3 Reasons Why a First Day of School Script Will Save Your Sanity [episode 77]

Emily
Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today’s episode, we’re discussing why we think you should have a first day of school script and sharing a teacher approved tip for time filler activities at the start of the year.

Heidi
We start our episodes with a morning message, just like we used to do at morning meeting in our classrooms. This week’s morning message is name an oddly specific joy. Emily, can you tell us more about this?

Emily
Well, I saw this question posted on Instagram a few weeks ago. And I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. People suggested so many happy little joys that I now like noticing those same joys in my own life.

Emily
Like one of the ones I have noticed this joy before, but I guess never really clocked it is the feeling of driving on the freeway in the rain. And when you go under a bridge, it’s silent. And I was like, Of course I’ve noticed that before. But now every time I’m going to notice that I’d be like, Oh, that’s so joyful.

Emily
So I think one oddly specific joy for me would be when the shampoo and conditioner run out at the same time. I just get such a thrill out of using up both of those bottles at the exact same time. And it happens so rare, so rarely. So what’s your oddly specific joy Heidi?

Heidi
So I didn’t really think about this. And I think one of my very favorites is that bliss, and I think bliss is the only way to describe it, of coming home from a trip and getting to shower in your own shower and sleep in your own bed. That is just I think what Heaven must feel like.

Emily
You never love your own bed more than when you come home from a trip.

Heidi
No, even though it’s been a great trip, it’s just like ohhh.

Emily
Well, we have some oddly specific joys from our community. Teresa said using the restroom whenever you want during summer and holiday breaks. Christie said reading a new book, the smell of the pages, the sound of pages turning in the spine creaking the anticipation of a new adventure.

Heidi
Hadn’t really ever considered how sensory reading a book is, especially on a Kindle.

Emily
Especially if it’s a new one and the spine hasn’t been crunched yet. Recently we requested our local library to buy a new book for the collection, which I didn’t even know you could do. And when they bought it, we got it first it was a book for my kids. And so my son when he opened it, you open the cover and the spine crack. It’s brand new.

Emily
Michelle said the sound of birds singing in my backyard before anyone else is out of bed in the morning. She must be morning person. Shannon said freshly sharpened brand new pencils. Yes. You need a bouquet of them. Yes.

Emily
Marcia said opening a new jar of peanut butter seeing that smooth shine on top, scooping out a delicious spoonful. I loved this because I make a lot of peanut butter sandwiches at my house. I have a peanut butter sandwich lover. And every time I open a new jar, I do also get that little thrill of like ah it’s so beautiful.

Heidi
It’s like new snow.

Emily
Angela said clean sheets and shaved legs. Classic. Lisa said straight lines made when I mow the lawn. That is that’s a skill. Yes. It’s like vacuum lines too, those are so satisfying. Tracy said the smell of rain on the concrete. Oh, that’s one of my favorite. Jennifer said cutting lamination in a straight line with the scissors open. Oh, that is that another satisfying one.

Heidi
Or wrapping paper when it just glides like that. Yeah.

Emily
And Melissa said a student tying his or her own shoe. Yes. That’s a good joy. We’d love to hear your oddly specific joys over in our teacher approved Facebook group.

Emily
Anyone who has taught school before knows that the first day of school isn’t a day as much as it’s an event. And like any event, it requires a detailed plan.

Heidi
So as we were prepping for this episode, I just kept thinking of this one, this one memory so take a little journey back with me to 2001 when the timeless rom com The Wedding Planner debuted.

Emily
Yay, I love a rom com throwback. The wedding planner is a classic.

Heidi
It is such a classic, maybe a little problematic, but we’re not gonna dwell on that. I want you to remember the beginning of that movie: Jennifer Lopez’s character is pulling together all of the last minute details of a wedding. Right? She’s soothing the brides cold feet, she’s fixing dresses, coordinating the flower girl and finding the missing father of the bride.

Emily
Oh and sobering him up with a little cool kit. Like under her shirt. So good.

Heidi
And everywhere she turns right, there’s just another task that needs attention, that she is equipped, thanks to all of her meticulous preparation. And that is what we need as teachers when we are starting the school year.

Heidi
We need a multi person team carrying out our list of tasks we need in ear communication to keep everyone on track. Yes, we need that tool belt stocked with a sewing kit and band aids and krazy glue and whatever you need to sober up the father of the bride. And we also need Judy Greer is our assistant of course.

Emily
Yeah! Where do I get one of those?

Heidi
Can you tell that I rewatched the beginning of The Wedding Planner for this episode? Twice I watched it.

Emily
Well, what choice did you have? It had to happen.

Heidi
But unfortunately, as you may have noticed, we do not have any of J Lo’s resources. And no matter how often we invite her, Judy Greer fails to show up on the first day of school every time so rude. Yeah, so on the big day, really, it is just us and whatever we have managed to plan.

Emily
Oh, and that means that if our plans are the only thing standing between us and a sea of chaos and exhaustion, than the quality of those first day plans really matters.

Heidi
I know for a lot of years, I kind of left planning until the last minute before school started. I just really didn’t know what to do between the start of school and the start of teaching the actual content. So I just put up planning until I was forced to decide, really more than once, as soon as I said goodbye to the last of the families at the open house. I just turn around and walk straight to my computer to finally figure out what was going to happen the next day.

Heidi
Oh, yeah. And you know, what I ended up with was fine. But it was definitely more about filling the time well, instead of using the time well.

Emily
And I think a lot of teachers feel that way. We’re taught so much about how to write lesson plans, but not a lot about how to start a school year, even though that’s so important. So it’s only natural that we default to whatever we find on Pinterest and hope it gets us through to the point we can start teaching our first units, because that part we know how to do.

Heidi
But when we look at our first day plans, we can do so much better than fine.

Emily
Yeah, let’s set the bar a little higher there.

Heidi
We can turn our first days of school into a gift. It gives us this time to really lay the foundation for a successful school year.

Emily
So with the goal of being very intentional, we don’t write first day plans, we write a first day script. And in this episode, we’re going to tell you the three reasons why we think a first day script can benefit you.

Heidi
To begin, think of a script as kind of like writing sub plans for yourself. For every activity that needs to happen in the day you’ll write down everything you need to remember.

Emily
The goal here is to make this document hold the billion and one details you need to keep track of so your brain doesn’t have to.

Emily
For example, one of the first events in the school day is morning announcements followed by the pledge. So I write down remind students to pay attention to announcements. Explain who leads the pledge each day, help the student lead the pledge, tell the students they have five more minutes to finish their arrival activity. Then in capital letters, I have said attendance and lunch count. I don’t want to start the year by having the office mad at me.

Heidi
That is just to get us through morning announcements. I know that my first day script was usually around eight pages. And I made sure to include every little detail. Even if I was pretty sure I would remember in the moment, I just didn’t want to risk overlooking something. Plus, you know why give myself one more thing to keep track of when I can just write it down.

Emily
Which brings us to the first reason why a first day of school script is so valuable it is your safety net. During the regular school year, you have the power of your schedule to carry you through from one lesson to the next. But that doesn’t work at the start of the year.

Heidi
You don’t have any routine to rely on. So let your script do the work of keeping you on track and reminding you of the details you need to cover.

Emily
This may sound a little rigid but a script actually is what allows you to be flexible. If you get to know you activity runs long and you need to cut something your script helps you easily identify what can be pushed till tomorrow.

Heidi
It is so hard to pace that first day, and if you are a new teacher trying to figure that out, and it feels tricky, it’s because it is tricky. Yes, everything you plan will either run long or end more quickly than you expected. But a script gives you the flexibility to pivot as needed.

Emily
It also helps you know exactly what you’ve covered and what you haven’t. That first day is such a blur. And it’s easy to forget what you did, especially if you had to cut something out of your plans. If I meant to introduce the class library, but didn’t have time, my script will remind me to move that into my day two plans.

Heidi
And if you are teaching multiple classes, a detailed script is a valuable tool to ensure consistency across all of your classes. It ensures that you’re giving each class all of the information they need.

Emily
Yeah, that would be hard to keep track of mentally if you’re teaching the same thing over and over.

Emily
Which brings us to the second reason that we love a first day script. Besides being a safety net, a script offers you support. It’s like Judy Greer right there reminding you that you’ve got this, you’ve thought through every moment, you’ve even accounted for the unexpected. It’s such a comfort knowing you have a well thought out roadmap for a positive first day.

Heidi
And a script supports you by helping you preserve your energy. If you have made most of your decisions in advance, you are reducing a lot of the decision fatigue, that can quickly drain your battery.

Emily
And if you’re getting to the end of the first day even slightly less tired, then that’s definitely a win. Always, I can’t promise you won’t be tired at all, but maybe less tired.

Heidi
Slightly less. Besides offering you support, your script can also offer support to a new teacher or teammate. It’s so helpful for newer teachers to have someone else’s plans to reference.

Emily
Oh, yeah, I would have been lost if I hadn’t had your first day plans to refer to for my first year of teaching.

Heidi
And being the person that had the plans to share, it really felt like a gift to be able to have a lifeline that I could throw to you when I knew how much you were struggling starting the school year, because it’s so hard.

Emily
It’s so hard. And I didn’t have a lot of support at my school to start the year. So I was kind of drowning.

Heidi
And it also would be a great way to help out a new teammate, even if they’re not new teachers. And even if they don’t use it, just being able to reference it will be so helpful to them.

Emily
Yeah, it will help them know how your school works. And they’ll know that you’re a good teammate that they can rely on.

Heidi
A first day script really is a clear source of support. And I wouldn’t want to try and navigate the first day without that safety net. But I think the biggest benefit of a script is the freedom it provides.

Emily
Yeah, it might seem strange to associate a highly detailed plan with freedom. But that’s exactly what it is.

Heidi
As we have mentioned several times, there are so many details to keep track of on the first day. Just for the three minutes it takes to get to recess, the kids need to know where the nearest bathrooms and drinking fountains are, they need to know how to line up, how to walk quietly in the halls and which doors to exit.

Heidi
And depending on how complicated those procedures are at your school, at my school, they’re a little tricky, you might need 20 minutes or more to teach all of that.

Emily
It’s so much to keep track of all at once. And if my brain is trying to remember the 55 steps it’s going to take to get ready for lunch, I can’t be the kind of teacher I want to be on the first day.

Emily
I want to be connecting with my students. I want to be learning who loves horses and who loves Minecraft, and who might need a hug because they’re feeling a little overwhelmed. I don’t want to be distracted trying to remember every tiny detail that has to be addressed, which is what happens when you try and keep it all in your head.

Heidi
So a script really gives me the freedom of being able to focus on my new little students, just because all of those details are out of my head and on the paper.

Emily
It also gives your students the freedom to settle into their new space. If the teacher is confidently leaving the day, and helps kids feel more comfortable in your care.

Heidi
Just think how great it’ll feel to get to the end of that first day, feeling you were protected by your safety net, supported through a draining day and have the freedom to be the kind of teacher that you want to be.

Emily
And then you’re ready to figure out what to teach on day two.

Heidi
It’s a vicious cycle. Day two, it really is not much easier than day one. So it probably won’t surprise anyone that I wrote a day two script too In fact, I wrote a script every day for the first week.

Heidi
Now by the time we were getting to the second week, the kids were feeling more settled and we’d established something of a regular routine. And that just makes lesson planning so much simpler. But until then my scripts kept me on track. If I didn’t get to something one day, it was just really easy to plug it into the next day’s plans.

Emily
Now as great as a script is, it does take some effort, but the payoff of that work is starting the year with a positive, engaging tone. And to me that was worth the work.

Heidi
Yeah, it does feel like a lot of work at the outset. But when you have done the work, once you are set up for next year, it’s so nice to open that file and just see it all ready to go. Even if you change grade levels, a lot of your first day can be reused and modified for the appropriate grade level.

Emily
A script also gives you a set place for collecting any notes about the first day. You can use those reflections to tweak your plans and keep perfecting your script a year after year.

Heidi
Plus, this prevents you from lying to yourself and telling yourself that you remember what you did this year. No, you will not you will not. So taking the time to write everything down now will help you this year, and also for lots of years to come.

Emily
And if you are interested in taking a look at our first day of school script for second grade, we will link to that in the show notes. We also have an editable scripts that you can use to make your own plan. So if you’re interested in that, head over to the show notes, and we’ll have that for you there.

Emily
We’d love to hear your thoughts on writing a first day script. So come join the conversation in our teacher approved Facebook group.

Emily
Now let’s talk about this week’s teacher approved tip. Each week, we leave you with a small actionable tip that you can apply in your classroom today. This week’s teacher approved tip is make a bank of time filler activities. Heidi tell us more about this tip.

Heidi
Well, during the regular school year, you have flexibility if a lesson ends early, or you know if you get word that the lunchroom is running behind. But on the first day, you can’t just say all right, everyone take out a book and read for 10 minutes, right? Where are they getting these books? Do you even know if everyone can read?

Emily
This is where your script can save the day. If you find yourself with unexpected downtime, you can either scramble for something to do, or you can choose an activity from the list of time fillers you thought of ahead of time. Think of this as a mini version of the time filler activity kit we talked about in episode 68.

Heidi
These activities can be super simple, you know, consider a book that you can just set aside as a read aloud if you have the time. Or maybe you copy a fun coloring page, you just need enough to keep kids busy for a few random minutes.

Emily
The nice thing about creating a time filler activity bank is that it can help you fill any unexpected moments for the whole first week, or until your regular routine is up and running. We’re aiming for simple here, but you might want to think of different types of activities just to keep things interesting. Some categories of activities might be movement, music, video, books art, or games.

Heidi
Just be intentional about choosing activities that are right for the beginning of the school year. So if you haven’t introduced the procedures for your glue bottles, you don’t want to start our cut and paste activity yet.

Emily
Yeah. Which is another reason to keep things simple. We don’t want headaches from the activities that are supposed to be helping us out.

Heidi
No. And then once you have your list of activities in your idea bank, just prepare what you can. Maybe make a playlist of videos you might want to show, print the lyrics to songs and the instructions to any games you might want to teach.

Heidi
You can copy a word search or a coloring page. And then, you know set aside any books you might want to read just so you can grab them quickly. And then you’re set for anything that that first week might throw at you.

Emily
And if you don’t get to any of the activities, add them to your regular time filler kit, or save them for when you need something for a sub to do. Your time fellas can really help you out for a long time to come.

Heidi
To wrap up the show we are sharing what we’re giving extra credit to this week. Emily, what are you giving extra credit to?

Emily
I’m giving extra credit to the show Just Add Magic on Amazon. It’s not new or anything. It’s a kid show. My oldest really got into it in like I think 2018 or 2019. Yeah, I watched the whole series with her then.

Emily
And then recently my other two kids have discovered it. And so we’ve been having so much fun watching it together. My youngest like asked me to print out the cover of the cookbook and she’s been like assembling her own little cookbook, and she was copying recipes off of the back of like a Betty Crocker brownie mix. So cute.

Emily
So the show is about three best friends who find a mysterious ancient cookbook that also happens to be magic. It’s set in this charming little town with lots of interesting characters and the girls go on many adventures and often get themselves into trouble.

Emily
I appreciate that the storylines are rarely about any kind of drama between the girls. I feel like it is so hard to find kids shows, especially with girl characters that aren’t about drama. So it’s a fun and sweet show with four seasons out on Amazon Prime. So give it a watch if you’re looking for a family show for elementary aged kids. Heidi, what are you giving credit to?

Heidi
Well, Emily, you get my extra credit this week. So we had the summer solstice, not that long ago. And Emily, you just really did a good job of making sure that we did something for it, because I just appreciate that you don’t let events pass us by without making some kind of effort so that we’re celebrating and it’s really important for the kids to be making memories.

Heidi
When really like it was so last minute, it would have been so easy to be like it’s not that big of a deal. But it turned out to be really fun night we had a fire pit we did s’mores. It was great. It was a fun memory. So thank you for making sure that that happens,

Emily
Even though I had to Instacart marshmallows at the last minute when I realized that ours were stale. So but we did have fun and thanks for letting us use your firepit and I’m sorry that you burned yourself. She was the only one that burned herself at this event. The children were all fine.

Heidi
I spared the child so that sacrifice my finger. Well, good job.

Heidi
That’s it for today’s episode. Consider writing your own first day of school script. And don’t forget our teacher proof tip to plan time filler activities for the beginning of the year.