Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers

The first roadblock of discouragement tends to hit a little sooner than most teachers are expecting. You might be surprised when it only takes a week or two of school before that great plan you had for the year seems to fall apart: all your prior confidence feels like naivety, and your preparations feel totally pointless, as if you'd been planning lessons and procedures for a fantasy world. Here's what I want you to know when you hit that point.

This season, I thought it might be fun to structure the Ask Angela Anything episodes a little differently, and answer a couple questions briefly in one episode. In fact, I've challenged myself to answer 5 questions in 15 minutes--quick and to the point. Listen in as I discuss transition tips, classes that have a hard time quieting down, reward systems, and more.

Though it's a common problem that happens in pretty much every classroom in America, there isn't any clear cut solution. Obviously you want to make the work as meaningful, authentic, and relevant as you can, and build rapport with students. But there are some kids who just aren't going to focus and get their work done no matter how much of a personal connection you've tried to make with them, or how much choice you've given in the assignment. In this episode, I'll share how I respond to these students, and what you can do to keep disengaged learners from stealing your enthusiasm for teaching.

Every now and then I get a comment saying, "It's a shame that teachers charge money for everything now. I remember the days when teachers would give everything away for free." Sometimes they even add insult to injury by saying, "If you really wanted to help teachers, if you really cared about kids, you wouldn't charge for this," as if anyone who wants to make a difference is supposed to do it for free and the only people who deserve to get paid are the people who AREN'T helping others. Listen in as I explain in a deeply personal way why teacher-authors like myself charge for our work, and why it's so important to respect copyright.

Zaretta is the author of Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, and has so much helpful info to share about supporting students in poverty. Listen in as we discuss the pedagogy of poverty, and how an individual teacher can make meaningful connections with students despite the drill-and-kill focus so prevalent in many Title I schools. Zaretta gives practical suggestions for any teacher who wants to understand his or her students better.

Today's episode is inspired by a lot of different emails I've gotten from teachers about a wide range of problems with administrators. Some of these teachers feel like their principals place too much emphasis on testing and try to standardize teaching so there's no freedom for teachers or kids. Others simply don't feel supported by their admins; they feel like workhorses who continually have more demands stacked on their plates without any acknowledgment or appreciation of what they do. Listen as I share what an individual teacher can do to create change, shift school culture, and advocate for him- or herself as well as for students.

We have a paralyzing number of choices in our culture today. In teaching you may get hung up on decisions like: What planner or grade book should I buy? Should I use interactive notebooks with my class? Would I be better off with this whole class quiz app or should I find another one? Which desk arrangement would be best for the types of activities I'm doing with kids this week? Today's episode will help you make better decisions, make them more quickly, and feel comfortable sticking with them after they've been made (instead of second-guessing yourself.)

As a new teacher, I was totally a hoarder. I didn't believe I had the resources I needed to teach, and therefore had to hold onto everything that crossed my path in order to be able to make do. I learned to have the mindset of abundance which makes it possible to clear away the clutter and get rid of things, and you can do it, too! This episode will help you mentally prepare to take a new approach to what you keep and what you don't, starting with 10 things you should toss out right away.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by all that needs to be done and exhausted by not only the long hours but also the physical labor of rearranging and setting up a classroom, please know that this is very normal, and it will get better! I tended to work 70-80 hour weeks or more during those first two weeks of school--I wanted to do things right the first time and from the start, rather than having to go back and finish or redo things later. I considered my long hours at BTS as an investment of time--doing things today that would create more time for me later. However, there are things you might get sucked into doing this time of year that waste time, or actually create more work for you in the long run. These are 5 back-to-school time traps that you want to avoid, and how to escape them.

As season 3 draws to a close, I'm challenging you to decide what you want your life to look like a few weeks from now when school begins again. Use the 6 steps shared in this episode to create that vision and determine actionable steps to make it a reality. Have a great summer--season 4 will begin in August!

In last week's episode, I shared how I got started as a teacher, educational consultant, instructional coach, and author. This week, I'll share the rest of my story: how I got into (and out of) professional speaking, the new opportunity that changed everything for me, and what direction I'm going in next. You'll hear mistakes I made along the way and challenges that forced me out of my comfort zone. I'll also share practical advice and inspiration if YOU'RE thinking about making a change in your career or just want to look for ways to impact education beyond the four walls of the classroom.

Wrong episode playing this week? Please refresh the podcast feed. :) If this episode were a movie on the Lifetime channel, it would be called Behind the Scenes: The Angela Watson Story. I'm going to be very transparent and vulnerable in this episode, and share details that I haven't shared publicly before to take you behind the scenes in my career from new teacher to where I'm at today. I'll start by sharing how I got started as a teacher, educational consultant, instructional coach, and author. You'll hear mistakes I made along the way and challenges that forced me out of my comfort zone. I'll also share practical advice and inspiration if YOU'RE thinking about making a change in your career or just want to look for ways to impact education beyond the four walls of the classroom.

Almost every teacher I talk with feels like it’s impossible to turn off his or her brain at night and rest. Teachers feel like there’s always too much to do, too many things to remember, and not enough time for any of it. Being more intentional about your connectivity habits is the easiest, fastest, most powerful way I can think of to change that. I finally broke my connectivity addiction after running myself into the ground last summer...and it honestly shocked how simple it was to rewire my brain so that I no longer craved those constant interactions online. 3 basic habits enabled me to make (and maintain) the change. I created these habits by paying attention to when I was tempted to check my phone or go online, and noticing how I felt when I did or didn’t indulge. And now during the month of May, I want to invite you to join in and do this intentional connectivity challenge together. Let’s stop using our devices to waste time on unintentional breaks and procrastination, and stop allowing them to keep us from fully enjoying and experiencing our lives. We don’t have to settle for a lifetime of feeling controlled by our devices. We can make connectivity into something better, something more intentional, and we can do it together. Sign up here--it's free! https://app.convertkit.com/landing_pages/39603

This episode picks up where we left off last week in examining eight keys to help you regain your confidence and avoid burn-out. These are principles that helped me stay in the teaching profession at times when I didn't think I could take another day. They are based on what I've seen happen in my own life and in the lives of other teachers who overcame feelings of hopelessness and frustration and regained their enthusiasm for teaching.

My inbox is typically bursting with messages from overwhelmed teachers. Help! I can't do this! I feel so inadequate—it's just too much for one person and I don't think I can teach anymore. The situation is so bad—I'm thinking of just quitting. Each person who has contacted me was searching for the same thing: reassurance that their feelings are normal (they are), encouragement that they can handle the responsibilities (they can), and a reason to believe that the rewards of teaching outweigh the costs (they do). This week and next, we’re going to look at eight keys to help you regain your confidence and avoid burn-out. These are principles that helped me stay in the teaching profession at times when I didn't think I could take another day. They are based on what I've seen happen in my own life and in the lives of other teachers who overcame feelings of hopelessness and frustration and regained their enthusiasm for teaching.

It’s the conversation we all dread: telling a parent their child a) is failing a subject, b) needs to be tested for a disability, c) doesn’t have any friends, or d) all of the above. Your stomach is twisting and turning just thinking about having to confront the parent. So, what do you do? Here are a 10 tips to help you share bad, difficult, or sensitive news with a student’s parent and get the best possible outcome.

There are few things that annoyed me more as a teacher than picking up my students from P.E. or lunch, or having a small group return from a resource room pull-out class only to discover that some students had been completely out of control while they were gone. With some classes I taught, it seemed like the moment I was out of sight, there was almost guaranteed to be an incident of disrespect to another teacher, a physical altercation between students, or something even worse. The good news is that while you can’t control what happens when you’re not around, there’s quite a bit you can do pro-actively to prevent the problem from reoccurring and to open the lines of communication between you and other teachers. Listen in as I share 6 strategies to help you do just that.

One of the big principles that we’re always coming back to in The 40 Hour Teacher Workweek Club is that implementing small changes right away is more effective than hoping you’ll feel like implementing big changes later on. We often make the mistake of assuming that our future selves will somehow be less stressed and busy and more disciplined and productive, and therefore we’ll able to handle making positive changes LATER. The problem with that logic is that those qualities of being less busy and more productive later don’t just happen on their own. This summer or next year only seem like they will be slightly less crazy than right now because all the unexpected interruptions, emergencies, and new obligations haven’t cropped up yet. Unless we’re actively taking steps now to set our future selves up for success, things really aren’t going to change very much.In this episode, I'll share how to break that cycle, and embrace the fact that your willingness to adapt what you’re doing NOW has the ability to save you countless hours and immeasurable stress in the new school year.

There’s no question that being a new teacher is tremendously stressful. But when I reflect on my teaching practice and how it evolved over the years, I realize that I created a lot of my own stress simply through the way I chose to perceive my work. The mindset that I held toward my students and their parents, as well as how I viewed my role in the classroom, often made an annoying incident feel maddening, and a challenging situation feel impossible to overcome. Today, I’ll share four specific ways I sabotaged my own success as a teacher, as well as how and why my thinking changed over time.

Every teacher needs more class time. And every year, it seems like there's more and more content that needs to be covered and less time to teach it in. Fortunately, there are some easy ways you can create more time for teaching. There are lots of things happening in our classrooms that either waste time or just make lessons take longer than they need to. If you struggle with lesson planning because you just don't have time to teach everything you're supposed to, these easy tips and productivity hacks will help you maximize every moment with students.

In last week’s episode, I explained why ‘reward’ isn’t a bad word and argued my case for why rewards can be an integral part of your classroom. If you have a problem with rewards or just want to know why I think rewarding students is appropriate, check out EP9 for the the WHY. In this episode, I’m going to share the HOW. I’ve found that the most effective way to use rewards with students is by creating a culture of appreciation in the classroom and using unexpected now-that rewards. Listen in to learn more.

I wanted to do an episode about how to reward students responsibly--in a way that considers the long term results and the type of character and work ethic we’re building in kids, not just how to get compliance here in the moment. And I realized that before I could do something like that, I needed to first address the question of whether teachers should be rewarding kids at all. “Reward” has become a bad word in many education circles. In this episode, I'll tell the story of when I was called out by a district administrator for giving what she felt was an inappropriate reward, and explain why I’m advocating for the return of the reward, anyway.

Listen in as I answer the following question from a Truth for Teachers listener: "We teach students and prepare them for exams--of course we have some expectations around their performance, and begin to feel frustrated when they keep making the same mistakes over and over again. We may start questioning the purpose and the quality of our work. So my question is, how can I let go of expectations--those 'shoulds' and 'supposed tos' around testing and results?"

Lesson planning is too important (and too challenging / time-consuming) for you to try to do all of it on your own. It’s wonderful to utilize the experience of other teachers and time-tested instructional strategies so you don’t have to spend as long planning out your lessons. However, many teachers plan with their grade level or subject area teams and find it’s not working particularly well: either the meetings consume massive amounts of time or personality conflicts keep the endeavor from being productive. In this episode, I'll share 6 strategies to help you efficiently co-plan your lessons.

Listen in as I answer the following question submitted from an exhausted teacher: "How much is enough time to give to each student? There are students who have behavior problems, academic challenges, IEPS, family problems, those whose parents you need to catch after school or speak with the principal about...it never ends! Student issues, dealing with emails, and talking with parents is so time consuming. When is it ok to say 'enough, I've done all I can and need to move on'?

Some of you are barely making it through the school year, and the idea of going into school each morning just makes you sick with stress and anxiety. You want to quit more than anything but have no idea what the alternative would be. I get it. I have been in your shoes. Others of you still love teaching, but you're feeling an itch to do something different. You want to make a greater impact for kids, or you want a flexible schedule, or just feel like there's something more out there for you. I've been in that position, too. You see, I've quit teaching twice: once because the school environment was so toxic that I hated my job, and once because I wanted to shift into a different role in education. I'll share both of those stories with you in this episode, along with 5 things I learned that might be helpful if you're thinking about quitting for either reason.

How do we get kids to go from saying “Just tell me what to do!” to truly taking ownership of their work? In this episode, you'll learn 6 strategies to help get kids on board with the sometimes daunting task of student-directed learning.

In last week's episode, I shared 10 growth mindset shifts you can take to enjoy teaching more, and gave examples of negative, fixed mindset thoughts that can reframed into something that helps you perceive your job as less stressful and more meaningful. This week, I want to go deeper with that, and talk to you about how the story you tell yourself about teaching is probably not true, and ways you can choose to see things differently. You can reframe your work to recognize and appreciate what a tremendously important job you are doing every single minute of the day.

As much as we’d like to believe that we’re growth mindset oriented, most of us (myself included!) will likely discover upon reflection that there are old fixed mindset thought patterns that we haven’t quite let go of. Fortunately, we can examine these self-defeating thoughts and replace them with growth mindset thoughts that are empowering and energizing. See if you can recognize yourself in any of these 10 fixed mindset traps, and practice exercising a growth mindset instead.

It’s always tough to strive for great teaching AND a great personal life, but that battle seems to ramp up exponentially during the holidays. If you’re feeling pulled in a million different directions, check out the tips in this episode which help you prioritize and make time for what’s most important.

Have you lost patience for refocusing your class and fallen into the trap of just barking at the kids (“No talking!”) or pleading with them (“I'm waiting for quiet!”) all day long? Ironically, it’s more tiring to keep repeating your request for silence, since nagging kids puts us in a bad mood and the kids just tune us out, anyway. Here are 5 ways to grab kids' attention in a fun and engaging way.

Everyone knows that a new teacher is not going to perform at the same level as a 30 year veteran. But which areas are most important to focus on? Learn how to figure out where cutting corners is okay, and how to minimize the impact on students.

Do you wish you had more support and encouragement from other teachers in your school? Consider virtual mentorship! Lisa Dabbs shares why she's so passionate about new teacher mentoring, and how you can get involved (as a mentor or mentee) in her New Teacher Mentoring Project.

If you’re feeling completely discouraged right now and don’t know how you can possibly make it until June, that is completely NORMAL! In this episode, I'll share why October can be such a tough month for teachers, and how to gain the perspective you need to push forward with confidence and enthusiasm.

What do you do for a student who continually chooses to misbehave? What happens when you feel like you've tried everything, and you're starting to turn into the type of teacher you never wanted to be? Here are 7 traps to avoid when dealing with extreme student behavior.

The foundation of using your time effectively and being efficient is knowing how to prioritize your tasks. In this episode, I'll share 7 guiding principles to remember when figuring out what to get done first.

Whenever I mention a 40 hour workweek for teachers, people tend to have one of two objections. Either they think it’s not possible, or they think it’s not aspirational—that you can’t do a good job in 40 hours a week, so you shouldn’t even try to attempt that as a teacher. In this episode, I'll share my own experiences and observations, and share ways you can cut 10+ hours of your workweek.

“Grit” is a huge buzzword right now that’s used to refer to perseverance and resilience. Many schools are rushing to adopt grit curriculums and character education programs so they can teach their students about how to put in the effort and determination that’s needed in order to be successful. But here’s the thing about grit. I’ve done a lot of research on this topic, and I’ve seen grit get a lot of pushback because it’s been misused and misinterpreted. And while I believe in the value of teaching grit to students, I think we as educators have the responsibility to be informed about what being “gritty” really means, and what it doesn’t mean.

A TfT listener wonders how to cope when her cohesive team is mocked by other teachers in the school. How can collaborative groups of teachers prevent their positive, innovative attitudes from wedging a divide between them and other colleagues? In this epsiode, I share 6 tips for extending a bridge to distrustful co-workers and reaching out to isolated teachers who may be interested in joining the collaborative spirit.

High school teacher and author of "You've Gotta Connect" James Sturtevant shares practical, concrete ways he builds relationships with students in his social studies classroom. Listen as James helps you find ways to share YOUR stories and personal life in your classroom using a template he calls “Show and Tell."

You can tell from your very first interaction with some parents that there will be challenges ahead. Every teacher encounters both "helicopter parents" as well as those who are impossible to get in touch with. In this episode, you'll learn how to plan ahead and avoiding being caught off guard when parents don’t fit your expectation of the Perfect Amount of Involvement. Learn how to do everything you can to contribute to a good working relationship with your students’ parents, and go the extra mile without taking forever to get there.

August and September are very expensive months for educators as we try to navigate all the back-to-school advertisements. So where should you spend your money in order to get the most bang for your buck? Create a budget, then consider the 3 reasons to buy that are given in this episode.

The ninety-millionth time you’ve reminded kids PUT YOUR NAME ON YOUR PAPER, you might feel like you’re about to lose your mind. Chances are good that your frustration is stemming from one (or more) of 7 mental traps. Once you identify and root out these unhealthy, unproductive beliefs, you’ll find the process of teaching routines far less frustrating.

Have the back-to-school nightmares started for you yet? Are you feeling a sense of dread over losing your family time? Learn how to channel your anxiety into excitement by shifting your focus to 3 awesome things you'll be gaining when the new school year begins. For the transcript, links to recommended resources, and to share your thoughts on the show, visit TheCornerstoneForTeachers.com/S2EP2.

BONUS extended episode! Join Jimmy Casas, Krysta DeBoer, Hope King, and Amber Teamann as they share a behind-the-scenes glimpse into schools that have reflected carefully on school culture and created systems that work. Learn practical, actionable tips for supporting kids and colleagues, winning over negative co-workers, creating change in toxic school environments even when no one else is supporting you, and more. Highlights include: (5:45) What a positive school culture looks like (21:00) How school leaders can support staff and how teachers can support one another (35:35) How to work with colleagues who are negative and don't share the positive vision (40:00) The #1 thing teachers in positive school cultures do to keep it all about the kids (48:45) What one individual teacher can do to create change even in a toxic school culture

In the final regular episode of Truth for Teachers until season 2 begins in August, I'm taking a moment to reflect on my first five months of podcasting. I'll share which episodes resonated most with listeners (and which ones didn't), my plans for changing the podcast in the fall, and an idea for some bonus extended episodes I'd like to try. I'll also share some final thoughts to remember as you approach the end of the school year and summer. Please share your thoughts on Season 1 here in the survey: http://bit.ly/1Req2ck. Thank you for listening and for your feedback!

Looking to earn extra money this summer? Why not create long-term passive income for yourself through sharing your teaching ideas! In this episode, you'll learn how you can establish yourself as an expert in the education field and start getting paid for your teaching ideas and resources. Explore different possibilities that can help you not only earn extra income to support your family, but also help other teachers and impact education on a greater scale.

Summer break always goes by quicker than we imagined, leaving a long list of tasks undone. Learn how to create time for the things that matter most to you in life, and schedule in activities that are energizing for you as a person and as a teacher. You'll also discover 3 exciting online PD events I'm supporting this summer--I hope to connect with you there!

You can't lose sleep over disengaged students, but you can't give up on them, either. In this episode, I'll share how to overcome the feeling of powerlessness that comes from working with unmotivated students, and break free from the trap of trying to nag and shame them into working harder. Learn where to focus your energy--and how--in order to make the greatest difference for the greatest amount of kids. Truth for Teachers has been nominated for a Bammy Award! The Bammys are designed to honor all that's good in American schools and seek to elevate the public perception of educators. If you enjoy the podcast, you can cast your vote here now through the end of the week. Thanks for your support!

In this episode, I'm digging deep into the systemic issues and misplaced outrage that are holding back our youth in impoverished communities. Learn what you can do to make sense of what's happening and educate your students about it, too. These issues affect ALL of us, and we all have the ability (and responsibility) to work for change.