PSSSST... Destiny has a book coming out. Look for The C.A.L.M. Teacher later this year. Tell Me More

What’s Working? What’s Wearing You Out?

You’re roughly a quarter of the way into the school year, and those shiny back-to-school plans have officially met actual students, surprise assemblies, and a copier with trust issues. You’ve found a rhythm, but before it becomes “just how we do things,” it’s worth asking: What’s working? What’s wearing you out? And the sneaky follow-up: is anything doing both? A lesson can be a hit with students and still take more out of you than you can keep giving.

This month, we’re digging into efficacy: is the effort you’re putting in producing the learning you intended? We’ve rounded up practical tools and tips to help you spot progress, gather useful feedback, and make small adjustments without turning reflection into another unpaid part-time job. As you explore, look for one idea that could help you keep the impact and ease the workload. You don’t need to reinvent your classroom. You just need a little space to notice what deserves to stay, what needs a tweak, and what can go.

🎧 Your Back-to-School Battery Needs a Recharge Still running on back-to-school adrenaline? That battery wasn’t designed to last until May. In The October Reset Every Teacher Needs, Teacher Approved hosts Heidi and Emily share practical ways to pause, examine your classroom routines, and put your energy where it makes the biggest difference. From rethinking systems that create more work than learning to building small moments of recovery into your day, this episode tackles both halves of our monthly question: What’s working? What’s wearing you out? Listen for one adjustment that could make the next quarter more effective and more manageable. Make Time for a Reset

📚 Make Reflection a Student Skill, Too Wondering what’s working in your classroom? Bring your students into the conversation. In this Edutopia article, Jacqueline D. Garcia shares five ways to help students reflect on their learning, recognize progress, and identify where they need support. From quick daily check-ins to student-led goal setting, these practices give students more ownership and give you useful insight for adjusting instruction. Pick one to try this month. A small reflection routine could reveal more than another stack of graded papers. Explore Reflection

✨ Hot Tips, Calm Brains

🔎 “Everybody Got It?” Isn’t Giving You the Whole Picture A few nods can hide a whole lot of confusion. Before moving on, ask one question with answer choices that reveal common misconceptions. Give students thinking time, then have everyone respond at once using mini whiteboards, response cards, or a digital poll. Use what you see to decide whether to continue, clarify, or reteach. A quick check now can save a much bigger detour tomorrow.

🔄 Give Your Feedback a Fighting Chance You’ve written the comments. Have students actually used them? Build five minutes into your next lesson for students to revise an answer, correct a process, or apply your feedback to a new problem. Ask them to explain what they changed and why. That small shift turns feedback into an opportunity to learn and helps your hard work do more than decorate the margins.

💬 Ask the People Doing the Learning Your students experience your classroom every day. Put that perspective to work with a quick, optionally anonymous check-in: What helps you understand? Where do you get stuck? What routine makes learning harder? Look for patterns alongside students’ work, choose one adjustment, and tell the class what you’re trying. Check back later to see whether it helped. You don’t need a 40-question survey to uncover one worthwhile change.

🛠️ Featured Tool - Jotform

Less Guessing. Better Check-Ins.

Wondering what’s working in your classroom? Jotform can help you ask better questions without creating another paperwork pile. Start with a customizable student feedback template, then use conditional logic to show follow-up questions only when they’re relevant. A student who selects “I’m stuck,” for example, could be asked which step needs clarification. Built-in visual reports turn responses into charts that help you spot patterns, while open-ended questions give students room to explain. Try one short weekly check-in, compare what students report with their work, and choose one adjustment. The goal is useful feedback you can act on before small frustrations become permanent routines.

Check out our TikTok post for a walkthrough.

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🤓 NerdSquad Challenge: One Tweak. Two Weeks.

Pick one classroom routine that’s wearing you out or isn’t delivering the learning you expected. Ask students what’s helping and what’s getting in the way, then make one small adjustment.

For two weeks, watch for two things: Is it helping students learn? Is it manageable for you? Use a quick check for understanding, a few work samples, or a brief student check-in to see what’s changing.

Then decide: keep it, tweak it, or try something else. No classroom makeover required.

Hit reply and tell us: What did you change, and what happened? Wins, surprises, and “well, that flopped” moments all count. That’s useful information, too.

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📢🤓 Announcements

🎉📚🎉 New Book Coming Soon: The C.A.L.M. Teacher by Destiny Wagner

You love teaching. It shouldn’t take all of you. You say yes when your plate is already full and feel guilty when you finally say no. You make decisions all day, bring the unfinished work home, and somehow still feel behind.
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And somewhere between the planning, the grading, and the “just one more things,” the parts of teaching you used to love start getting harder to find.
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​There has to be a better way.

Be the first to get book updates, sneak peeks, and purchase details for The C.A.L.M. Teacher.

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Stay curious, stay nerdy, and give yourself permission to adjust.

Until next time,
Destiny & Kris

Let's connect! 💬 You can find me on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and Bluesky.

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Connect with Kris - Bluesky & Instagram​

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