Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers

Angela Watson
  • 4.8 (1.3K)
  • Courses
  • Updated Biweekly

Truth for Teachers is designed to speak life, encouragement, and truth into the minds and hearts of educators and get you energized for the week ahead.

  1. Aug 16

    EP354 You don't have to teach like an influencer.

    If you scroll social media right now, you'll probably land on a teacher revamping their reading corner like it's a home renovation reveal, then a TikTok Shop haul of classroom must-haves you didn't know you needed nine seconds ago, then someone who built an entire year's curriculum with AI in under a minute. And somewhere underneath all of it is this creeping feeling that you're already behind, and the school year has hardly even started. In this episode, I'm telling a story about a veteran teacher I worked next door to early in my career, and why I think about my mistake in emulating her every time some new pendulum swing happens in education. And, I discuss how a lot of what shapes our thinking about teaching no longer originates from trainings or mentors or our own gut instincts and professional expertise. It's coming from whichever five seconds of video happened to outperform in an algorithm built to sell ads, not to teach well. The truth is that you don't have to teach like the teacher down the hall, and you don't have to teach like an IG influencer. You just have to keep asking the question I had to learn the hard way: is this authentic to my teaching philosophy, or am I performing someone else's idea of what a good teacher looks like? Listen in. Or read the transcription here.

  2. Aug 16 ·  Bonus

    You Might Also Like: A Better Way to Money

    Introducing Financial Curveballs: How to Take a Hit, Make a Plan, and Come Back Stronger from A Better Way to Money. Follow the show: A Better Way to Money Most people dealing with debt don’t talk about it. They rationalize, minimize, or wait for a “better time” that never seems to arrive. Lynnette Khalfani-Cox did the same—reporting on personal finance for a living the whole time—before she confronted it, paid it all off, and built the kind of financial stability she now helps others find. Host Jennifer Borget sits down with  New York Times bestselling author of Bounce Back: The Ultimate Guide to Financial Resilience to explain how anyone can recover from a financial curveball. Lynnette shares how debt creeps in and takes over, why the standard advice doesn’t always work, what it takes to get out, and ways to build a better financial future. And debt is just one thing that can knock people off course. Lynnette’s Dreaded D’s cover the full list—divorce, death, disability, downsizing, and more. Listen here to get a game plan for when life takes a turn.  Download your free Family Finances workbook and start building a plan that holds up when life knocks you off course TODAY: https://www.northwesternmutual.com/podcast/ Connect With Lynnette Khalfani-Cox Lynnette’s website: https://lynnettekhalfanicox.com/about/Lynnette’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Bounce-Back-Ultimate-Financial-Resilience/dp/1394205163/ Connect With Northwestern Mutual Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/northwesternmutualInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/northwesternmutual/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/northwestern-mutual/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@northwesternmutual Episode Page: https://www.northwesternmutual.com/life-and-money/how-to-pay-off-debt-and-recover-from-financial-setbacks Digital Asset: 29-5697-10 Getting Family Finances Right: A Workbook LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/a-better-way-to-money-podcast/ DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to team@podroll.fm.

    You Might Also Like: A Better Way to Money

  3. Aug 2

    EP353 Think out loud: teaching the hidden skills of planning and prioritizing

    You make dozens of invisible decisions every class period. Should I squeeze in one more activity or leave time for questions? Do I spend more time on this concept or move on? Is this the best use of our remaining five minutes? You weigh options, estimate time, and reprioritize on the fly, and you do it so automatically that you barely notice anymore.  But here's the problem: your students have no idea any of this is happening. They just see you move seamlessly from one thing to the next. If kids never see how you plan, prioritize, and adjust, how are they supposed to learn to do it themselves? In this episode, I'm talking about how to make your thinking processes visible to students, and why it matters so much. We'll cover how to talk through your weekly overview so kids learn to anticipate where their time and energy should go, how to involve students in prioritizing decisions (like "We have five minutes left, should we do X or Y?"), how to model breaking down projects into manageable steps, why most people are bad at estimating time and what to do about it, and what to say when things go off track and plans need to change. These are teachable skills, but kids won't pick them up through osmosis. They need to see it modeled, and even better, they need to be invited into the process. Listen or read the episode here: https://truthforteachers.com/truth-for-teachers-podcast/think-out-loud-teaching-the-hidden-skills-of-planning-and-prioritizing/

  4. Jul 19

    EP352 Why distress tolerance is the missing piece in classroom management

    Do your students seem less and less able to sit with anything uncomfortable, whether that's boredom, confusion, frustration, or the feeling of not immediately knowing the answer? The research backs up your anecdotal evidence: distress tolerance in young people is measurably declining. In this episode, I dig into why this is happening and what teachers can actually do about it.  We'll talk about the biology behind why comfort reduces resilience (and why that's not anyone's fault), why our students are more stressed than ever but building less capacity from it, and practical strategies for building distress tolerance in the classroom without being dismissive of real struggles. I also get into how this applies to us as adults, because we're dealing with their own version of this. Listen in to hear: Why distress tolerance is declining in young people, and why it's a predictable biological outcome rather than a character flaw The difference between chronic, overwhelming stress (which breaks people down) and acute, manageable stress (which builds capacity), and why modern life has gotten this equation backwards How stress inoculation works in the classroom, including specific strategies for gradually building students' ability to sit with discomfort The tension teachers feel between "tough it out" and "honor every feeling," and why both extremes fail How to help students distinguish between "I can't" and "I don't want to" Why normalizing the feeling of not knowing might be one of the most powerful things you can do Where teachers can apply this same thinking to their own lives Listen in. Or read the transcription here.

  5. Jun 28

    EP351 What does learning science actually say about AI in the classroom? (with Erin Mote)

    Everyone has an opinion about AI in classrooms right now, but very few of those opinions are grounded in what we actually know about how kids learn. In this episode, I sit down with Erin Mote, CEO and founder of InnovateEDU and co-founder of Brooklyn Laboratory Charter School, to cut through the noise and talk about what the evidence actually shows about AI as a learning tool. This isn't a conversation about ChatGPT, cheating, whether to ban devices, or what kids are doing with AI at home on their own time (which are separate topics worthy of their own discussion). We're talking specifically about AI-powered tools designed for classroom use that are being pitched to your district and showing up in your school, and whether they hold up when measured against what we know about how kids learn. In this episode you'll hear Erin share her thoughts on: Why "good enough" consumer tech is not good enough for students, and what to look for in tools that are actually built around learning The difference between sycophantic AI and Socratic AI, and why it matters for student outcomes What the early research is showing about AI as a learning tool, including what's promising and what we still don't know What to ask for and advocate for at the school and district level so these decisions aren't made without you If you've been feeling overwhelmed by the pace of change and unsure what to actually do, this episode will leave you with more clarity, and more confidence in what you already know about how kids learn. Listen in. Or read the transcription here.

  6. Jun 14

    EP350 The power of regret: using hindsight as a tool for growth

    Teaching gives you a lot of opportunities to look back and wish you'd done it differently, and most of us carry those regrets way longer than we need to. In this episode, I'm sharing what I learned from Daniel Pink's book The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward, and how his research applies to the unique kind of regret that teachers carry.  I'll walk you through the four categories of regret most people have, the difference between "if only" and "at least" thinking, and a three-step process for actually processing a regret instead of just ruminating on it at 2 a.m. I'll also share the line from Pink's book that hit me hardest, the one that completely changed how I think about looking back: If you know what you truly regret, you know what you truly value.  Your regrets aren't proof you've failed this year. They're a map of what you care about. If you've been carrying something from this school year and you're not sure what to do with it, this episode is for you. Listen in. Or read the transcription here.

  7. May 31

    EP349 Re-awakening kids' curiosity & connection to real food through sensory learning (with Bee Wilson)

    Food writer Bee Wilson has been in classrooms across the UK, and what she's discovered is startling: many children have completely lost their sensory connection to real food. They know the peach emoji but not the fuzzy feel of actual peach skin. They recognize mint from shampoo but have never smelled a fresh mint leaf. When asked where food comes from, kids used to say "the supermarket." Now they say "mommy's iPad." This slow shift is revealing a new gap in child development that affects how kids observe, describe, and engage with the world around them. In this episode, Bee explains what's lost when children grow up disconnected from real food. And she explains what can happen when you put fresh produce in their hands and simply ask: What do you see? Bee shares how these lessons build scientific observation skills, spark rich oral language, and get even the most reluctant writers eager to put words on paper. Kids speak in vivid similes and metaphors. They notice details they've never noticed before. And, teachers report some of the most meaningful classroom experiences of their careers. Bee is the co-founder of TastEd, a charity offering free sensory food education resources now used in over 1,800 UK schools: tasteeducation.com She's a fascinating guest sharing practical ways any teacher can bring this into their classroom, including a simple lesson you could try tomorrow. Listen in. Or read the transcription here.

  8. May 17

    EP348 Stuck in survival mode? Here's how to calm your nervous system.

    Most of us are walking around in a low-grade state of fight-or-flight all the time, and we don't even realize it. It looks like the tight jaw in the morning, the exhaustion that doesn't lead to sleep, or the feeling of being on edge even on a good day.  These are signs of a nervous system that never got the signal that it's safe to come down. In this episode, I'm sharing a lesson from my new free video course called Everything is Terrible: An Anxiety Toolkit for the Age of Doomscrolling. It's a five-lesson toolkit for people who care deeply about the world and are quietly exhausted by the weight of it. Each lesson is a standalone tool you can use when you need it. This episode shares an excerpt from one of these lessons, covering: -What's actually happening in your body when you're stuck in fight-or-flight -How to manually activate your parasympathetic nervous system even when the external world is still chaotic -Two specific breathing techniques you can use anywhere to send your body the "all clear" signal -Grounding phrases for when your body has settled but your brain is still spinning. Check out the full Everything is Terrible toolkit FREE on my Substack. You can also: Read the blog post for this episode Learn about upcoming teacher retreats Join The Reset, a free at-home nervous system reset retreat June 26-28

See All (376)

4.8
out of 5
1,251 Ratings

About

Truth for Teachers is designed to speak life, encouragement, and truth into the minds and hearts of educators and get you energized for the week ahead.

Information

  • Creator
    Angela Watson
  • Years Active
    2014 - 2026
  • Episodes
    376
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All content copyright Angela Watson 2015-2026
  • Show Website
    Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers

You Might Also Like