5 Tried and True Tips for Teaching in December [episode 171]

Emily  0:36

Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today’s episode, we’re sharing five tried and true tips for teaching in December, and we’ve got a teacher approved tip for finding some more December teaching inspiration.

Heidi  0:49

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 describe teaching in December in five words. Emily, what five words would you give to December?

Emily  1:02

Mine would be that is a January problem.

Heidi  1:07

Oh, yes, those are almost famous last words as well as December descriptors.

Emily  1:12

Yes, do what I say, not what I do. What are your five words Heidi?

Heidi  1:17

Well, I know this is an old joke, but every time I think, scrape kids off ceiling. Repeat.

Emily  1:23

That’s so true. We have some fun responses from our teacher approved community. Celeste says Advil is my best friend. Andrea says, Serenity now, Serenity now, now!

Heidi  1:40

And I appreciate she added a gif to that too.

Emily  1:42

Yes Michelle said, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Oh, 100% she doesn’t even need five words to say what she’s got to say. Sara said, cover mouth and wash hands.

Heidi  1:57

Yeah, that probably works for the whole winter.

Emily  1:58

Yes. Diane said, Help, help, help, help. Abby said, the classroom inside is frightful.

Heidi  2:09

I want to hear the rest of that song now Emily.

Emily  2:11

Yeah I’m not going to be singing it for you. And let’s finish with this gem from Amy, who said it’s like living in hell. Oh, a merry little hell I hope. We’d love to hear your five word descriptions of December. Come share with us in the teacher approved Facebook group.

Heidi  2:30

If you didn’t know before, you could probably guess from those five word descriptions that teaching in December can be a bit of a challenge.

Emily  2:39

I loved being a teacher in December, there were so many fun things to do, but I frequently drained every ounce of energy from my body.

Heidi  2:48

Yeah, December teaching is a real mixed bag of highs and lows. In last week’s episode, we shared some ideas for managing the fun highs, so it only seems fair that this week we tackled the low lows.

Emily  3:02

There’s gonna be some highs in here too. Just hold on. So check out Episode 170 though for ways to add fun to your class without everything falling apart. And keep listening to this episode for our top five tips for teaching in December.

Heidi  3:18

Let’s kick things off with our first tip, which is to prepare for disruptions, and there will be disruptions. This may be one of the hardest parts of teaching during the holiday season. There’s the holiday fundraiser kickoff assemblies, the high school band performance, the school sing along. And you know this is barely scratching the surface of all the interruptions that can clutter your December calendar, or can just pop up a little warning.

Emily  3:44

And that’s not to mention the spur of the moment interruptions of a big snowstorm or inside recess. We like to call these stretches of time with lots of interruptions Swiss cheese weeks, but December can be a whole Swiss cheese month.

Heidi  4:00

So how do you handle all of these disruptions? And the key is just to expect them and be prepared.

Emily  4:06

Okay, cool. So be prepared. Got it? Everyone moving on. Just kidding. The big question is, how can you be prepared for disruptions, especially ones that aren’t even known in advance?

Emily  4:18

You start with your schedule. Are there days that you know in advance will have disruptions? Plan a modified schedule for those days. Maybe on days with assemblies you’re going to rework your schedule and skip science, or maybe you won’t do centers on those days. Knowing in advance what your schedule will be will keep you from scrambling in the moment.

Heidi  4:38

Now, what about the disruptions you can’t plan for? One way to be prepared for whatever disruptions arise is to make a time filler activity bank. We have included a page for this in the December teacher survival kit.

Emily  4:51

And this is a new addition to the survival kit. The nice thing about a digital product is that we can update it easily, but unfortunately, your copy of the file if you already have it doesn’t automatically update. So if you have a version of the survival kit that doesn’t have the time filler activity bank, make sure you go download again, and then you can just paste in that tab into your current file.

Heidi  5:13

Easy peasy. But if you don’t have the survival kit, any piece of paper will work. Or, you know, you could get a Google Doc. You just need a list of quick activities that can fill any random pockets of downtime.

Heidi  5:25

You want to load your time filler activity bank with a variety of ready to go activities that you can do on short notice. That list of festive books to choose from links to short holiday learning videos or a Quick Print and Go activity like the ones on our Christmas festive breaks. Those are all great. Ideally, you’ll have the book set aside and ready to go, the links already bookmarked and the copies already made. So these activities you can just grab and go in a moment’s notice.

Emily  5:52

So let’s say your class gets back from an assembly early and you have only 10 minutes before library. You don’t want to dive into your lesson for such a short amount of time. So what can you do instead?

Heidi  6:02

Well all you have to do is check your time filler activity bank for an activity that will take about 10 minutes and you’re ready to go. Because you did the prep for those activities already, you can have the class up and running with your time filler activity in just a few minutes.

Emily  6:18

Or, let’s say it’s school pajama day, you still needed to fit in a math lesson, but after giving it your best shot for 20 minutes, you decide it’s a losing battle to get the kids to focus. What do you do with the remaining 20 minutes of math time?

Emily  6:30

Normally, I would say, get out old math games and play them for a while, but when kids are that hyper, the loose structure of playing games is just tossing gasoline onto the fire. Grab your time filler activity, bank and put together 20 minutes of engaging low effort, maybe low key activities to fill the time.

Heidi  6:49

Right. You could show a short video, read a picture book, learn an action song, do a movement brain break, play a whole class learning game like vocabulary Pictionary or anything else that will keep the kids engaged with minimal effort on your part.

Emily  7:04

Keep in mind that your emergency time fillers don’t have to be holiday themed just because it’s December. If that matters to you, go for it, but you can show a 10 minute video on shapes or how shoes are made, and it will still meet the goal of keeping the high energy levels in check.

Heidi  7:19

Also, because you have no way of knowing if you’re going to need two or maybe 20 time filler activities this December, you may want to avoid adding any activities to the list that you really want to get to.

Heidi  7:31

If there’s a book you want to read to your class, or if there’s a certain art project you want them to do, make sure to schedule those things in. Or you could use them as festive breaks so you can make sure that you get to them this month. Leave your time for their activities, for things that don’t really matter.

Emily  7:46

And when all else fails, take a deep breath and be flexible. If your schedule gets completely thrown off one day, it’s just one day you can get back on course soon.

Heidi  7:56

Back in episode 38 we shared our three keys for thriving as a teacher in December, and our first key is to have the right mindset. If you go into December with some plans in place for disruptions, but also an attitude of flexibility, this month is just going to go so much more smoothly.

Emily  8:14

Our second tip for teaching in December is to keep your procedures and routines tight, or as tight as you can anyway.

Heidi  8:22

When things get wild, it can be tempting just to let things slide right. You are tired. I have been there. I know how tired you are. The kids are extra amped up. You can just get everything back on track in January, right?

Emily  8:34

Do your best to resist this urge. It takes more work to push through to the end of a rough day than it does to get the day back on track. So when things are getting out of hand, call a stop to what’s happening and gather everyone for a redirect.

Heidi  8:50

You will definitely want to revisit your procedures and routines in January, but that doesn’t mean you want to let them go completely in December. You’re just making your job that much harder when you let the foundation of your management fall apart.

Emily  9:03

Smooth procedures and routines are what keep your class running smoothly. It’s a great idea in December to take some time each day to address any procedures that are going off course. Maybe every day during morning meeting, you’ll revisit one of them and make a plan for improving it.

Heidi  9:19

Or you may find that simply reminding the students of your expectations is enough to keep things on track. Before you head to lunch, you can revisit your lunchroom expectations. Or before the kids head to specialty classes, you can remind them of the expectations, and then, of course, you want to follow up after to see how well they did.

Emily  9:35

Yes, keeping the expectations alive will help things a lot in December.

Heidi  9:40

In our December teacher survival kit, there are some pages for you to make mini posters of your behavior expectations. So if you don’t already have these in your classroom, you can just print off the stack and revisit them all day long if you have to. With so much novelty in the air, we really have to put in our strongest efforts to uphold our structure.

Emily  10:00

So think about that student engagement scale that we talk about. Picture an old balance scale with structure on one side and novelty on the other. When your scale leans too far to one side or the other, it is a challenge to get your students engaged. When those sides are fairly even, your students will be engaged.

Heidi  10:19

Unsurprisingly, in December, the novelty side of your scale will likely be piled high most days. To keep your students engaged, you need to lean into the structure side of your scale. Try to stick to your regular schedule as much as you can. Don’t let your procedures go give students predictability to calm their excited little nerves.

Emily  10:40

But that’s not the only thing we can do to help students stay engaged and on task. That’s where tip three comes in, which is to embrace a classroom reward system. So can you tell us about that Heidi?

Heidi  10:41

Well of course. If you’ve listened to our podcast before, it’s no secret that we’re not typically big fans of reward systems. The main reason is because reward systems don’t actually work long term, and they are a ton of work to manage, so it’s not something we recommend for regular use.

Emily  11:11

But December is not a regular time. You got to do what you got to do to keep your class on track in December, and a reward system is likely to be very helpful with that.

Heidi  11:22

Reward systems work well in December because you’re only using them for that short term period before winter break. You can start your reward system as soon as Thanksgiving break ends, or you can save it for when your class really starts to need one in December, it’s totally up to you.

Emily  11:36

And there are multiple ways to approach a reward system for December. You can do a whole class reward system, like our teacher favorite Reindeer Games reward system. The class earns reindeer with their good behavior, and when all the reindeer have been earned, a surprise reward is revealed. In our holiday behavior helps bundle, we have everything you need to do this system, including a bunch of easy reward ideas that your students will love.

Heidi  11:59

Another fun reward system in our holiday behavior helps is our build a character. It’s so cute where you have the students earn the pieces to build a little gingerbread guy.

Heidi  12:00

This works great for having your groups compete against each other. You would just need a set of pieces for each group or table. If competition is motivating for your students, they will love this and that competition can push them to be even better behaved, or you can always earn the character pieces as a whole class reward system.

Emily  12:29

But if competition will result in negativity in your classroom, you may want to go for an individual reward system. One that we include in the holiday behavior helps resource is the lucky chance game. So explain that one Heidi.

Heidi  12:41

This is such a fun one. So you just start by printing out the lucky chance board, which has a row of symbols across the top and then letters down the side, and then there’s just an empty grid.

Heidi  12:52

When students have good behavior, you tell them that they can go add their name to a square in the board, and they can pick any square they want. And then when it’s time to choose a winner, you pull a symbol and a letter card at random, the student whose name is on that square of the board gets the prize.

Emily  13:07

You can either have a set time of the day that you’re going to choose a winner, or you can plan to choose a winner as soon as the board is full. If you go that route, though, be sure you don’t fill up the final square until it’s a convenient time to choose a winner.

Heidi  13:20

You could choose one type of reward system or mix and match them to meet your needs. Just don’t forget that no matter which reward system you choose, you want to introduce it with a discussion about your expectations. Now is the moment to be concrete with your students about what types of behaviors earn rewards and what types of behaviors lose rewards.

Emily  13:41

Our fourth December teaching tip is to remember that you can do anything, but you can’t do everything. There is no shortage of amazing activity ideas to try in December. It’s going to be tempting to do a lot, but that is a recipe for disaster.

Heidi  13:56

You can do any activity that you are excited about. If you want to go big on a North Pole classroom transformation, because those big surprises are your favorite part of teaching. You should absolutely go all in on that and send us the pictures, because that really does sound amazing.

Emily  14:12

Yes it does. But if that sounds terrible to you, then don’t feel even a moment of guilt for opting out of it. There are so many ways to be a fun teacher, which we discussed in last week’s episode. You don’t have to do what the other teachers are doing to be a fun teacher.

Heidi  14:27

It’s important to do the things that are fun for you, because that’s what makes teaching more enjoyable, and you bring more joy to the activity. And in turn, to your students when you choose activities that light you up.

Emily  14:39

Just be aware that with any holiday activity, whether that’s in your classroom or in your home life, when you say yes to one activity, you are in turn going to have to say no to some others. So make sure that you’re saving time and energy for the things you really enjoy. Focus your energy on what you’re excited to do in December and let the rest go.

Emily  14:57

And that brings us to our last December teaching tip, which is to make time for holiday magic.

Heidi  15:04

Now, just so we’re clear, holiday magic does not have to mean going all out. In fact, I think the best holiday magic are the small moments of joy that you can sprinkle into your December schedule.

Emily  15:15

One bit of holiday magic that we loved to do with our second graders was a visit from Sinterklaas. So one side of our family heritage is Dutch, so we have received a visit from Sinterklaas on the night of December 5 our whole lives. And I cannot tell you the joy it gave me to share this with my students.

Heidi  15:34

It was such a highlight for me when I taught second grade, I’d have all of my kids leave one shoe in the hall, and they were always so confused, and it was just very fun to be a teacher that. And then I gathered them to read the Baker’s Dozen book about St Nicholas. But of course, I would read it as Sinterklaas, because I was raised right.

Heidi  15:56

While we read the story, one of the sweet angels in the front office would come fill their shoes with a little surprise. And when I first started doing it, I would use bags of candy, but it did feel weird to put candy and like, sweaty little shoes, so I switched to those little packs you can find in the target spot that have like a coloring book and four crayons and a few stickers for like a buck.

Heidi  16:18

And after we would finish the book, I would talk about Dutch traditions, and that, because I’m Dutch, I could get in touch with Sinterklaas, and then I would watch as all these little light bulbs came on. Their eyes would get big, and I would finally let them go check their shoes. It was really one of my favorite moments of the whole year.

Emily  16:33

Yes, me too. Oh. Just makes me smile.

Emily  16:37

Another bit of holiday magic I love is a book Advent. You can do this in the classroom by wrapping up some of your favorite holiday read alouds and unwrapping one to read each day. Or you can incorporate a reading calendar, like the adorable free Christmas reading calendars from everyday reading.

Heidi  16:53

They really are cute. So every year, everyday reading on Instagram makes a free holiday themed poster with reading prompts like read a book about a snowman, and then after you do the prompt, you get to color a piece of the picture.

Heidi  17:07

If you wanted you could print off the poster for your class and then try to finish up the poster this year. Now you might have to double up and do a couple prompts a day, but it would be a really low key way to sprinkle in some festive fun and reading into your class.

Emily  17:20

The important thing here is to remember what we said last week about sprinkling in the fun like seasoning, you don’t want to go overboard with the fun and waste all your learning time, or use up all your energy or disrupt your classroom management.

Heidi  17:33

Plus, fun is more special if you use it strategically. Treat it like a treat.

Emily  17:38

December is one of my favorite times of the year to be a teacher. It can get hard at times, but remember our five December teaching tips. Prepare for disruptions, keep your procedures and routines tight, embrace a reward system you can do anything but not everything, and make time for holiday magic.

Heidi  17:59

We would love to hear your best tips for teaching in December. Come join the conversation in our teacher approved Facebook group.

Emily  18:06

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 to check out our past holiday podcast episodes.

Heidi  18:19

Yes, you definitely want to do that, because we have amassed quite a catalog of episodes addressing all of the ins and outs of teaching in December. But to make it easy for you to find that information, we have put them all together in one playlist.

Emily  18:34

So visit the show notes and you can find a link to our December teaching podcast playlist.

Heidi  18:42

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

Emily  18:46

I’m giving extra credit to the book that I just finished a few hours ago, The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year, by Ally Carter. So enemy novel writers Maggie and Ethan receive cryptic invitations to a Christmas house party at an English estate.

Heidi  19:01

I love that they’re enemy novel writers.

Emily  19:03

Of course they are! Which turns out to be owned by the famous mystery writer Eleanor Ashley. But that night, Eleanor disappears from inside her locked office, and Maggie and Ethan are left unraveling the clues and investigating the other house guests on their quest to find her. The rivals have to become allies and avoid killing each other to solve the mystery.

Emily  19:27

Absolutely loved this book. It was such a fun read, great banter, some of my favorite tropes alive and well in here, and it has a real knives out kind of vibe.

Heidi  19:37

Has it got a Christmas feel at all?

Emily  19:39

Yes, it’s not, I would say it’s not overly Christmas, but it was Christmasy enough for me, because it takes place over, you know, the the week of Christmas.

Heidi  19:50

Okay, all right, I’m gonna go download this right now, because I was just, I need a Christmas book.

Emily  19:54

It’s a good I feel like first read for Christmas. If you’re just getting into your Christmas reading. And then you can get into the hard hitting Christmas tree farm books later in the month. What are you giving extra credit to Heidi?

Heidi  20:07

Well, my extra credit also goes to a book. This is a very different type of audience. My book is, Tis the Season: a lift the flap Advent calendar full of Christmas poems. So this is published by Nosy Crow. And if you know their books, you know they have the sweetest illustrations.

Heidi  20:25

This was a total impulse buy. I saw it on Target, and I thought, well, I need to have this. And despite the title saying it’s an Advent book, I totally missed that when I ordered it, so when it came that was just a fun surprise. So I love advent calendars, and I’m a sucker for poetry picture books. So this really knocks it out of the park on both levels.

Emily  20:45

Yeah, just checks all your boxes, right?

Heidi  20:46

This was made for me. There is a short poem for each day, and then you can lift a little flap and find a hidden picture. I just demonstrated with my hands how you lift the flaps in books. So just in case you need a handy guide. You can read this as a book where you like turn the pages, but it also folds out accordion style if you want to display it.

Heidi  21:07

Ooh, it’s really pretty. I was always trying to get more poetry into my classroom, so this might be a fun thing to add to your class this year. I will say most of the poems are wintry, but a few of them are about Christmas, if that’s an issue. But none of the poems are religious. So I think they would be okay in pretty much any classroom.

Emily  21:22

Ooh, that sounds like a fun book.

Heidi  21:25

It’s gorgeous. You’ll have to you have to look at my copy.

Heidi  21:29

That’s it for today’s episode. Remember our five tried and true tips for teaching in December, and don’t forget our teacher proof tip to check out our holiday episode playlist.

Emily  21:39

If you enjoyed this episode, we would love it if you shared with a teacher friend who might enjoy it as well. It’s the best way to help our show reach new listeners, and you can help your friends get a head start on planning for December.