Be realistic and manageable about what we want to do over our summer so we don’t overwhelm ourselves and we work smarter, not harder.
~ Zeba from Episode 88 of The Kindergarten Cafe Podcast
Episode Summary
It’s June, teacher friends! Which means some of us are officially in summer mode while others (like me!) are counting down the days. In this shorter episode, I’m giving you a sneak peek at everything happening this summer at Kindergarten Café – from free challenges to coaching and resources to help you prep for the new school year without the overwhelm.
Whether you’re a brand new kindergarten teacher or just looking for a fresh way to plan your summer, I’ve got something for you. Plus, I’m sharing my favorite summer books and shows to help you relax and recharge. ☀️📚🍿
However you’re feeling this summer (tired, excited, overwhelmed) I’m here to support you every step of the way. Let’s find that kindergarten magic and enjoy some well-earned rest.
In this episode I share:
- Ways you can learn more from me this summer
- What I have available to support you
- What’s in store for the podcast this summer
- Summer Plans and Reflections
Summer Learning Options:
Summer Challenge:
Connect with Zeba:
- Instagram – @kindergartencafe
- Facebook – @kindergartencafe
- Website – www.kindergartencafe.org
- Tik Tok – @kindergartencafe
PD BY THE POOL
Kinder Summer Learning Bundle
Kinder Coaching Week
Read the Transcript
[0:00] Hey there, teacher friends. Today’s episode is going to be a little shorter because it’s June.
[0:05] It’s June. Half of you, three quarters of you, who knows, are already on vacation. And some of you, like me, are not yet. So it’s just kind of like a weird time. But I really want to take this opportunity to tell you all about what’s going on this summer with Kindergarten Cafe and how I can best help you this summer.
[0:24] Music. You’re listening to the Kindergarten Cafe Podcast where kindergarten teachers come to learn classroom tested tips and tricks and teaching ideas they can use in their classroom right away I’m Zeba creator and founder of kindergarten cafe and I help kindergarten teachers with everything they need from arrival to dismissal in order to save time, work smarter, not harder, and support students with engaging and purposeful lessons. I’m here to cheer you on through your successes and breakthroughs and offer support and resources so you never have to feel stuck or alone. Ready to start saving time and reducing your stress all while using effective and purposeful lessons that students love? Let’s get started.
[1:19] I’ve got really exciting things happening for you this summer, requested by you, created for you. So the first thing that I’m excited about, it’s brand new, is a free Kickstart Summer Challenge. It is a four-week email challenge, one email a week, totally self-paced. So when you sign up, you start getting into the challenge like the following beginning of the week, and then you just get one email every week. And there’s two tracks. There’s one for new kindergarten teachers and there’s one for returning teachers because new kindergarten teachers need something a little different than returning kindergarten teachers. You’re going to get weekly tips, action steps, and we have some points that you can earn and some rewards that you can get based on how many points you have. So I’m really excited about that. It’s there for you when you are ready to start thinking about the next school year. And that first week of the challenge is all about reflecting and making goals. So it’s like easing you into it doesn’t jump right into thinking about next year. So keep that in mind when you are signing up. If you’re like, well, I should probably start thinking about next school year, but I don’t I’m not quite ready yet. That first week will be super easy and mostly just about reflecting and taking time to think about what you need for the summer.
[2:35] So I really hope you join that free challenge and hope we see you in the challenge. The next option for you to learn with me this summer is really geared for new kindergarten teachers, but it’s a private podcast called PD by the Pool. So it’s a self-paced PD experience that is designed, like I said, just for new kindergarten teachers. It’s a private podcast, so you can listen to it anywhere. You can listen to it by the pool, on your walk. That’s why I love podcasts. You can literally listen to them anywhere and you can be learning while you’re doing it. So in the course, I cover classroom setup, launching academics.
[3:12] Talking about routines, everything that a new kindergarten teacher should know and that I wish I had known when I was starting kindergarten is in that PD by the pool. So definitely check that out, kindergartencafe.org slash summer. If you are a new kindergarten teacher and you want to learn all the things,
[3:31] definitely check that out. The next opportunity to work with me this summer is through my live kinder coaching week. And it’s geared towards new kindergarten teachers, but it does not have to be just new kindergarten teachers. So I go over exactly what to plan for your first week of kindergarten and exactly how to launch it successfully your first week of kindergarten. So if you want to revisit that as a returning kindergarten teacher, or if you’re a new kindergarten teacher and you want help planning that, this is the perfect week for you. It’s mid-July. There will be recordings available, but it’s a great chance if you can come live to come ask questions, give me ideas, and I can give you feedback, all those kinds of things.
[4:11] So that is the other option. If you want to get both the PD by the Pool and the Kinder Coaching Week, you can buy one, get one half off with the Summer Learning Bundle. So something to consider.
[4:24] In addition to the live Kinder Coaching Week, which is for the whole group, I do offer one-on-one coaching. So if you have something in particular that you want help with, the summer is a great time to tackle that. But this coaching, one-on-one coaching is available anytime, all year. I just absolutely love helping kindergarten teachers get better at teaching, work smarter, not harder, make things easier, less stressful, all the things so that you can enjoy teaching and enjoy the kindergarten magic. That coaching is available one-on-one if you’re interested. Or like I said, the kinder coaching week is focused specifically on the first week of school and planning that out. So those are two options for coaching for you. The next thing that I want to remind you is I have so many weekly podcasts that I’m excited for you to hear about over the summer. The next two podcasts are going to be about making a summer plan and being realistic and manageable about what we want to do over our summer. So we don’t overwhelm ourselves and we work smarter, not harder, my favorite phrase. So definitely check those out.
[5:29] And then coming up in July, I’ve got all kinds of classroom setup podcasts for you. And then we’ll start talking about like actually starting back to school and all of that. So definitely be sure to check that out. Now, I’ve got tons and tons of resources through old podcasts and through the blog. If you’re doing the challenge, those resources will be shared with you. But if you’re ever looking for something, if you want help with something, if you can’t find something, shoot me an email, send me a DM. I’d love to help. It’s super easy for me to send out a link your way.
[6:00] Or if it’s something I haven’t covered on the podcast or the blog before, it could be a great topic for the podcast. So just definitely reach out with any questions. I can help you find what you need or I can help answer your question. I know this was a short episode, but I just wanted you to know about all the summer opportunities you can have with me this summer. However you are feeling this summer, whether you are feeling tired, overwhelmed, excited, there is something here for you. I want to support you. You don’t have to do this alone. I’m here to help you find that kindergarten magic. And because this was such a short episode, I wanted to include some of the things that I am excited about this summer or some of the things that I’ve enjoyed recently reading or watching because summer is the perfect time to rest and recharge. And a lot of that for me anyway involves reading or watching TV.
[6:53] And please reach out and let me know if you have ideas for me to read or watch the summer based on what I’ve shared that I’ve loved. Or if you also enjoyed what I am about to share, please let me know. I love to chit chat about books. I love to chat about shows all the time. Definitely reach out. Okay, let’s start with books. If you are looking for a fun summer rom-com book, Emily Henry has a new book and Abby Jimenez has a new book. They are two of my go-to feel-good book series. Like you kind of know exactly what’s going to happen at the end. You just don’t know how they’re going to get there. And it’s just a fun ride along the way. Emily Henry’s new book, Great Big Beautiful Life. It was really enjoyable. Kind of reminded me of Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. So if you liked that, you probably would like this.
[7:44] Say Y’all Remember Me is by Abby Jimenez. It’s her new book and just another fun rom-com book. If you’re looking for more fun rom-coms, those authors are really good places to start. Something I’m looking forward to this summer is reading some books. I have a bunch of books by Christina Lauren on my Kindle that I haven’t read yet, and Carly Fortune. I think she basically only does like summer books. This summer will be different. Meet Me at the Lake, that’s what’s on my Kindle that I’m going to get started reading soon. Very summer vibe, so I’m excited about that.
[8:21] Of course, there’s another Abby Jimenez book just for the summer, which is definitely good summer vibes if you haven’t read that one. Christina Lauren is another good one for fun rom-com reads. That’s the author. It’s actually two authors, but the author name is Christina Lauren. If you’re looking for more of a thriller, I don’t necessarily have a recent book I would recommend because I haven’t read any in a little while. But my favorite authors for like more thrillers, mysteries, suspense are Frieda McFadden and Lucy Foley. I love them never see their endings coming Rachel Hawkins is also really good it’s less scary and more just like what is gonna happen if you’re looking for historical fiction my favorite author of all time is Kate Quinn so I’ve read a lot of books recently or in the last couple of years so if you ever want to talk books like I said let me know now in terms of tv shows the first show I’d recommend if you haven’t seen it already if you are looking for just a complete mental escape tape and jaw-dropping reality TV, I hope you have already watched or will see The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. I almost wish it came out over the summer so I could have just sat and watched it. It was season two came out. It was so good. So if you haven’t seen it at all and you like that kind of thing, you’re in for two amazing seasons. More scripted show on Max. My husband and I loved watching The Pit recently.
[9:44] It’s all about the emergency room doctor like doctors in the emergency room and each hour episode is an hour in the emergency room and it is really good tv i’m currently watching sirens on netflix so far i’m hooked haven’t don’t know too much about it yet but there’s something going on it’s giving a little bit like perfect couple vibes so i’m excited to see where that goes the residence on netflix was really fun to watch it’s about like a it’s a fictional white house or there’s a murder at the white house of a staff member and so it’s not political it’s not like a political drama but it’s more about like a murder investigation but there’s also the detective is really into birds so it’s fun it’s fun it’s from shonda rhimes so anything by her is good new season of jenny and george is.
[10:33] Think I’ll enjoy that. I usually do. If you haven’t seen it already, Apple Cider Vinegar on Netflix is like a miniseries, and I can’t believe that it’s based on a true story. That’s crazy. But it’s good. And The Diplomat is also really good if you haven’t seen that. If you’re into like dramas.
[10:53] If you have Apple TV and you’re looking for a like fun, feel-good show, I really liked shrinking really liked shrinking on there and then there’s a lot of dramas on there they’re really good so basically let me know what i should be watching i need more of a list and if we had things in common please let me know because i would love to hear what you have planned for the summer and my plans for the summer involve a lot of kindergarten cafe projects so if you have a request please reach out and let me know while i’m doing my planning for the summer i’m doing only 10 days of summer school. Very excited. Only 10 days. I plan on going to some local trips around New England, around to different lakes or rivers, oceans, all the water, lots of reading. Time to relax. Definitely. So those are some things I’m looking forward to. And let me know what you’re looking forward to. All right.
[11:49] Thanks so much for listening to this short episode about summer. And I can’t wait for summer to be here finally. All right, we’ll talk in the next episode.
[12:04] Thanks so much for listening to the Kindergarten Cafe podcast. Be sure to check out the show notes for more information and resources or just head straight to kindergartencafe.org for all the goodies. If you liked this episode, the best ways to show your support are to subscribe, leave a review or send it to a friend. I’ll be back next week with even more kindergarten tips. See you then.