. Andmomentum is what turns summer
anxiety into summer confidence.
If you're waiting around forfull information before you
start, you're just delaying yourprogress. But clarity doesn't
have to come from details. Itcan come from direction and
(05:48):
action.
Heidi (05:50):
So let's talk about some painless prep tasks that can
give you that direction andstill be done from your couch.
They're low stress, class listproof, and they're going to
build systems that will serveyou all year.
Emily (06:02):
And speaking of building systems that serve you all year,
how's this for a segue, this isexactly what we focus on in our
BTS Success course. We help youuse those first crucial days to
set up a classroom thatbasically runs itself. If you
want more help putting thesesystems into practice, you can
check out the link to BTSSuccess in the show notes.
Heidi (06:21):
But for now, let's talk about four types of painless
prep that don't require a classlist and why they're actually
the shortcut to feelingprepared.
Emily (06:31):
First up, we have tasks that will help you prepare for
the unexpected. This issometimes what we call the
Donkey Kong strategy. So ifyou're old enough to remember
the original Donkey Kong game,you'll love this analogy. Mario
was trying to rescue theprincess, and he's already at
max capacity, scaling laddersand jumping holes. Then a giant
ape starts hurling barrels athim.
Heidi (06:52):
The nerve of that ape.
Barrel tasks are those thingsthat get hurled at you during
the school year when you arealready at capacity. The spirit
weeks, the school contest, the'surprise, make a poster by
tomorrow' moments. We talkedabout these back in episode 188
if you want lots more examples.
Emily (07:10):
If you've taught long enough, you know these obstacles
are usually pretty predictable,and yet we never prepare for
them. These are things likecoworker birthdays, sub plan
templates, thank you notestashes, class party supplies,
returning from a long breakwithout losing your mind. All
those pop up responsibilitiesthat roll at you mid year and
then they completely derail yourroutine.
Heidi (07:30):
These don't feel urgent now, but they are going to feel
urgent later, and once theschool year starts, you really
don't have the margin to addanything else to your plate.
Emily (07:40):
So since these tasks are coming, whether you're ready or
not, you could try picking oneof them to prep now. October you
will thank July you for having aplan ready to go for Red Ribbon
Week.
Heidi (07:52):
Our second category of painless prep is independent
tasks. These are your solomissions. They're the things you
can complete without waiting onteammates, admin, or district
decisions.
Emily (08:02):
There's such freedom in not needing anyone else's input
or approval. You can draft yourmeet the teacher letter, plan a
calming first day welcomeactivity, or put together
emergency sub plans that workany time of the year.
Heidi (08:15):
Maybe you want to prep some simple crafts or projects
to display in the hallway duringparent conferences. You can make
the copies now and then cut outall the little pieces, so that
you're ready to go in Novemberor whenever your first
conference pops up.
Emily (08:29):
Or you can work on your emergency sub plans. Plan enough
simple activities to fill anyrandom day of school. Then
you're all set for a day thatyou break a tooth or have a sick
kid or just need a mental healthday.
Heidi (08:41):
These kind of tasks are grounding and anchoring. They
give you a little burst ofcontrol, which can feel really
good in a season full ofuncertainty.
Emily (08:50):
Now, foundation tasks are our third category of painless
prep. Some things are sure bets.
No matter which students are inyour class, if you are a second
grade teacher, you can safelyassume that your students will
be familiar with addition byDecember. If you teach fourth
grade, you know you'll coverplace value early on in the
year.
Heidi (09:07):
So use that information as your starting point. Do you
want to make the week beforewinter break a little saner? Go
ahead and copy those Decemberreview packets and just fill the
pages with September and Octoberlevel content. Pull together
math practice with concepts youteach in that first quarter. And
you could even draft writingprompts or reflection pages that
(09:27):
you want to use after the break.
Emily (09:28):
And we actually have a resource to help you with this.
It is our December teachersurvival kit, and you can use
this to do a little Christmasplanning in July, if you want.
And it has everything you needto do to make December not the
craziest month of the schoolyear. And we'll walk you through
everything you need to do. Andthere's a lot in that you could
(09:49):
do now to make December easier.
Heidi (09:51):
Some other things you can try are gathering the read
alouds that you use every year,or organizing partner games that
always work. A good rule ofthumb is that if it worked last
year and it's not tied to a'maybe we'll get to it by then'
standard, go ahead and prep it.
That's your green light. Thesefoundation tasks are calming and
confidence building, because youknow that one way or another,
(10:12):
they're going to be useful.
Emily (10:15):
So our final category of painless prep is framework
tasks. If you don't have yourclass list yet, no problem.
Names come later. Systems comefirst. You can stuff writing
folders without knowing whosename's going to go on them. You
can design your class job systemeven if you don't know who will
be the line leader.
Heidi (10:33):
This is actually one of the core principles that we
teach in our BTS Success course,how to set up classroom systems
and routines that workregardless of which specific
students you have. The frameworkis what creates that smooth
running classroom.
Emily (10:48):
So set up your basic classroom organization, create
bulletin boards with blanknamespaces, plan your morning
routine structure. The powerhere is in having the structure
ready.
Heidi (10:59):
And that way, when that class list finally shows up and
you're trying to get everythingorganized, you're not going to
be starting from scratch. You'lljust be ready to plug kids into
a framework that's alreadyhumming.
Emily (11:12):
Now, you might be thinking, okay, but is any of
this really essential topreparing for back to school?
And truthfully, no, not all ofit is, but that is kind of the
point.
Heidi (11:22):
Even though Emily and I have spent all summer telling
you to prioritize your time andfocus on what's essential, right
now we are saying that you mightneed to do the exact opposite.
It's how we keep thingsinteresting around here.
Emily (11:36):
Yeah. And also, we know that making the bridge between
full time summer mode andletting school thoughts in mode
can be overwhelming. But theantidote to overwhelm isn't to
do everything, it's to do onething. So when we're
overwhelmed, it's because wedon't have a clear next step,
and we solve that by completingsomething small and painless.
Heidi (11:56):
Then once we're done with that, it makes it easier to take
another step. These types oftasks give you momentum, and
momentum in the summer, for ifyou're a teacher, is everything.
Because action drivesmotivation, motivation doesn't
drive action. Doing just one ofthese things can be the jump
start that helps you tacklesomething bigger next week.
Emily (12:16):
So how do you actually use this? Well, you could use
the power hour strategy that wetalked about in episode 205,
pick one of these categories andfocus on it for just one hour
this week.
Heidi (12:28):
Or embrace the TV task mindset. Add two or three of
these to your couch friendlyprep list. These are wins that
can happen during downtime.
Emily (12:37):
And if you're ready to think about your readiness
anchor, ask yourself, which ofthese tasks would help you feel
more the way you want to feel inAugust.
Heidi (12:46):
Okay, before we close, let's quickly recap our four
categories of painless prep. Wehave barrel tasks, which is
prepping for unexpectedinterruptions. Independent
tasks, which are things that youcan do without anyone else's
input. Foundation tasks, whereyou build from what you already
know, even if you don't knoweverything yet. And framework
tasks, which is setting upsystems even when you don't have
(13:09):
your names.
Emily (13:10):
The gentle reminder here is that this is about momentum,
not perfection. Every stepforward, no matter how tiny, is
still progress, and you deserveto feel good about that.
Heidi (13:20):
We would love to hear your suggestions for painless
prep tasks. Come join theconversation in our Teacher
Approved Facebook group.
Emily (13:27):
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 tip is to create a barrel
task calendar. So tell us aboutthat, Heidi.
Heidi (13:40):
Well, this just fits so well with our painless prep
discussion. So to do this, makea list of all of the predictable
barrel tasks that pop up duringthe school year. And I think
this is one of those thingswhere once you start thinking of
one, soon the whole list willfollow. Think of things like
Valentine's Day activities,Teacher Appreciation Week,
holiday parties, field tripreminders, the school's annual
(14:02):
math night and so on and so onand so on.
And then take that list of tasksand assign each task to a month
well before it's due. So maybeyou prep Valentine's Day
activities in January, when youhave a little breathing room to
get things done, and not onFebruary 12, when you suddenly
realize that the holiday is intwo days. You can try gathering
(14:23):
thank you gifts for your parenthelpers and your end of your
student gifts in March and notin May, when you can barely
think straight. You could eventry scheduling one prep time,
like the last Monday of themonth for tackling the next
month's barrel tasks.
Emily (14:36):
Once you have your calendar, keep it somewhere,
you'll actually see it, maybe onyour phone or taped inside a
planning binder. When you need apainless task to tackle, you've
got options ready to go.
Heidi (14:47):
This works because it removes decision fatigue and it
spreads the load throughout theyear. Instead of all of these
tasks hitting you at once duringtheir official times, you are
getting ahead of the game.
Emily (14:59):
And honestly, there's something so satisfying about
having your Valentine'sactivities already prepped in
January. I have to tell you,this is a strategy that works so
well for me. I am so much moreinterested in getting something
ready for three months from nowthan I am with doing the task
that needs to be done tomorrow.
But it helps, if you can beconsistent about always being
ahead, you're going to be givingyour future self a huge gift, if
(15:20):
you take time to do things likethis in advance.
Heidi (15:26):
To wrap up the show, we are sharing what we're giving
extra credit to this week.
Emily, what gets your extracredit?
Emily (15:36):
I'm giving extra credit to paper liners for the air
fryer. So we started using theseabout six months ago, and we
just finished up our first box.
So they're fresh on my mind.
They have been a total gamechanger. Our air fryer was such
a pain to clean, and especiallybecause it was getting used
multiple times throughout theday, and the kids weren't
cleaning it after they used it,and then the next kid wanted to
use it, but it was dirty. Thisjust makes it so much easier.
(15:56):
You just put in the little paperliner and then pull it out and
throw it away. It's so easy, andI'll link to the ones that I got
in the show notes, but you'llwant to make sure you get ones
that fit your air fryer.
Heidi (16:08):
Yeah, that's smart. I saw something online about getting a
silicone mat for your air fryer,and I bought a square, and my
air fryer is round, so that didnot work.
Emily (16:18):
Yep. You got to remember that all air fryers are
different. And I did look atsilicone, and almost did that,
but I was worried that it wouldmake it harder for the airflow,
like paper seems like it couldrotate around it better, so...
Heidi (16:29):
I haven't actually used it, because I had that same,
where it's like, how is thisgonna work? So I haven't even
actually used it, but I went andgot the round one, and still
haven't used it. The papersounds good because then you
don't have to clean anything.
Emily (16:41):
Yeah, that is the win there. What are you giving extra
credit to, Heidi?
Heidi (16:46):
Well, I'm giving extra credit to the Sourdough Mama on
Instagram. Have you seen this,Emily?
Emily (16:51):
I have not.
Heidi (16:52):
Okay, well, you're missing out. Now, I am not any
kind of baker. I don't even haveaspirations to be a baker, but I
love her page so much. She justmakes the most beautiful loaves
of bread. And it's not justpretty because, you know, all
bread is lovely, but this isartistic bread. So before she
bakes it, she scores a design inthe top of the loaf, and then
(17:13):
when it's fresh out of the oven,she cuts the design loose, and
it makes the most gorgeousdesigns, like flower petals that
are like blooming or flappingbutterfly wings.
Emily (17:23):
Oh my gosh.
Heidi (17:25):
And she adds color, they're so beautiful. They
really are works of art, andit's super soothing to watch her
work. I highly recommend hervideos if you need a few minutes
of calm.
Emily (17:35):
Okay, well, I'm checking that out for sure.
Heidi (17:38):
That's it for today's episode. Try knocking out one
painless prep task this week,and don't forget to create that
barrel task calendar.
Emily (17:46):
And if you want a complete roadmap for using those
first crucial days of school toset yourself up for success all
year long, check out our BTSSuccess course. It is an audio
course that shows you exactlyhow to teach routines, build
community and create systemsthat make your classroom run
itself without spending yourwhole summer planning. We walk
(18:07):
you through everything step bystep so you can start strong and
actually enjoy those first weeksback.
Heidi (18:14):
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm
Heidi.
Emily (18:18):
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 (18:24):
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 (18:31):
Bye.
This is episode 207 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 (00:28):
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 are sharing back toschool tasks that you can tackle
without a class list, and we'llleave you with a teacher
approved tip for creating abarrel task calendar.
Heidi (00:50):
Let's start with a try it tomorrow, where we share a quick
win that you can try in yourlife right away. Emily, what is
our suggestion this week?
Emily (00:57):
This week, why not try planning one low key get
together with a colleague? Texta teacher friend and suggest
something simple, like coffee, awalk, meeting at the pool, or
even just sitting on someone'sporch. Keep it casual and
pressure free. Summerfriendships hit different than
school year relationships, andyou both deserve a chance to
(01:18):
enjoy each other's companywithout all the school pressure
being the focus of yourconversation.
Heidi (01:23):
If you like this idea or anything else we share here on
the podcast, would you do us ahuge favor and leave us a five
star rating and a review?
Ratings and reviews are one waythat new listeners can find us,
so really, every rating andreview is such a huge help to
us.
Emily (01:37):
Over the years, we have created an extensive library of
back to school products. So tohelp you find the tools that
will make the start of the newyear easier, today we're
spotlighting our Procedures andRoutines Planning Guide.
Heidi (01:51):
Well, if you've been with us for a while, you know there's
one thing we do really well hereat Teacher Approved, and that is
overthinking. So Emily and I putour overthinking into overdrive
to come up with thoroughchecklists and literally
hundreds of guiding questions tohelp you think through all of
the possible procedures that youmight need for your classroom.
Our goal was to think throughall of the details so that you
(02:13):
aren't going to miss anything inyour planning.
Emily (02:15):
I like to say this resource is robust because it is
stuffed full of good stuff. Soyou get the procedures and
routines checklist, which is 26pages, the procedures planning
guide, which is 54 pages, andthen a digital version of each
of those. So the checklists arein Google Docs, and the
(02:37):
procedures planning guide is inGoogle Slides, and then you get
a teacher's guide for using thisresource.
Heidi (02:43):
Considering how you want your class to run now is going
to pay off so much in the firstfew days of school, and it will
carry you through the wholeyear. And bonus, this is
something that you can easily doon your laptop with a good show
on in the background. You'removing the needle by doing
something essential, but you'renot having to give up your
summer to do it, and that's thebest kind of prep.
Emily (03:03):
You can find a link to the digital procedures and
routines planning guide in theshow notes.
Heidi (03:10):
Okay, let's talk about that mid summer feeling. You
know the one. It's July, you areenjoying your break. There's
that little voice in the back ofyour head saying, I should
probably start thinking aboutschool soon.
Emily (03:22):
But then you remember you don't even have your class list
yet. So you think, Well, I can'treally do anything meaningful
until I know who my studentsare, right? And then you go back
to your summer reading or yourNetflix binge.
Heidi (03:33):
If that sounds familiar, you are not alone, but here's a
little tough love. Waiting to doanything until you know
everything might just be holdingyou back more than you think.
Emily (03:45):
So today, we are giving you a shortcut to feeling
prepared with a gentler, lowpressure approach that doesn't
require having all the puzzlepieces just yet. These are the
class list free tasks that helpyou feel prepared without having
to do all the hard stuff now.
Heidi (04:01):
If you listen to episode 201 on TV tasks and episode 205
about Power Hour, this is kindof like their calm, cozy cousin.
Today we are talking aboutpainless prep. These are tasks
that are low time, low effort,no deadline, and totally couch
friendly. Yes, you can getthings done while watching
Bravo.
Emily (04:22):
But first we want to acknowledge the emotional
roadblocks here. We know some ofyou are thinking, if I start
doing school stuff, it meanssummer is over, or maybe you're
worried about doing the wrongthing because you don't have all
the information.
Heidi (04:33):
And those feelings totally make sense. Waiting
feels safer than startingwithout your full information.
Nobody wants to waste effort oropen the door to school thoughts
and have the rest of summerswallowed up by work.
Emily (04:46):
But it really doesn't have to be like that. There's a
way to start gently. If youjoined us for our July secret
webinar or for last week'sepisode, hopefully you remember
us talking about your readinessanchor. This is how you want to
feel when you walk into yourclassroom on day one. Maybe
that's calm or confident orenergized.
Heidi (05:06):
That goal can be your filter for deciding what's worth
doing now. But if you can't evenface thinking about that
readiness anchor yet, that'stotally okay too. Pick a gentler
starting place. Sometimes thebest way to be overwhelmed isn't
to do everything, it's just todo something, something easy,
something straightforward andbonus, something you can do from
(05:26):
the couch with snacks.
Emily (05:28):
It's always better with snacks. When you start with
something simple and clear,you're creating momentum, not
just adding to a to do list. Andmomentum is what turns summer
anxiety into summer confidence.
If you're waiting around forfull information before you
start, you're just delaying yourprogress. But clarity doesn't
have to come from details. Itcan come from direction and
(05:48):
action.
Heidi (05:50):
So let's talk about some painless prep tasks that can
give you that direction andstill be done from your couch.
They're low stress, class listproof, and they're going to
build systems that will serveyou all year.
Emily (06:02):
And speaking of building systems that serve you all year,
how's this for a segue, this isexactly what we focus on in our
BTS Success course. We help youuse those first crucial days to
set up a classroom thatbasically runs itself. If you
want more help putting thesesystems into practice, you can
check out the link to BTSSuccess in the show notes.
Heidi (06:21):
But for now, let's talk about four types of painless
prep that don't require a classlist and why they're actually
the shortcut to feelingprepared.
Emily (06:31):
First up, we have tasks that will help you prepare for
the unexpected. This issometimes what we call the
Donkey Kong strategy. So ifyou're old enough to remember
the original Donkey Kong game,you'll love this analogy. Mario
was trying to rescue theprincess, and he's already at
max capacity, scaling laddersand jumping holes. Then a giant
ape starts hurling barrels athim.
Heidi (06:52):
The nerve of that ape.
Barrel tasks are those thingsthat get hurled at you during
the school year when you arealready at capacity. The spirit
weeks, the school contest, the'surprise, make a poster by
tomorrow' moments. We talkedabout these back in episode 188
if you want lots more examples.
Emily (07:10):
If you've taught long enough, you know these obstacles
are usually pretty predictable,and yet we never prepare for
them. These are things likecoworker birthdays, sub plan
templates, thank you notestashes, class party supplies,
returning from a long breakwithout losing your mind. All
those pop up responsibilitiesthat roll at you mid year and
then they completely derail yourroutine.
Heidi (07:30):
These don't feel urgent now, but they are going to feel
urgent later, and once theschool year starts, you really
don't have the margin to addanything else to your plate.
Emily (07:40):
So since these tasks are coming, whether you're ready or
not, you could try picking oneof them to prep now. October you
will thank July you for having aplan ready to go for Red Ribbon
Week.
Heidi (07:52):
Our second category of painless prep is independent
tasks. These are your solomissions. They're the things you
can complete without waiting onteammates, admin, or district
decisions.
Emily (08:02):
There's such freedom in not needing anyone else's input
or approval. You can draft yourmeet the teacher letter, plan a
calming first day welcomeactivity, or put together
emergency sub plans that workany time of the year.
Heidi (08:15):
Maybe you want to prep some simple crafts or projects
to display in the hallway duringparent conferences. You can make
the copies now and then cut outall the little pieces, so that
you're ready to go in Novemberor whenever your first
conference pops up.
Emily (08:29):
Or you can work on your emergency sub plans. Plan enough
simple activities to fill anyrandom day of school. Then
you're all set for a day thatyou break a tooth or have a sick
kid or just need a mental healthday.
Heidi (08:41):
These kind of tasks are grounding and anchoring. They
give you a little burst ofcontrol, which can feel really
good in a season full ofuncertainty.
Emily (08:50):
Now, foundation tasks are our third category of painless
prep. Some things are sure bets.
No matter which students are inyour class, if you are a second
grade teacher, you can safelyassume that your students will
be familiar with addition byDecember. If you teach fourth
grade, you know you'll coverplace value early on in the
year.
Heidi (09:07):
So use that information as your starting point. Do you
want to make the week beforewinter break a little saner? Go
ahead and copy those Decemberreview packets and just fill the
pages with September and Octoberlevel content. Pull together
math practice with concepts youteach in that first quarter. And
you could even draft writingprompts or reflection pages that
(09:27):
you want to use after the break.
Emily (09:28):
And we actually have a resource to help you with this.
It is our December teachersurvival kit, and you can use
this to do a little Christmasplanning in July, if you want.
And it has everything you needto do to make December not the
craziest month of the schoolyear. And we'll walk you through
everything you need to do. Andthere's a lot in that you could
(09:49):
do now to make December easier.
Heidi (09:51):
Some other things you can try are gathering the read
alouds that you use every year,or organizing partner games that
always work. A good rule ofthumb is that if it worked last
year and it's not tied to a'maybe we'll get to it by then'
standard, go ahead and prep it.
That's your green light. Thesefoundation tasks are calming and
confidence building, because youknow that one way or another,
(10:12):
they're going to be useful.
Emily (10:15):
So our final category of painless prep is framework
tasks. If you don't have yourclass list yet, no problem.
Names come later. Systems comefirst. You can stuff writing
folders without knowing whosename's going to go on them. You
can design your class job systemeven if you don't know who will
be the line leader.
Heidi (10:33):
This is actually one of the core principles that we
teach in our BTS Success course,how to set up classroom systems
and routines that workregardless of which specific
students you have. The frameworkis what creates that smooth
running classroom.
Emily (10:48):
So set up your basic classroom organization, create
bulletin boards with blanknamespaces, plan your morning
routine structure. The powerhere is in having the structure
ready.
Heidi (10:59):
And that way, when that class list finally shows up and
you're trying to get everythingorganized, you're not going to
be starting from scratch. You'lljust be ready to plug kids into
a framework that's alreadyhumming.
Emily (11:12):
Now, you might be thinking, okay, but is any of
this really essential topreparing for back to school?
And truthfully, no, not all ofit is, but that is kind of the
point.
Heidi (11:22):
Even though Emily and I have spent all summer telling
you to prioritize your time andfocus on what's essential, right
now we are saying that you mightneed to do the exact opposite.
It's how we keep thingsinteresting around here.
Emily (11:36):
Yeah. And also, we know that making the bridge between
full time summer mode andletting school thoughts in mode
can be overwhelming. But theantidote to overwhelm isn't to
do everything, it's to do onething. So when we're
overwhelmed, it's because wedon't have a clear next step,
and we solve that by completingsomething small and painless.
Heidi (11:56):
Then once we're done with that, it makes it easier to take
another step. These types oftasks give you momentum, and
momentum in the summer, for ifyou're a teacher, is everything.
Because action drivesmotivation, motivation doesn't
drive action. Doing just one ofthese things can be the jump
start that helps you tacklesomething bigger next week.
Emily (12:16):
So how do you actually use this? Well, you could use
the power hour strategy that wetalked about in episode 205,
pick one of these categories andfocus on it for just one hour
this week.
Heidi (12:28):
Or embrace the TV task mindset. Add two or three of
these to your couch friendlyprep list. These are wins that
can happen during downtime.
Emily (12:37):
And if you're ready to think about your readiness
anchor, ask yourself, which ofthese tasks would help you feel
more the way you want to feel inAugust.
Heidi (12:46):
Okay, before we close, let's quickly recap our four
categories of painless prep. Wehave barrel tasks, which is
prepping for unexpectedinterruptions. Independent
tasks, which are things that youcan do without anyone else's
input. Foundation tasks, whereyou build from what you already
know, even if you don't knoweverything yet. And framework
tasks, which is setting upsystems even when you don't have
(13:09):
your names.
Emily (13:10):
The gentle reminder here is that this is about momentum,
not perfection. Every stepforward, no matter how tiny, is
still progress, and you deserveto feel good about that.
Heidi (13:20):
We would love to hear your suggestions for painless
prep tasks. Come join theconversation in our Teacher
Approved Facebook group.
Emily (13:27):
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 tip is to create a barrel
task calendar. So tell us aboutthat, Heidi.
Heidi (13:40):
Well, this just fits so well with our painless prep
discussion. So to do this, makea list of all of the predictable
barrel tasks that pop up duringthe school year. And I think
this is one of those thingswhere once you start thinking of
one, soon the whole list willfollow. Think of things like
Valentine's Day activities,Teacher Appreciation Week,
holiday parties, field tripreminders, the school's annual
(14:02):
math night and so on and so onand so on.
And then take that list of tasksand assign each task to a month
well before it's due. So maybeyou prep Valentine's Day
activities in January, when youhave a little breathing room to
get things done, and not onFebruary 12, when you suddenly
realize that the holiday is intwo days. You can try gathering
(14:23):
thank you gifts for your parenthelpers and your end of your
student gifts in March and notin May, when you can barely
think straight. You could eventry scheduling one prep time,
like the last Monday of themonth for tackling the next
month's barrel tasks.
Emily (14:36):
Once you have your calendar, keep it somewhere,
you'll actually see it, maybe onyour phone or taped inside a
planning binder. When you need apainless task to tackle, you've
got options ready to go.
Heidi (14:47):
This works because it removes decision fatigue and it
spreads the load throughout theyear. Instead of all of these
tasks hitting you at once duringtheir official times, you are
getting ahead of the game.
Emily (14:59):
And honestly, there's something so satisfying about
having your Valentine'sactivities already prepped in
January. I have to tell you,this is a strategy that works so
well for me. I am so much moreinterested in getting something
ready for three months from nowthan I am with doing the task
that needs to be done tomorrow.
But it helps, if you can beconsistent about always being
ahead, you're going to be givingyour future self a huge gift, if
(15:20):
you take time to do things likethis in advance.
Heidi (15:26):
To wrap up the show, we are sharing what we're giving
extra credit to this week.
Emily, what gets your extracredit?
Emily (15:36):
I'm giving extra credit to paper liners for the air
fryer. So we started using theseabout six months ago, and we
just finished up our first box.
So they're fresh on my mind.
They have been a total gamechanger. Our air fryer was such
a pain to clean, and especiallybecause it was getting used
multiple times throughout theday, and the kids weren't
cleaning it after they used it,and then the next kid wanted to
use it, but it was dirty. Thisjust makes it so much easier.
(15:56):
You just put in the little paperliner and then pull it out and
throw it away. It's so easy, andI'll link to the ones that I got
in the show notes, but you'llwant to make sure you get ones
that fit your air fryer.
Heidi (16:08):
Yeah, that's smart. I saw something online about getting a
silicone mat for your air fryer,and I bought a square, and my
air fryer is round, so that didnot work.
Emily (16:18):
Yep. You got to remember that all air fryers are
different. And I did look atsilicone, and almost did that,
but I was worried that it wouldmake it harder for the airflow,
like paper seems like it couldrotate around it better, so...
Heidi (16:29):
I haven't actually used it, because I had that same,
where it's like, how is thisgonna work? So I haven't even
actually used it, but I went andgot the round one, and still
haven't used it. The papersounds good because then you
don't have to clean anything.
Emily (16:41):
Yeah, that is the win there. What are you giving extra
credit to, Heidi?
Heidi (16:46):
Well, I'm giving extra credit to the Sourdough Mama on
Instagram. Have you seen this,Emily?
Emily (16:51):
I have not.
Heidi (16:52):
Okay, well, you're missing out. Now, I am not any
kind of baker. I don't even haveaspirations to be a baker, but I
love her page so much. She justmakes the most beautiful loaves
of bread. And it's not justpretty because, you know, all
bread is lovely, but this isartistic bread. So before she
bakes it, she scores a design inthe top of the loaf, and then
(17:13):
when it's fresh out of the oven,she cuts the design loose, and
it makes the most gorgeousdesigns, like flower petals that
are like blooming or flappingbutterfly wings.
Emily (17:23):
Oh my gosh.
Heidi (17:25):
And she adds color, they're so beautiful. They
really are works of art, andit's super soothing to watch her
work. I highly recommend hervideos if you need a few minutes
of calm.
Emily (17:35):
Okay, well, I'm checking that out for sure.
Heidi (17:38):
That's it for today's episode. Try knocking out one
painless prep task this week,and don't forget to create that
barrel task calendar.
Emily (17:46):
And if you want a complete roadmap for using those
first crucial days of school toset yourself up for success all
year long, check out our BTSSuccess course. It is an audio
course that shows you exactlyhow to teach routines, build
community and create systemsthat make your classroom run
itself without spending yourwhole summer planning. We walk
(18:07):
you through everything step bystep so you can start strong and
actually enjoy those first weeksback.
Heidi (18:14):
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm
Heidi.
Emily (18:18):
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 (18:24):
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 (18:31):
Bye.
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