Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers

“Just do your best” is not always helpful advice for perfectionists, people-pleasers, and folks struggling with anxiety. The phrase is meant to offer comfort, but can create pressure, because you know what your best looks like, and how much time and effort it involves! The truth is: you can’t possibly give your best effort to everything on your plate, and not everything you need to do deserves your best effort. What if you only aimed for A+ work on the most important stuff in life and work, and aimed for B+ work in everything else? You might be thinking, “This is an interesting concept, Angela, but my brain doesn’t work that way. I can’t give less than 100%.” This podcast episode will give you 5 things to remember in order to really internalize healthier expectations for yourself so that you can decide where to focus your time and energy. 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.

Artificial intelligence can help you work more efficiently and save hours each week! Listen in as I talk with Dr. Monica Burns, an author, speaker, and former New York City public school teacher. Monica shares incredibly practical ideas for teachers on her website ClassTechTips.com, and is prolific on Twitter as well. This episode was recorded live at the Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC), and Monica and I discuss why artificial intelligence is exciting us right now in the world of ed tech. Monica shares specific ideas for how the free AI tool ChatGPT can accelerate your work so you can produce better results, faster. Download a free guide to simplifying your workload with ChatGPT here. 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.

Truth for Teachers is back for Season 17! We’re kicking things off with a powerful concept that can help transform your relationships with others (and yourself) in 2023. I’ll share how to examine the usefulness of your thought system, and explain why we ourselves always seem to be right. Once you grasp this teaching, I think you’ll find it’s easier to work with–instead of against–people who think differently than you. Use the principle of separate realities to help you approach students, colleagues, and parents from a place of empathy, intellectual humility, and a genuine desire to understand and connect. You can also apply these ideas to personal relationships. If you want to do a deeper dive into mindset, join us throughout the month of February 2023 in an online book club! We’re discussing the NEW second edition of my book, “Awakened: Change Your Mindset to Transform Your Teaching.” Get the book and/or join the free book club here: https://truthforteachers.com/awakened 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.

It’s the LAST EP of season 16, and per usual, I want to be a little more informal as I close out the podcast season. I’m sharing some personal reflections and a recap of my projects from the fall. I’ll also share a new focus I’m trying for November, and give an overview of my December sabbatical plans. New course on reversing educator burnout New book on educator mindset (discounted for the month of November on Kindle, paperback, and audiobook) You’re invited to take a sabbatical with me during your holiday break, and I’ll recap some ideas for this. I’ll send you off with something important and thought-provoking to consider in the coming weeks — a message of encouragement and call to rest. 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.

When we feel responsible for controlling students' behavior and work habits, the classroom environment, the way parents/caregivers and other faculty behave, and how the school and district make decisions, we are destined to be miserable. Other people will rarely meet our ideals, and trying to force them to do so will feel like a full-time job in itself. The second edition of my new book addresses this. It’s called, "Awakened: Change Your Mindset to Transform Your Teaching.” Depending on when you’re listening to this episode, the paperback, Kindle eBook, and audiobook version are either available now or available for pre-order. In this episode, you’ll hear an excerpt from the audiobook about replacing unrealistic standards and changing the stories we tell ourselves about control. I’ll talk about 5 unrealistic standards we often hold: I need people to know the "right" way to do things I need to identify all problems and fix them immediately I need to make sure everything goes according to my plans I need everything to be fair and make sense I need to know what's going to happen next Listen in as I share how these unrealistic standards can be replaced with the following productive thoughts in your work as an educator: I can accept other people's ways and methodologies I can let go of the interpretation that something's wrong I can be happy when things don't go my way I can handle things that don't make sense I can be okay with not knowing 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.

Revolutionaries and visionaries can get exhausted. They often sacrifice their own needs because they believe so strongly in the cause. Today I’m asking aloud: Does it have to be that way? Is there a sustainable approach to fighting for liberatory education? What might it look like to create change in education without martyring ourselves? My guest is Dr. Nadia Lopez, an award-winning educator who became a viral sensation after the popular blog Humans of New York featured her as one of their most influential people. Dr. Lopez founded Mott Hall Bridges Academy, a STEAM-focused middle school in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York, in 2010, and served as the principal for ten years. Her Ted Talk on the Education Revolution has garnered more than a million views. In 2020, Dr. Lopez ended her tenure as Mott Hall Bridges Academy’s principal as an act of self-preservation after developing a stress-related illness that threatened her life. The experience inspired her to develop a coaching program for women of color in educational leadership designed to build their capacity, with a focus on sustainability. Listen in as she shares her experience with past (and current) burnout, and what she’s learned about finding a sustainable approach to doing good work in education. 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.

Here’s a little insider knowledge into the publishing world and how I make decisions to ensure all 5 of my books are current and relevant... I’m planning to release a second edition of Awakened: Change Your Mindset to Transform Your Teaching in November 2022, and I wanted to give you an idea of what will be different and why. From a technical standpoint, the second edition of a book counts as a brand new book: it has a new ISBN number, new links and listings in online retailers, etc. As a general principle in publishing, a book should only be released as a second edition if readers who already own the first edition would benefit from owning the second. In other words, it needs to be different enough from the first edition — to have enough updated content, new ideas, and so on — to qualify as a separate book. This is the first time I’ve ever attempted a second edition of a book and it’s been a really enjoyable process, as you’ll hear. I’m also creating an audiobook version which I’m very excited about — there wasn’t one for the first edition. I think the book really lends itself well to that format, and of course I’m reading it myself, because so many of you are used to my voice from the podcast and it would feel weird to hear someone else reading it! I wanted to let you hear an excerpt from the audiobook version of the Awakened second edition that talks about choices I’ve made around updating books and removing books from print. Listen in to hear what’s changed and why. 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.

When students struggle to focus, follow directions, and stay on task, it may be helpful to consider cognitive load theory. Classroom teacher Jennifer Brinkmeyer’s my guest in this episode to talk about how she’s utilized her research in this area to help students get more done with less mental effort. Cognitive load is a learning theory developed by educational psychologist John Sweller. In this theory, our brains are compared to a computer’s working memory. Just as a computer can only hold so much information in its working memory at a time, so can a brain. There are 3 types of cognitive load to consider: intrinsic, germane, and extraneous loads. Surprisingly to both Jennifer and I, the goal is NOT to minimize all of them! Listen in as Jennifer breaks down how cognitive load theory is applicable in her classroom, and the 3 tips she has for considering cognitive load during instructional time. 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.

We’ve all had hurtful or upsetting incidents with colleagues, parents, and students that we can’t seem to move past. How do you change your thinking in order to move on? How do you stop carrying around the weight of what happened Folks in our Truth for Teachers Podcast Community were invited to submit their situations anonymously, and tell me about the stuff that they just can’t move past. We’re tackling unfair accusations, stressful interactions with students, and attacks on the teaching profession. I’m sharing some thought work practice that can help you get over negative situations so you no longer feel as anxious or upset about them. If you’re just not over it and can’t let it go … here’s a collection of mental reframing approaches to try. 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.

I first started this podcast back in 2015, and nearly 300 episodes later, I’m proud to say there’s a wealth of helpful information available to you. But… you don’t have time to listen to 300 episodes. How do you know you didn’t miss out on something great awhile back? What if there’s something you need to hear NOW that I haven’t talked about in awhile? Enter the NEW Truth for Teachers playlists. I’ve carefully curated the episodes I’m most proud of — and that I think will help you most — from our seven years of podcasting. Choose from:  The Greatest Hits Playlist: A collection of the most popular and impactful episodes The Encouragement Playlist: Mindset tips and motivation to help rejuvenate and inspire you The Productivity Playlist: Time and energy management ideas to create work/life balance The Student Engagement Playlist: Innovative teaching strategies that build a healthy classroom culture Visit https://truthforteachers.com/playlists/ to learn more and get the one you want sent straight to your inbox!