Hello Reader,

My husband says "May comes earlier and earlier every year" and he's right. Sports here in North America (as well as some illnesses) have taken so many kids out of the classroom. (And we have test prep!) So, today I'll give some ideas for solid resources, events for April, and a personal note on something Mom taught me that helped me better handled this busy season!

And 5 ideas for teachers of all ages!

Try Educator's Studio

Idea 1: 🎧 New Episode — Brain-Friendly Reading Strategies That Actually Work (Episode 929)

This week on episode 929 of the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast, Malia Hollowell — National Board Certified Teacher, author of The Science of Reading in Action, and founder of Playdough to Plato — joins me for a conversation that every reading teacher needs to hear.

What you'll learn:

• Why you should sort sight words by phonics rules instead of random lists — the logic helps kids decode, not just memorize
• How spoken language is your secret superpower (think tapping sounds like "k-a-n" before jumping to written letters)
• Why word ladders beat leveled readers for real reading growth
• How to support the roughly 20% of students affected by dyslexia with audio-focused strategies
• Where to grab Malia's free editable literacy games at Playdough to Plato​

This episode is sponsored by VAI Educator's Studio — use code COOLCAT for 50% off.

👉 Listen: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube​

Idea 2: 💰 April Is Financial Literacy Month — Your Toolkit

April is National Financial Literacy Month, and it's the perfect time to sneak real-world money skills into your lessons. I've pulled together my top podcast episodes on this topic plus some interactive simulations your students will love.

Listen to these 10 Minute Teacher episodes on Financial Literacy:

• Episode 837:Money Matters: How to Equip Students for Financial Success with Brian Curcio from Rapunzl — tools for teaching investing, budgeting, and understanding debt
• Episode 801:Tips to Teach Financial Literacy Like a Pro with Brian Page — practical strategies for middle and high school
• Episode 295:5 Ways to Bring Financial Literacy into Any School with Brian Page — the Milken Award winner and CNN Money Hero shares five ways to get started
• Episode 761: What Every Student Needs to Know About Money with Kailen Stover — a family and consumer sciences teacher's take on what kids really need

Interactive simulations and games your students will love:

• ​The Stock Market Game (Grades 4-12) — The gold standard. Nearly 20 million students have used this virtual trading simulation with real market conditions. Free for many schools through state councils.
• ​PersonalFinanceLab (High School) — Combines a Budget Game and Stock Market Game with embedded lessons. Students manage realistic bills, credit scores, and quality-of-life decisions. Starting at $10/student. Lots of games but they have a teacher test drive!
• ​StockTrak (K-12) — Used by 78% of the top 100 U.S. business schools and adaptable for elementary through high school as well. A comprehensive stock market simulator.
• ​Payback (my favorite) or The Game of College - These are great ones for older students as they work to graduate from college debt free. This one sparks conversations.
• ​Shady Sam helps kids learn about debt and protects them from loan sharks by understand practices that are not acceptable.
• ​The Uber Game - a game where you're trying to make it work as an Uber driver with children.

April is a great month to tuck in a game or simulation.

Idea 3: 📝 Test Prep Is Coming — My Favorite Review Tools

Standardized tests hit most schools the first or second week of April. These are the tools I reach for.

• ​Gimkit — This is one of my go-to tools. I'll run Gimkit sessions for a stretch and then check the data to see what percentage my students actually understand.
• ​Wayground (formerly Quizizz) — Student-paced with 20+ question types including drag-and-drop and categorization. The AI-powered answer explanations are a game-changer for review. Students can go at their own speed, which is exactly what you need when some kids are ahead and others need more time.
• ​Blooket — I have friends who use this one and say their students love the game modes — Tower Defense, Gold Quest, Battle Royale. Research showed post-test vocabulary scores jumped from 67 to 82 average when using Blooket. And it's completely free.
• ​Kahoot! — The classic game-show format still works beautifully for fast-paced group review. Great for those "whole class energy" moments when you need everyone locked in.
• ​Quizlet — For independent study and vocab drilling, nothing beats Quizlet's flashcard system. Students can study offline, and 98% report it improved their understanding. Quizlet Live is perfect for collaborative in-class review.

Pro tip from my classroom: Don't just use these for review — use them as formative assessment. I'm having my AP CSP students take a full practice exam right before spring break (no studying, just see where you land), and then I plan all of April based on what the data tells me they need. That's the power of formative assessment — it shows you where to spend your limited time.

Idea 4: 📅 Have an April-Related ACtivity — Dates, Events, and Ideas

Here's your quick-reference guide for April planning:

• All Month: Financial Literacy Month, School Library Month, Autism Acceptance Month
• April 22: Earth Day 2026 (Theme: "Our Power, Our Planet") — check out my April classroom ideas post for Earth Day activities
• April 24: Arbor Day
• April 28: National School Bus Driver Appreciation Day
• Passover and Easter also fall in April this year

Lots of these events are in Educator's studio from the Van Andel Institute and they have so many great suggestions! Remember to look at their free resources and use my code COOLCAT to get half off!

And don't forget — those first two weeks of April are prime testing season. Plan accordingly and give yourself grace.

Idea 5: 🍕 Sometimes You Gotta Let the Rough End Drag

OK, here's the heart-to-heart I promised with a way of thinking about this time of year that has helped me stress less and enjoy the moments more!

We're in the thick of it. March, April, May — these are the toughest months for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. Students are out for sports constantly (I counted, and I have about four days in April where ALL my AP CSP kids are actually in the room). The end of the year feels like it's coming in March now. And if you're anything like me in my early years, you're calling someone in tears saying, "I don't have clean laundry, I can't cook dinner, and I have a mountain of grading."

My mom had two pieces of wisdom that have carried me through 24 years of teaching.

First: "Your children would rather have pizza with a happy mom than a gourmet meal with a witch." This one has helped more Mama-teachers than any other quote.

Early in my teaching career, in my perfectionism — for my classroom, my home, my children, everything — I had made myself the sacrificial everything. And I'd reached my limit. It was impossible to do it all, and trying was turning me into a fussy, cranky woman nobody wanted to be around. She was right. Order the pizza. Be the happy version of yourself. That's what the people around you actually need.

Second: "Sometimes you gotta let the rough end drag." This one came from my grandma in Alabama. When they had to haul lumber from town way out to the country, they'd load the truck as full as they could — and sometimes the bottom two-by-fours would drag on the road. It wasn't ideal, but they couldn't make two trips. Gas was expensive and the lumber was needed. So they let the rough end drag and got on with it.

That's what this season requires. You can't do everything. When you say yes to one thing, you're saying no to something else. And that's not failure — it is wise to say no to good stuff so you can say yes to greatness.

Here's what I've learned to do in these months:

• PLAN AHEAD. I plan ahead. I've already loaded my Google Classroom through the end of May. Do the dates change? Absolutely — I've already shifted a bunch. But having the skeleton in place means I'm moving pieces around instead of building from scratch while I'm stressed.
• SELF RUNNING LESSONS. I put my slides in Nearpod so when kids miss class (and they will), the content can run on its own. When I give instruction, it's not optional for absent students to miss it — they get it through the slide deck, a recording, or a peer walkthrough. And here's what's interesting: when I set it up so students CAN get instruction without me, they actually miss LESS. They'd rather be there in person. That structure gives them a reason to show up.

I once had a pastor, Michael Catt, who said, "Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not get bent out of shape." When a student comes to me stressed, overwhelmed, juggling three sports and two clubs — I've decided I'm going to be the teacher who gives. I'll move a deadline, adjust an assignment, and let the student help decide what the new plan looks like. Their executive functioning isn't fully developed. Sometimes we have to say no for them and I let my no be to my due date and yes to their helping figure out what option will work. I know that not every teacher has that option, but in my experience, some grace at the hard moments equals lots of loyalty and extra-mile-ism in the long run.

I wrote about this years ago in a post called Finding Your Beautiful Moment the Last Weeks of School. William James said, "The deepest principle of human nature is the desire to be appreciated." In the craziness of spring, don't forget to find those moments. They're what make the whole year worth it.

You can't finish a marathon without crossing the finish line. I learned that when I ran my half marathon — that last mile was the roughest of the whole race. But you finish. You find the beautiful moments. You rest when you can. You laugh when you can. And you let the rough end drag when you have to.

Teaching is hard. But finishing well matters. And so do you.

I remain joyfully in your service,

Vicki Davis
@coolcatteacher