Angela Watson's Truth For Teachers

Today's episode centers on educators who feel like they're drowning in work and struggling with anxiety. I'll walk you through different aspects of teacher anxiety and help you figure out a new way to think about your work, and also help you to think in ways that FINALLY create freedom from anxiety and overwhelm. When you're feeling anxious, there’s nothing better than hearing reassurance from someone who understands what you’re going through, validates your feelings, and helps you work through those feelings in a practical, uplifting way. Today's episode will offer a sort of "virtual mentorship," so whenever you’re feeling isolated, discouraged, and unsupported you can listen to practical encouragement and reassurance.   Click here to read or share the transcript and audio or participate in the discussion. Click here for the full set of audio messages and digital tools that I created called Finally Free: The teacher toolkit for conquering anxiety and overwhelm. You'll get to hear my words of encouragement w

Trauma is an epidemic right now, affecting kids across racial and socio-economic lines. And I'd bet that every teacher is working with kids that have experienced trauma. Most kids who have experienced trauma will not receive any kind of special services or counseling, but they will show up to the classroom, and you'll be expected to understand and manage all of the complex emotions and behaviors that come with them on your own. Join me today as I give you an overview and solid foundation for understanding trauma-informed teaching practices. You'll learn ways how trauma impacts students and what we can do as teachers to support kids without carrying the weight of that trauma ourselves. Listen in for specific dos and don'ts to make it easier to navigate this in your classroom, so you can build better relationships, prevent conflict, and teach students effectively.  Click here to read or share the transcript and audio or participate in the discussion.

In this episode of the Truth for Teachers podcast, we're talking strategies for dealing with complainers at work so negative colleagues don't impact your enthusiasm for the job. Whether it’s in the teacher’s lounge, staff meetings, or just passing one another in the hallway, even a short conversation with a negative teacher can be totally draining. Everyone complains occasionally and no one is going be positive all the time ... this episode targets constant complaining or venting.  Ultimately what we’re talking about here is dealing with people who are nonstop, chronic complainers, or people who rarely, if ever, are looking for solutions, and they will likely shoot down any ideas you offer because they’re just wanting to complain.  I’m going to share 12 ways you can head off chronically complaining coworkers at the pass! Click here to read or share the transcript and audio or participate in the discussion.    

By now, you've probably heard me talk a lot about strategies for work-life balance and productivity as a teacher. Join me today in this episode of the Truth for Teachers podcast where I personally reflect on what those principles look like in this season of life currently. I’ll share five choices I’ve made that are essentially habits now, and they help me to automate and simplify my life. Hopefully, it will give you some ideas about ways that you can do the same in order to focus on your biggest priorities! Click here to read or share the transcript and audio or participate in the discussion.  

In this episode of Truth for Teachers, we're talking about how to keep teaching from ruining your marriage (or any relationship you have with a significant other). I can’t tell you how many emails I've gotten over the years from teachers telling me that teaching is ruining their marriage. I’ve heard of husbands giving their wives ultimatums: It’s either teaching or me. And I’ve also heard from many 40HTW club members over the years that they have used strategies from the club to reduce their workload, which has ultimately helped them strengthen their marriage and have more time to spend with their partners. This episode will use a slightly different format, as I’ve asked club members to share some of the things that they are doing to preserve their marriage and keep teaching from coming in between themselves and their partners. Join me today as I’ll be sharing some of the advice that they’ve written, and also play a couple audio clips so you can hear things in their own words. Click here to read or share th

Do you feel like it’s less work to go into school sick than to write plans for a sub? If I wasn’t contagious, I showed up to my classroom every day, because planning lessons for six subject areas and prepping/organizing all the materials was a massive job.  The solution? To remember that unexpected absences aren’t really unexpected: We know they’re going to happen from time to time. So even though you don’t know when, you can still do the bulk of your preparation in advance, and set up your expectations and routines to make things go more smoothly. In this week's episode, I share 5 tips to help you simplify prep for substitutes, and how you get ready-to-use sub plans I've created. Click here to see the emergency sub plans AND get one day’s assignments for FREE. Click here to read or share the transcript and audio or participate in the discussion.

Join me today and listen in on a conversation I had with Shawnta Barnes, where she shares her very honest and transparent thoughts and feedback on why really great teachers get saddled with the biggest workload.   This is an episode that I've been wanting to do because I have experienced this situation myself, where my class list was loaded up with the most challenging kids, only because the administration said, “You can handle it.” And ... I know this happens in schools all across the country, where teachers are almost being punished for their effectiveness or are expected to pick up other people's slack. While there might not be any instant solutions to this known problem, Shawnta and I will talk about some specific things you can do to advocate for yourself. Click here to read or share the condensed transcript and audio or participate in the discussion.    

In this week's episode, I'm excited to try this new episode format because I get a lot of questions from teachers which I haven't been able to answer up until now. Either I don't have enough information or knowledge to answer, or I don't have enough to say that would fill an entire podcast episode. And sometimes, the question is just so specific to that person that it wouldn't make a good episode for everyone else. I think this will be a really fun way to cover a wide variety of topics in a short amount of time and still give you a lot of value. Basically, I’m going to give my BEST piece of advice for each scenario.  All of these questions came from Instagram. If you want to ask a question, go to my Instagram Story Highlights, or fill out the form at truthforteachers.com.  Click here to read or share the transcript and audio or participate in the discussion.

One of the issues I’m most passionate about is making teaching more effective, efficient, and enjoyable, so I’ve gathered a group of educators to create a Productivity Roundtable. Joining me are five members of the 40 Hour Teacher Workweek Club’s graduate program. They have done a tremendous amount of work in experimenting with various productivity strategies in their classrooms and creating systems and routines that work well for them and their students. Since they teach at different grade levels and subject areas, in different types of school settings and communities, in a diverse set of locations throughout the United States, you’re going to hear what works with a variety of teaching contexts and teaching styles. This time around, we’re talking about how to manage differentiation. During the roundtable, we’ll move past “differentiation” as a buzzword and talk about what’s happening in real classrooms. Each roundtable member will share how they differentiate instruction, and then move into how we can make d

In this episode, I decided to put myself out there and tell Truth for Teachers listeners some facts that are embarrassing for me to admit. I've heard podcasters in other niches do this episode format, and I felt like I knew them much better afterward. I also related to a lot of what they shared — it made me feel less alone to hear someone else admit the things that a lot of people think or feel, even if we're not always talking about it. Click here to read or share the condensed transcript and audio or participate in the discussion.  

We are back from our summer hiatus and kicking off a new season of the Truth for Teachers Podcast! Are you in the middle of the back-to-school craziness or preparing for it? It's that time of year for a lot of you, and I know a lot of teachers begin to have back-to-school nightmares or trouble sleeping due to this very high-pressure time. There are so many things at the start of the school year that are unknown or unfamiliar and completely out of your control. That stress can come from feeling like you have to prove yourself and worrying that you're not doing enough. And there is the pressure of having a new group of kids and their parents or even any changes in personnel at your school. So it’s natural to try to handle that by controlling as many things as possible, or oppositely, bending over backward to be likable or worry how to win your kids over.  Join me today for a quick trick that you can use to lessen your anxiety during those first weeks of school. Learn to shift your focus to help build better rel

Season 8 of the podcast will be back next Sunday, August 12th! Here’s a quick sneak peek of what you can expect and what will be different. If you’re ready for a back-to-school message now, check out these previous episodes in your podcast player: EP100—What if my students don’t like me and we don’t connect? Overcoming the back-to-school teacher jitters EP101—Stay reflective on the WHY and avoid comparison: Your classroom does not have to be Pinterest-worthy S4 EP1—Five back to school time traps and how to escape them S2 EP1—How to turn back-to-school anxiety into excitement

We're in between seasons of the Truth for Teachers podcast, but I have lots of new info and ideas for you in the meanwhile. I'm highlighting the best excerpts from interviews I've done on other educators' podcasts in the last few weeks. Listen in here as we chat about mindset, balance, wellness, productivity, and time management. Want more? Check out the full interviews on these podcasts (each is producing new episodes throughout the summer, so you'll find lots of other great episodes, too): Always a Lesson with Gretchen Bridgers: http://alwaysalesson.com/155-bonus-edition-interview-angela-watson/ Teach 4 the Heart with Linda Kardamis: https://teach4theheart.com/delegate-meaningful-classroom-jobs/ Spark Creativity with Betsy Mork: http://www.nowsparkcreativity.com/2018/06/episode-041-teacher-mindset-happiness.html Teacher's Aid with Jon Harper and Mandy Froelich: http://www.bamradionetwork.com/teachers-aid/4693-how-my-teachers-find-the-time-to-teach-sleep-live-and-love Dr. Will Show Podcast with Dr. Will D

The first few weeks of summer are almost always blissful, and the time seems to stretch ahead endlessly. We have plenty of days off in which we can afford to take it easy and not worry about getting things done. But in the back of your mind, you always know what’s coming. You might be like many teachers, who start off the summer with a list of 500 things they hope to get done. So you’re stuck in that horrible place of procrastination limbo, where you’re not motivated enough to get things done but you’re also not fully relaxing. And at the end of the day, you haven’t really enjoyed yourself AND you also haven't gotten anything done. Join me today as I discuss how to prepare for school over the summer through 5 easy steps that will leave you feeling refreshed. Click here to read or share the condensed transcript and audio, participate in the discussion, or get the FREE template for your end-of-summer vision.

This week on the Truth for Teachers podcast, join me as I talk about what your life would look like if you gave the same level of thought and consideration to the way you spend and value your time, as to the way you spend your money. I'll discuss why we don't value our time as much as our money and how to turn that mindset around by investing our time like we do money, and planning to make time instead of hoping to find it. Your time is valuable because YOU are valuable! Click here to read or share the condensed transcript and audio or participate in the discussion. The new cohort of the 40 Hour Teacher Workweek Club is opening up for early bird access June 5th! Get on the waitlist today and I’ll send you some free resources to help you start figuring out ways now to be more intentional with your time.       

Join me today for the second session of the Productivity Roundtable, a group of master teachers gathered together to hash out some of their toughest challenges and also to share what’s working. These educators teach at different grade levels and subject areas, in different types of school settings and communities, in a diverse set of locations throughout the United States. So you’re going to hear what works with a variety of teaching contexts and teaching styles. This time around, we’re talking about how to use tech to actually save time instead of letting it create more work for you. During the roundtable, we’ll discuss how to keep track of and organize the teaching ideas and resources you find online, email management and digital communication, and their favorite tech tools for saving time as a teacher AND the tools they help them organize their personal lives at home. So, let’s jump in.

My guest on the Truth For Teachers podcast today is Jennifer Ansbach, a National Board Certified™ English teacher. She is currently in the classroom teaching high school, and she’s also the author of the new book Take Charge of Your Teacher Evaluation. Teaching observations are stressful, but you can do more than just survive them, and actually take charge of your teaching evaluation. Jennifer will share what a healthy teacher evaluation looks like and her practical and encouraging advice on the three things you can do to take charge! Click here to read or share the condensed transcript and audio or participate in the discussion.  

Join me today as I help one teacher make over her daily schedule so she can maximize her time in school and work less at home based on a coaching call that I conducted with a graduate of the 40 Hour Teacher Workweek Club. Have you ever wondered how time slips away from you and the entire day is gone? Listen in as I walk Amara, a 3/4 French Immersion teacher from Winnipeg, Manitoba, through each element of her non-instructional time and look for ways that she can streamline and simplify. As you listen in, I encourage you to ask yourself the same questions I’m asking Amara as you are going to be able to relate to her challenges because they’re common to almost all teachers.   Click here to read or share the transcript and audio or participate in the discussion.

The end of the school year can feel super crazy because it means lots of close out tasks for the teacher. We’ve got tons of paperwork, plus bulletin boards to remove, supplies to label and pack away, cleaning, and more. You as the TEACHER have plenty of things to do. But often, the kids don’t. Standardized tests are done, gradebooks have been closed out for the year, and often our students feel like they’re just biding their time until summer break.  In today's episode, listen in as I discuss a simple 4-step system I created for closing out and deconstructing your room in a single day, and pace yourself so the rest of your end-of-year tasks don’t feel so unmanageable. Click here to read or share the transcript and audio or participate in the discussion. Click here to view my done-for-you system for end-of-year close out on sale now.

One of the toughest parts of teaching students who enter our classrooms with a lot of personal and behavioral issues is that feeling of helplessness that comes from working with them. You might feel that there is nothing you can do to reach that student, or that you have no control over the situation at all.  It’s a frustrating situation for sure, but today, I discuss why you have far more power and influence than you may think through having a restorative mindset versus a punitive mindset, and choosing as a school community to approach behavior problems through a lens that is focused on long-term solutions which restore a child to wholeness rather than punishing or criminalizing kids for their behavioral choices. Join me today on one of the most important episodes I've ever done. Listen in on your time — it might shift your perspective in a way that literally changes the trajectory of a child’s life.  Click here to read or share the transcript and audio or participate in the discussion.