Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers

Discover how AI can streamline lesson planning without sacrificing your personal teaching style. Learn to choose the right AI tools, like ChatGPT and Canva Magic Write, for your needs. Get step-by-step guidance on brainstorming and enhancing lessons. Find out how to generate engaging activities and differentiate instruction for various learning levels. Plus, tips for refining AI-generated ideas to align with your unique approach. Uncover the secrets to using AI to inspire and connect with your students more effectively.

Claire English, an experienced Australian secondary English teacher known as The Unteachables, shares insights on managing challenging student behavior by focusing on self-regulation. She discusses the limitations of traditional behavior management and the power of teacher emotional regulation in fostering a positive classroom atmosphere. The conversation highlights practical strategies for building trust and co-regulation with students. Claire emphasizes creating safe spaces even without strong school support and offers tools to avoid burnout while empowering both educators and students.

Navigating an unpredictable world can be daunting, but radical acceptance offers a refreshing perspective. Embrace uncertainty as an invitation for growth rather than a threat. Discover practical strategies to stay grounded and focus on local actions that create meaningful change. The importance of relinquishing control shines through personal stories of resilience and hope. By fostering a mindset of serendipity, educators can unlock unexpected blessings and cultivate creativity amidst challenges. Join the journey towards a future filled with possibility!

Dr. Shamari Reid, an assistant professor of justice and belonging in education at NYU, opens up about his transition from the ‘teacher superhero’ mentality to embracing his humanity. He discusses the burnout caused by unrealistic expectations, especially for Black male educators, and the burdens of saviorism in schools. The conversation highlights the vital role of self-care, love, and emotional growth in teaching, urging educators to prioritize their well-being to better support their students and foster justice in education.

Discover the powerful link between movement and cognitive performance in education. Learn how standing meetings and dictation while walking can enhance student engagement and creativity. Explore innovative strategies like audio learning on the go and walking brainstorming sessions. Gain insights on how outdoor environments can further boost cognitive skills. Plus, find effective ways to handle off-task behavior during these activities. Simple shifts in perspective can unlock deeper thinking and focused learning for everyone!

Discover how students can benefit from using artificial intelligence to enhance creativity and learning. Educators are encouraged to teach critical thinking about AI's impact while providing guidelines for responsible use. Key strategies for integrating AI into classrooms are discussed, making these complex concepts accessible and engaging. This exploration emphasizes the importance of ethical considerations and fostering tech-savvy learners from a young age, especially as AI technologies become more prevalent in daily activities.

In this engaging conversation, Dr. John Spencer, a former middle school teacher turned college professor, shares his passion for fostering creativity in education. He offers five brain-based strategies to help students who shut down in class. Topics include cultivating self-empowerment and introducing creative constraints to ease overwhelm. John also discusses the gradual release model, emphasizing the importance of understanding root causes of disengagement, and highlights the value of impromptu workshops to reinvigorate struggling learners.

Transforming chaotic school mornings into a calm, inviting start can reshape the entire day. The power of soft starts lies in promoting social-emotional learning while giving students autonomy. This gentle approach fosters self-regulation and prepares kids to learn effectively. Simple, practical strategies can implement this concept across all age groups, ensuring emotional well-being and reducing anxiety. By allowing students to choose low-pressure activities, teachers can create a foundation of focus and connection that enhances every lesson.

In this conversation, Gretchen Bridgers, a seasoned teacher coach and mentor, reveals the transformative power of effective lesson design. She argues that lesson design is the secret sauce for classroom success, challenging the common focus on classroom management. Key insights include the importance of tailored lesson plans, creating strong teaching habits, and fostering student engagement. Gretchen also highlights the value of self-reflection through recording lessons, empowering educators to refine their instructional methods for better outcomes.

Even young students can learn how to understand and combat misinformation, and it's a key information literacy skill in 2024. In this episode, I'm talking to Melanie Trecek-King of Thinking is Power, because I love how her approach to the topic of misinformation is characterized by compassion and empathy.  Melanie emphasizes that everyone is susceptible to misinformation, and falling for it doesn't indicate a lack of intelligence. This perspective humanizes those who believe in conspiracy theories or disinformation, so we can view them as people who--like ourselves--have unknowingly accepted false information. Melanie and I discuss 3 primary reasons we fall for misinformation: Confirmation Bias: Our tendency to interpret information in ways that confirm our existing beliefs. Once we believe something, we see evidence for it everywhere, reinforcing that belief. Skepticism is crucial for protecting oneself from misinformation, but it's most challenging when information confirms our biases. Appeals to Emotion: Emotions, particularly anger, outrage, and fear, can trigger the part of our brain that hinders critical thinking. Many forms of misinformation specifically appeal to our emotions to convince us without evidence. When we feel emotionally triggered, it's a good time to slow down and practice emotional skepticism. Reiteration Effect: Also known as the illusory truth effect, the reiteration effect means that the more we hear something repeated, the more likely we are to think it's true, even if it isn't. Our brain equates ease of processing with truth, so repeated exposure to false information can lead us to believe it. We also discuss the problem with "doing your own research," and why Melanie sees 2024 as a the post-trust era, not the post-truth era, and how we can respond. The remainder of our conversation is centered on how to teach information literacy to students. Melanie provides actionable tips and ready-to-use resources to help you: 1. Demonstrate to students that they can be fooled (e.g., through personality reading exercises). 2. Discuss how beliefs are formed using non-triggering examples (e.g., historical witch trials). 3. Include misinformation in lessons to help students recognize its characteristics. 4. Use tools like the FLOATER toolkit to help students evaluate claims systematically. 5. Have students create misinformation to understand its techniques better. While these concepts are typically taught at the college level, they can be introduced as early as middle school. Even elementary students can begin to understand concepts like author's purpose and recognizing persuasive techniques. Understanding misinformation is crucial in our daily lives, yet it's often absent from educational standards. Check out Melanie's site for lots of free resources to teach about misinformation using humor and non-triggering approaches to help students recognize it in the real world. Get the shareable article/transcript for this episode here.