Angela Watson's Truth For Teachers

I'm back, and kicking off Season 14 of the podcast! Listen in for a quick personal update about my summer, what new changes are coming to the website and podcast, and get a sneak peek at some upcoming podcast episode topics. Click here to read the transcript and participate in the discussion or, join our podcast Facebook group here to connect with other teachers and discuss the Truth for Teachers' podcast episodes.  

This special bonus episode explores how we can find a more sustainable way to teach in coming school year. Because while it’s natural to hope for “getting back to normal” after so many constantly-shifting expectations ... we know that “normal” wasn't really working for all teachers or kids. What would it mean to truly reimagine education--not just talk about it--and create a way of teaching and learning that is BETTER than normal? Let's counter the "lost year of learning" narrative and find a more strengths-based, empowering perspective on the challenges ahead. In this episode, we're talking about how to focus on what's most impactful with students and streamline the rest. You'll walk away with new clarity about priorities, which will give you confidence in your teaching practice and empower you to set boundaries for better work/life balance. Want to attend the live event on July 11th where you can chat with other educators on YouTube Live about this topic? Sign up here! If you want to learn more about the

Systemic problems need systemic solutions. Here's what's new to support your school in creating better work/life balance. Click here to skim the transcript instead of listening Click to learn more about: 40 Hour Teacher Workweek 40 Hour Leadership 40 Hour Instructional Coaches  

LAST EPISODE OF SEASON 13! Education is in a time of transition. We’re not quite to the point of post-pandemic teaching, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Moving forward, there’s going to be a lot of talk about what expectations to keep and what to let go of, and it’s critical to reflect: What parts of pre-pandemic teaching do we want to return to? What parts of remote and hybrid learning are here to stay? What do we want the future of education to look like? The summer plan I’m suggesting in this episode to help you regroup includes 3 elements: A mental vacation (taking a break from thinking about work) Reflecting on what you learned about yourself and your teaching Daydreaming and reimagining the future  We all need a time of recovery and preparation between school years. And this summer, it's going to be more essential and than ever before to process how the past year has shaped our identities…not only as educators, but as humans. Click here to read the transcript and participate in

There’s a big focus now on the teacher attrition and shortage crisis. So what does that mean for the teachers that stay? How can schools keep their best teachers and attract more folks to the profession? I believe there are leadership principles that any administrator can internalize and apply to immediately help their faculty feel better supported and create more manageable expectations. I’m going to share some of these solutions in today’s episode, through the lens of what teachers have told me they wish their administrators understood: Teachers are craving autonomy and respect for their professional judgment. Teachers need uninterrupted planning time in order to be at their best for students. Teachers need administrators to have their backs, and support them when their professionalism is undermined. Teachers need school leaders to provide the necessary support and resources for students to be successful, OR adjust expectations to align with reality. An organized, efficient school leadership team with clea

What made teaching easier and more sustainable this school year, and how can we carry those principles over into next year? Those are the questions I'm exploring in this podcast episode with my guest, Amy Stohs. She is currently a 2nd grade teacher in Northern Virginia, and was named Teacher of the Year in 2019 while she was teaching 6th grade. Amy’s experience is unique in that she has now taught both elementary AND middle school in a pandemic, so she’s experienced the challenges of working with both younger and older students in face-to-face and hybrid learning. Her experience is also unique in that she’s been an active participant in my 40 Hour Teacher Workweek program for the last few years, and I’ve been really impressed by the ideas and resources she shares in that community. So at the start of this school year, I reached out to Amy and asked her to join the 40 Hour team, and help create the adaptations for the program for remote and hybrid learning. If you’re part of 40 Hour or the 40 Hour Grad Program

This was the most challenging school year of almost every educator’s career.  We’re used to certain aspects of the work getting easier over time, but there were so many new challenges recently that even the most experienced teachers often felt like it was their first year all over again.    You had lots of personal and professional growth, of course … but somehow you’re feeling less confident in your abilities now than ever before. It’s a very weird dichotomy, to feel like you worked so hard and learned so many new things, yet there’s no sense of a commensurate payoff.   So what does it look like to wrap up a year feeling like this? How do you get a sense of real closure?   I think it’s important to acknowledge that we’re all experiencing various levels of collective grief right now. There’s a sense of loss for what we’ve missed out on: “regular” school, being close to family and friends, traveling, vacations, and our normal way of life. Some are also grieving deeper losses for any number of reasons, and not

When a problem seems insurmountable, try creating change one name at a time. Because if you can solve a problem for one person, that means it IS a solvable problem ... and you can solve it for the next, and the next.   In this episode, I’ll share how often the solution to big problems is solving smaller ones. You’ll hear NYT bestselling author Dan Heath share a short case study from Chicago Public Schools that illustrates how this name-by-name approach worked for reducing dropout rates. And, I’ll share an intuitive 8 step approach you can use to tackle big problems like student engagement or work completion. You can practice solving for individuals first, and notice patterns in what your students need in order to scale those solutions. There’s something powerful about knowing that even if you can’t solve every problem for every student, you CAN help solve THIS thing for THAT kid.  This is how we make progress. And, this is how we create better systems: by designing those systems for individuals rather than tr

There are few things more frustrating than working hard and not seeing a ton of results.    It’s even worse when your hard work is unappreciated, and you’re criticized for not doing enough or for doing things wrong.   When you’re trying your absolute best to teach well in a pandemic, the reality is that your best might not always be good enough.    Sometimes what you’re able to give really isn’t sufficient.    Of course you feel inadequate, when you know what you’re capable of under optimal circumstances, and also know you’re not working with anything even close to optimal circumstances.   So the only options are to try to single handedly compensate for all the adverse circumstances and perform at a superhuman level every day, or adjust our expectations.   You know which choice I’m going to advocate for.   I want you to let go of the “shoulds” and regrets about this school year. I want you to celebrate the small wins, instead of focusing on all the things that aren’t happening.   I’m going to talk more on tha

How do you develop confidence in your teaching when you’re constantly hearing about everything you’re doing wrong? How do you know what you should and shouldn’t be focusing on, and discern what’s a good use of your time and what’s not? And most importantly, how can you be sure you’re showing up as the person your students need you to be? Answering these questions is a personal, lifelong journey, and I think the answers from my guest today will really get you thinking about how to answer those questions for yourself. I’m talking with Gerardo Muñoz, a teacher of middle and high school social studies who was named Colorado’s 2021 Teacher of the Year. Gerardo is here to share how his teaching identity has been shaped over the years, and how he’s learned to prioritize what matters most. He discusses how he’s developed the confidence to live and teach authentically, and ways he supports his students in also truly being themselves: “I'm like every kid's hype man. I think that most of what we bring into our classroom

We’ve all had moments this school year when making it to summer felt impossible. You might even be feeling that way right now: like your job has just taken everything out of you, and you have nothing left to give.    Being in that headspace is very normal, and it’s fine to allow yourself to feel exhausted and overwhelmed. You don’t have to talk yourself out of your feelings, ignore what your body is telling you, and push through no matter what.   (There’s a difference, after all, between pushing through and powering through. Pushing through, at least to me, means doing it regardless of how you feel and just get it done with no regard to the outcome. I see powering through as tapping into the source of your energy and motivation to see things through with strength. We want to power through, not push through.)   The determination to power through comes partially from reminding yourself that the way things are now is temporary. No circumstances stay the same forever.   I guarantee that you will not be dealing wi

Constantly issuing reminders and following up with kids is exhausting. Helping kids understand how their brains work and explore ways to funnel their focus, time, and energy is fascinating.  So, how do you approach time management through this lens? The teachers who are most successful at managing their time don’t see doing so as a burden. And, they don’t see mismanaging their time as a failure: it’s part of the experiment of learning what works for them and what doesn’t. They’re constantly trying out different approaches according to their moods and the changes in their workload, and adapting for new changes and preferences. It’s not something they try to figure out once and for all.  Having this perspective on your own time management naturally flows over into the way you treat students. You no longer expect them to just “buckle down and get it down” since you’re aware of all the mental tricks and productivity hacks you yourself use to follow through on tasks. You no longer get as frustrated with kids who w

The uncertainty and constant changes have been one of the most stressful parts of this school year.   Nearly every teacher I know has invested countless hours into setting up a system for one approach to learning, only to find out that everything’s going to be completely different the following day … and then it’s all going to change again two weeks after that.   Resilient pedagogy (as defined by Joshua Eyler) is “a combination of course design principles and teaching strategies that are as resistant to disruption and to change in the learning environment as possible.”   The idea is that the essential qualities of your lesson plans will be in place, no matter what changes in the way you deliver instruction.   A resilient approach to teaching requires us to SIMPLIFY and SCALE DOWN.   You’re not going to be able to offer kids all the resources and options you wish you could … and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.   Everything in our world right now is limited and restricted to an extent. If you go to a restau

What if this is the perfect time to normalize outdoor learning and make it a permanent part of how we do school? What exactly does outdoor learning look like, and how can we provide equitable access to it? These are questions I’ve been mulling over for quite some time, and I’ve collected some fantastic photos, links, resources, and case studies to help you find a way to bring your classes outside. I’ll share a bit of the history of the “open air schooling movement” from the 1900s and 1910s, when the fear of tuberculosis and later the Spanish Flu created a shift in how some children were educated. We’ll touch briefly on the historical (and current) inequities in how outdoor learning is offered, and examine how to bring classes outside even in areas where nature access is limited. You’ll then hear 2 case stories directly from the teachers who made outdoor learning happen in their schools (a high school teacher in Texas and a first grade teacher in Massachusetts). Outdoor learning doesn’t have to be complicated,

Has your workload created a huge strain on your family, friendships, and/or marriage/partnership?   Being a teacher often means making an impossible choice: when you’re focused on your loved ones, you feel like you’re neglecting your students. When you’re focused on your students, you feel like you’re neglecting your loved ones. Trying to add on your own wellbeing and self-care just compounds the guilt.   My encouragement to you today is to think about the relationships you have that enhance your confidence, wellbeing, and energy levels. Who are the people whose presence is caring and life-giving to you? How can you choose to prioritize interactions with those folks?   You might strengthen those relationships through a quick daily text message, or a deeper conversation on the phone while you’re cleaning or exercising. You might be having a cup of coffee together every other week, or carve out some time each Friday night to be together.   This isn’t just about how good it feels to be connected with folks you l

How can we make SEL more than a buzzword? School psychologist Dr. Byron McClure is here to go beyond what’s trendy, and give an honest overview of the mental health and socio-emotional support students really need from us right now. Byron shares 3 specific practices you can do with kids to address their social-emotional needs on a daily basis in your classroom. You’re probably familiar with restorative conversations, daily check-ins, and morning meetings ... but Byron frames them in a larger context that taps into the real power behind the practices. Listen as Byron shares some of the history of SEL and what elements have been intentionally obscured and overlooked. We’ll examine how to keep SEL from being “touchy-feely fluff that doesn’t prepare kids for the real world.” The key is to be action-oriented, and ground the work in culturally affirming practices, justice, and equity. We can help students understand ways that privilege is showing up, and ways they might be able to dismantle systems for themselves o

I know what many (most?) of you are being asked to do right now is NOT reasonable or sustainable.   And because you could never have enough time and energy to do everything that kids need right now, the solution could never be for you to just work harder. We are still in a pandemic. This is not a “normal” school year. Regardless of how much districts want to pretend we can hold to the exact same expectations as last year, we cannot. Of course you’re distracted and panicky and overwhelmed and unfocused at times. Of course your students are the same way.  We can’t be expected to accomplish what we normally accomplish because our world is not functioning as it normally does. Rather than trying to keep our frantic pace and be productive like nothing has changed… What if we allow ourselves space to explore different approaches, and give ourselves permission to have adjustment periods for continually changing routines? What if we choose time for disconnecting from the outside world, and prioritize reconnectin

“Better listeners are better learners,” says my guest Monica Brady-Myerov. She’s the Founder and CEO of Listenwise, an award-winning listening skills platform and the sponsor for this episode. Monica explains that audio is a powerful tool for equity and differentiation, because most kids have a much higher listening comprehension level than reading comprehension. You can bring authentic stories and primary sources to your students via audio, helping to build empathy and personalize information that might be difficult to connect with through just words on a page. Not only are podcasts a great way to build students’ content-area knowledge, but audio instruction also helps strengthen their listening comprehension skills. Monica shares examples of how teachers are incorporating podcasts into their instruction. She also explains the features of Listenwise which make it faster and easier for teachers to find high-quality audio content to use with students. There’s a free version of Listenwise available, and you can

Need something to look forward to in the final weeks of school? This new Wednesday morning podcast series will provide 5 minutes of audio encouragement and sound therapy instruments. It's designed for you to listen mid-week to get re-energized. If you'd also like a written version/transcript, sign up for the 6-week email series of free bonus teaching support + encouragement here. In my experience as a teacher, this time of the school year always felt uniquely challenging. It’s like the finish line is in sight, but not close enough to feel motivating yet. Student engagement drops off drastically, and it’s right at the point where you’re panicking that there’s still a ton of content you didn’t teach yet and you need your students to ramp UP, not DOWN. I can only imagine how that feeling is magnified for this past school year.  My intuition is telling me that for educators, the next few weeks are going to be about powering through and making the very best of a difficult situation until the school year is complet

“I've never worked so hard in my life to try to reach students, and yet never felt like such a big failure. That carries a lot of emotional weight. But when we are dismissed to ‘just figure it out’, we're not actually given credit for all of the incredible work that has happened.” Those are the words of my guest Pernille Ripp, a 7th grade ELA teacher, author, blogger, keynote speaker, and passionate advocate for education. We are here to hold space for you to process the heaviness of the past year. Pernille illuminates some of the common emotions that come from teaching in a pandemic under the weight of so many expectations, and talks about the impact on her own mental health. We’re offering this conversation to you not as advice and how-to tips, but as a release valve for the pressure that so many educators are feeling. We’re dismantling the narrative that kids have “lost a year of schooling” and are “falling behind,” and examining how teachers have been the easy scapegoats for the systemic problems COVID ha