OTT 270: Short Week, Full Heart; Sanity Saved

The week before Thanksgiving can feel like a carnival on wheels—school-wide feasts, cupcake drop-offs, half the class rehearsing for a turkey play, and attention spans migrating toward grandma’s pie. We lean into that reality with a grounded plan that keeps learning meaningful without draining your last nerve. Instead of cramming a full unit or launching new systems, we focus on survival with purpose: low-prep, high-engagement activities that create calm structure, protect your energy, and still spark joy.

We start with one anchor text—think Molly’s Pilgrim or any gratitude-themed read—and build simple, reflective responses that reinforce comprehension and connection. Then we channel restless energy into hands-on STEM story stations using easy materials like cardboard, tape, and craft sticks. From designing parade floats after Balloons Over Broadway to quick engineering challenges, students collaborate, iterate, and share, while you finally take a breath. To cap it off, a short reader’s theater provides a shared goal with big payoff in fluency, expression, and classroom community—assigned Monday, practiced Tuesday, performed Wednesday with zero busywork.

Along the way, we share a ready early-finisher kit, guardrails that keep transitions smooth, and a firm list of what to skip: tests, parent conferences, new behavior systems, and any guilt about reusing resources. The core message is simple—reuse what works, download what’s ready, and give yourself grace. You’re a good teacher even when you choose rest and ease. Want ready-to-use materials? I point you to Thanksgiving Readers Theater, Thanksgiving STEM story stations, Molly’s Pilgrim activities, and even Christmas STEM options if you want to pivot early.

If this helped, follow the show, share it with a teacher friend who needs permission to breathe, and leave a quick review telling us your favorite short-week strategy. Your future self—post-pie—will thank you.

Links Mentioned in Show:

Thanksgiving Time and Sanity Savers 

Chapters

• 0:00 Setting The Realistic Tone
• 1:35 Why Survival With Purpose Matters
• 2:55 Low-Prep Wins That Actually Work
• 4:30 A Practical Short-Week Plan
• 6:00 What To Skip And Why
• 7:10 Encouragement, Resources, And Closing

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome to One Tired Teacher episode 270. What I actually do during the Thanksgiving short week. Okay, aka How to Survive the Week Before a Break Without Losing Your Sanity. That's what it should be called. Welcome to One Tired Teacher. This is a podcast for educators who love their kids but need a minute. And today's episode is for anyone that is crawling toward a Thanksgiving break with one nerve left. And their class tap dancing on it. Let's be honest. I'm not pulling out a full-blown literacy unit this week. I'm not teaching paragraph structure with fidelity. I'm not introducing a brand new science standard on a Wednesday when I know half the class is already mentally at grandma's house eating pie. This week is about survival with purpose. If you are listening to this on Monday morning and you are driving to school, you know what I'm talking about. So today I'm walking you through what I actually do during the Thanksgiving short week, what works, what I can let go of, and how to make space for joy. And a little bit of breathing room as well. Hope you stick around.

SPEAKER_01: 1:12

Welcome to One Tired Teacher. And even though she may need a nap, this teacher is ready to wake up and speak her truth about the trials and treasures of teaching. Here she is, wide awake. Wait, she's not asleep right now, is she? She is awake, right? Okay. From Trina Deborah Teaching and Learning, your host, Trina Debori.

SPEAKER_00: 1:35

Hey, can we just say it? The week before Thanksgiving is chaos. There's a school-wide feast, somebody's mom is sending cupcakes. Oh gosh, that used to make me insane. Like celebrating a birthday on that, on those two or three days that you're there. Oh, your class is performing a turkey play and no one remembers their lines. Okay. It's not the bit, it's not the week to plan big. I'm just gonna say that because not everybody will even be there. There's a lot of kids that will be absent. It's the week to lean on resources that do the heavy lifting for you. Prepped, ready, low stress. You know what I've used this week and actually loved? I've actually used a quick reader's theater that gives me like 30 minutes of student-led joy while I sip tea and pretend to grade papers. When actually I'm really just maybe quickly planning for the week back so I don't have to do anything over the break. That is what I call a win-win. Another thing that has worked really well is Thanksgiving STEM story stations. These keep kids building and problem solving, and it's totally distracting for them. And also they're focused on a really good Thanksgiving book. And yes, I've even pulled out December subplans a little early. Don't judge, I call it a strategic scaffolding. You could even use the November subplans and be like really super specific. That is up to you. Okay. So let's take a look at a little sneak peek of a short week plan. So maybe on Monday and Tuesday, you do Molly's Pilgrim or another gratitude theme book, you do a quick, quick writing or discussion, you let students create their own version of the story or a gratitude chain for the classroom. Easy. Just super, super easy. Another thing that you can do is maybe in the middle, like Tuesday, or if you have to teach on Wednesday, oh you do STEM story stations with the Thanksgiving with Thanksgiving themes. There are no prep challenges. You're using simple materials like cardboard, paper, tape, popsicle sticks, things like that, things that you already have. And it's there's a bonus that you let them kind of engineer a Thanksgiving float after reading balloons over blot Broadway, which I actually have a little reader about the history of that as well. That could be something that you do that's super engaging and you know easy to do. Another thing that I love to do is, you know, the reader's theater. I think assigning the parts maybe on Monday and letting them practice it on Tuesday and then perform it on Wednesday, they could do it for, you know, for your class or for another class or something, something to give them a little breakup in the routine. And then always wanting them to have early finisher, like an emergency kit of early finishers, like um whether it's bookmarks to color or gratitude, you know, word searches, or I have a November color by code um packet that has writing and coloring. So that's a great way to like give them something to do if they are finishing early. And most importantly, I protect my piece. I don't over plan and I don't overextend. That was the key. That was the key to making it if I wasn't already sick. Because this week isn't about proving where you're our like the best teacher in the world. It's about making it to the break without getting sick, without losing our sanity, and it's helping kids feel safe and seen and a little festive in the process. All right, here's a quick list of what I don't want you to do, what I think you should hold back on just because of the years of experience. Take it or leave it. No tests. This is a terrible time to do tests. You're gonna have kids absent and they're just not in it. No parent conferences, no starting new behavior systems, no guilt for choosing rest, no reinventing the wheel. None of that. Instead, refuse what don't yeah, refuse all that and like allow yourself to reuse what works, download what's ready and remind yourself you're a good teacher, even if you're not doing it all this week. Say it with me. You're a good teacher. I'm a good teacher. That's what you want to tell yourself. It's okay. You deserve to enjoy your break. And the week before it, you deserve you deserve a little bit of grace. So borrow a plan, use a resource, let the kids, you know, color a little longer, and please don't stress if your class isn't running like a well-oiled machine. If it's okay if the vibe is controlled chaos with a hint of cinnamon, that's still learning, they're still connecting. If you want ready to help for you, short a short week go-to, check out my Thanksgiving Readers Theater, my Thanksgiving STEM story stations, my Molly's pilgrim activities, anything like that. You can even pivot into Christmas early and do Christmas STEM story stations. I will share those links in the show notes. Happy almost break. You are doing enough. You are enough. And I, for one, am super, super grateful for you and for all that you do. And if you need any little like thoughts on what not to do in the month of November, then you want to go check the quick little bonus episode that I did. I think it was the second week of November. And what episode was that? I think it was 260. What are we on? I think it was 268. I'm pretty sure it was 268. All right. Until next time, sweet dreams and sleep tight.