The instability and unpredictability that students have experienced in this third school year impacted by COVID has definitely taken a toll on kids … but the impact can look very different from student to student. High school teacher Jessica Kirkland is here to share what she’s observed in her students and discussed with them in terms of their mindset, behavior, and socio-emotional wellbeing. If you can’t quite put your finger on what feels “off” with students this school year and how class dynamics, relationships, and motivation levels have changed since the pandemic began, I think you’ll find this conversation illuminating. Jessica shares in her deeply empathetic way how both childhood and teenage experiences have been impacted in myriad ways by the pandemic. We explore the root causes for disconnection and lack of motivation, and how even if one particular student is doing okay (or even thriving), that student is still impacted by the people around them who aren’t. We talk about the limits of resiliency and how nearly everyone has been pushed to or beyond capacity for an extended period of time, and how that plays out in schools. We end with Jessica’s thoughts on what’s giving her optimism and hope for the future of our students and our schools.  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.

EP247 Are the kids alright? A deep dive into the pandemic's toll on students (with Jessica Kirkland)

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As the school year comes to a close, we’re taking a step back from practical strategies, and looking at the big picture of K-12 education. Until summer, there’s not a lot of time or mental bandwidth to consider questions like, “What are the larger factors impacting our work? How are other schools handling these challenges? How do we proactively prepare for what’s next and create a vision for where we’re heading, instead of just trying to put out fires all the time?” In an era of student disengagement and teacher disillusionment, it’s crucial for us to envision a better way of doing school and collectively work to make that vision a reality. So, in this episode, I’m sharing the statistics around teacher vacancies, student enrollment declines, and budget forecasts, along with the implications for schools. I’ll then analyze the trends and focuses that we’ll be seeing more of in education in the coming years. Topics covered include:  Artificial Intelligence Student safety and mental health Rationalizing and consolidating curriculum Hybrid learning and multi-classroom models The 4-day school week Vocational-technical training and non-college prep Microschools and “schools within a school”  You’ll be invited to reflect on what else might be possible for schools and use your expertise as a teacher to help shape the future of education. Together, we can change the narrative around the profession and find the overlap between what’s best for teachers and what’s best for kids.  Read the blog post for this article here.

EP302 Education trends, predictions, and hope for the future of teaching

Bored with your curriculum or instructional routines? I’m talking with Betsy Potash of the Spark Creativity Podcast about easy ways to make things feel fresh and interesting again. Often we switch things up in our teaching to keep ourselves from getting bored. But, too much change can create unnecessary work for us. It can also waste class time for students as they spend more energy on figuring out how to complete an assignment than on practicing the skills we want them to learn.  So, Betsy’s identified 5 open-ended activities that you can add to your rotation of go-to strategies, and incorporate them in unique ways throughout the year. We’re talking about how to use the following in gr. 2-12 classrooms: • podcasts • stations • hexagonal thinking • escape room design • one-pager Betsy will definitely spark your creativity as you listen to these easy-to-understand activities which you can plug into the lessons you’re least excited to teach. These ideas will get students actively engaged in learning and boost your energy and enthusiasm as a teacher.   Click here to read the transcript, see photos of the lesson ideas, and get links to Betsy's templates. Resources mentioned:  Spark Creativity website and podcast Learn about student podcasting in a free PD series  Free Digital Toolkit for Hexagonal Thinking  Video: Using hexagons to build critical thinking skills Free escape room toolkit  Guide to creating one-pagers Angela's Teachers Box of Tricks on   TPT /  Truth for Teachers shop 

EP301 5 ways to make an old lesson feel fresh and interesting again (with Betsy Potash of Spark Creativity)

 This topic is definitely new territory for my Truth for Teachers podcast, and I was initially hesitant to include it because I didn’t want to overshare.  However, as I began to talk to other women about this, I realized how many of us really didn’t have a good grasp on the way hormones impact our daily function. The experience is so individualistic, and no two bodies are alike. I realized that the more folks talk about this, the better informed we'll be.  So in this episode, I’m sharing my own journey with perimenopause and brain fog. It took me many months to recognize what was changing in my body and why, and I misdiagnosed the brain fog as simply pandemic-related stress.  At age 43, menopause wasn't on my radar yet, and I didn't know pre-menopausal symptoms were a thing. Once I sought guidance from my OB-GYN, I was able to find relief from my symptoms, and I want to help other women understand their options, too.  So, I’ve invited Dr. Jen Gunter to shed some light on this topic for us. Jen is an obstetrician, gynecologist, and author known for her advocacy work in women's health and her efforts to debunk health misinformation. She is a prominent voice on social media and shares evidence-based information about women's health issues and challenges pseudoscientific claims, and has authored several books, including "The Menopause Manifesto," in which she addresses common myths and provides accurate information about women's health.  In this interview, Jen and I discuss the impact of hormonal changes on energy and focus, throughout different stages of life, emphasizing that hormones should be viewed as a symphony of factors rather than isolated elements.  Jen also dispels negative stereotypes about hormonal changes and challenges patriarchal concepts around women's competence related to hormones and aging. She encourages women to embrace their capabilities, and make informed decisions about how and when to utilize medical experts for support.   Click here to read the transcript and participate in the discussion.

EP300 Teaching through hormonal changes: post-partum, perimenopause, and beyond (with Dr. Jen Gunter)

Do you refuse to throw anything out because you MIGHT need it one day, or find yourself holding on to worthless stuff “just in case” you need it? In this episode, I’ll share 10 things you can get rid of in your classroom this spring to make space for what you actually need and use. And, I’ll help you establish a mindset of abundance rather than scarcity, so you can approach spring cleaning with a perspective that will help you feel good rather than apprehensive about getting rid of the things you worked so hard to accumulate:  I like to streamline and simplify how my classroom runs. I don’t keep things I don’t really need. I could still teach well with a fraction of the materials I’ve accumulated. If there is something that I need later and don’t have, I trust that I will be able to find it again, or borrow it, or be able to do without it just fine. The foundation of my classroom is my energy, enthusiasm, and know-how, not my stuff. I feel good about clearing away the things that drain my energy and enthusiasm by creating a cluttered, disorganized work space. I can let go of things I don’t need in order to make space for things I do.   Click here to read the transcript and participate in the discussion.

EP299 A spring cleaning classroom guide: what if you didn’t need all that STUFF to teach well?

This episode features a sneak peek from one of the upcoming 40 Hour Teacher Workweek Online Summit sessions. You’ll hear from a teacher named June Link, whose session is called, “Clock out confidently: 5 tips to get out the door at contract time.” In this episode, June shares some helpful principles and mindset shifts, along with the exact process she used to carve out time for a new demand in her workload. June and her colleagues were supposed to implement a new socio-emotional learning curriculum, but needed to find time to explore it, write lesson plans, and figure out how to integrate the new materials into everything else they were doing. June shares how she estimated how much preparation time she’d realistically need in order to implement this new curriculum, which was 10 hours. Then she explains how she made time for that work during her contractual hours, instead of taking the new curriculum home to figure out on the evenings or weekends. Listen in to learn about that experiment and more. Then, save your spot for the 40 Hour Teacher Workweek Online Summit: ✅ 30+ presentations ✅ Opening and closing keynotes by 40 Hour founder Angela Watson ✅ All presenters are current K-12 classroom teachers ✅ No fluff, filler, or pitches: each session is just 15-20 minutes long ✅ Chat with other teachers during the live sessions and get personalized advice Sign up for the free live Elementary Summit April 5th-6th Sign up for the free live Secondary Summit April 12th-13th If you can’t attend live or the event has already passed by the time you see this, you can purchase forever-access to all the sessions (both elementary and secondary), plus get time-stamped transcripts, note-taking guides, and all the presentation links and templates in one document so that you can reference them easily.  Forever-access is just $19, and helps cover the cost of running this event and compensating the teachers who share their ideas. Thank you for your support, and for spreading the word about this event!

EP247 Are the kids alright? A deep dive into the pandemic's toll on students (with Jessica Kirkland)

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