student forgot to do their homework

40 Hour Workweek

Angela watson, founder/editor-in-chief, let’s make teaching more effective, efficient, and enjoyable., join over 92,000 educators who receive our sunday night emails to stay inspired and informed enter your best email below:.

NEW curriculum!

Empower your students to use artificial intelligence responsibly and ethically with this no-prep 3 lesson mini unit. Slide deck plus guided activities and student reflection pages are included.

Maximize your contractual hours, so you’re not working endlessly on nights and weekends.

Our 40 Hour Workweek programs offer online personal + professional development for educators who want to focus on what really matters and simplify the rest.

Nearly 60,000 teachers have used 40 Hour to get organized, streamline routines, give kids ownership of the classroom, and be truly intentional about how they use their instructional, contractual, and personal time.

The new 40 Hour AI membership will help you accelerate your work with artificial intelligence tools. We also offer a 40 Hour Instructional Coaching program and 40 Hour Leadership for school administrators to help shift norms and expectations school-wide.

EXPLORE BY TYPE

Resources from angela watson.

As founder of Truth for Teachers, Angela has created a growing collection of articles, podcast episodes, online courses, books, and curriculum resources designed to help educators live a more purpose and conscious life:

Truth for Teachers is a one of the top-rated K-12 podcasts in the world, providing weekly audio encouragement and practical ideas

We combine personal + professional development on a variety of topics in an online, self-paced format.

Time-saving curriculum resources include materials for growth mindset, working memory, sub plans, and more.

Check out these step-by-step guides to classroom management, mindset, and enjoying teaching every day…no matter what.

Latest Articles

Meet our writers, from theory to practice.

Discover what’s working in classrooms around the nation and beyond.

By Melissa Forbes

Instructional coach, MTSS coordinator

May 21, 2023

4 trauma-informed approaches that help kids with ACEs (and benefit your entire class!)

By Jay Benedith

Equity Leader & Coach

Jun 4, 2023

Culturally responsive time management strategies to empower middle/high school students

By Amy Stohs

Aug 27, 2023

10 things I no longer say to my students

By Megan Faherty

High School History/Social Studies

Aug 24, 2022

The Team Check Up: 10 principles for building a more efficient, effective teaching team

Tina barber, writing and ela.

Tina Barber is a skill-based educator at Cherokee Trail High School in Aurora, Colorado who believes that all students and...

Learn More About This Writer

Jay Benedith

Jay is a progressive educator and a passionate equity leader in New York City! Through J. Benedith Coaching Services, she...

Jennifer Brinkmeyer

7th-12th grade ela.

Iowa City, IA

17 Years Experience

Jennifer is currently working with students and teachers on building-wide academic inclusion. Her passion is building literacy supports that include...

Becky Burley

Truth for teachers writer.

Becky Burley is an educator with 18 years experience teaching middle school social studies in a public magnet program in...

Kyair Butts

Kyair was the 2019 Teacher of the Year for Baltimore City Public Schools. His work has included curriculum development with...

High School ELA

Tia Butts has a Master's degree in Secondary Teacher Education. She has been teaching English for eight years at the...

Catherine Eisel-Elder

Catherine Eisel-Elder grew up in central Georgia and currently works in the metro Atlanta area. She has worked with kids...

Megan Faherty

Megan is in her 17th year of teaching high school social studies, including world history, European history, and psychology. She...

Brianna Frerich

Brianna Frerich is an 8th grade math teacher in Oklahoma City where she lives with her husband and two young...

LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE

Truth for teachers podcast.

Our bi-weekly podcast has received over a thousand 5 star ratings + 9 million downloads. You can support our work by subscribing in your favorite podcast app for free!

EP 313 • October 27

What students need to know about artificial intelligence (and how to help the...

EP 312 • October 13

5 brain-based ways to help kids who shut down in class

EP 311 • September 29

Soft starts: a gentle, inviting way to begin the school day

EP 310 • September 15

Unlocking the secrets of effective lesson design

EP 309 • September 1

Why humans fall for misinformation & creative ways to teach information ...

EP 308 • August 18

How (and why) schools should support neurodivergent educators

EP 307 • August 4

Creating conditions for transformation

EP 306 • July 21

How to get TRUE student buy-in for your “no phone” policy

EXPLORE ARTICLES BY CATEGORY

What kind of ideas are you looking for, classroom management, education trends, equity resources, mindset & motivation, productivity strategies, teaching tips & tricks, edupreneur resources, podcast articles, sponsors & supporters.

Meet our Founder

Angela watson, editor-in-chief.

Angela is a National Board Certified educator and has a masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She created the first version of this site in 2003, when she was a classroom teacher herself. Now with 11 years of teaching experience plus more than a decade of experience as an instructional coach, Angela oversees and contributes regularly to the resource collection here, and hosts the Truth for Teachers podcast. Angela also provides coaching and consulting services, creates online courses, and designs curriculum resources.

Angela believes in challenging the narrative of the overworked and unappreciated educator who sacrifices to the point of burnout. Through the Truth for Teachers writers collective, she aims to center the voices of classroom practitioners in finding more sustainable approaches to high-quality K-12 education.

What’s Truth for Teachers all about?

We’re a collective of educators who collaborate around a shared set of values and purpose.

Explore All Articles

Diverse perspectives

We feature K-12 teachers with a wide range of identities, lived experiences, teaching experiences, and educational contexts. We seek to highlight voices that are often missing from the dominant narratives in education.

Sustainable workloads

We help teachers use mindset and productivity tools to create balance and find a sustainable approach to their workload. We prioritize energy-giving tasks to help teachers maintain their enthusiasm and creativity.

Teacher + student agency

We find the overlap between what’s best for educators and what’s best for kids, and support teachers in activism and advocating for positive change in their classrooms, schools, and communities.

Holistic wellbeing

We work to create schools that prepare kids to be informed, conscious citizens, and we value more than just the academic instruction, as the physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing of children and educators are interconnected.

Mission Statement

The encouragement, motivation, and practical teaching strategies you’ll find here are grounded in these core beliefs:.

• We believe classroom teachers have a unique and essential expertise that must be centered in discussions about education. Decisions about teaching should not be made without teachers. So, we use our platform to amplify the voices of classroom practitioners.
• We seek out a diversity of perspectives and honor the wide range of experiences teachers have in K-12 schools. We focus on teachers in the United States, but welcome and learn from the voices of educators around the world. We encourage them to speak openly and transparently about all they are experiencing.
• We believe in the relentless pursuit of truth by uncovering history, facts, and experiences that have been obscured or whitewashed. We look to see whose perspectives are missing from common narratives and how that’s shaped what we believe is true. We are constantly learning and growing, and sharing that process with other educators.
• We believe that who teachers ARE matters just as much as what they DO. Therefore, we focus not only on professional development, but also personal development. We delve deeply into topics of mindset, unpacking personal bias, habits for strong mental health, and overall teacher wellbeing. The goal is to provoke self-examination and help educators be the best true version of themselves.
• We work to be inclusive but aren’t afraid to take a stand on divisive issues when needed. When deciding whether to tackle a controversial topic, our guiding question is, “Who benefits if we choose to stay silent about this?” We stand with folks in the margins and work for justice, accountability, and equity.
• We believe in a humanized approach to education, addressing not only the needs of the whole child but the whole teacher. The physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing of both children and educators is our central concern, and does not come secondary to academic goals.
• We believe the status quo is not best serving the needs of teachers or kids, and push one another to reimagine what’s possible. We do not believe in martyring ourselves to meet impossible expectations or overburdening students with irrelevant assignments and excessive testing. Instead, we support teachers in focusing on what makes the biggest impact for kids, and setting boundaries on how much time they–and their students–dedicate to less impactful tasks.
• We believe there is a huge overlap between what’s best for kids and what’s best for teachers, and work to offer solutions that serve the best interest of both. Kids learn best from happy, supported, balanced teachers. So, we reject the tendency to pit teachers’ needs against those of students, and instead look for the alignment between them.
• We believe teaching is inherently impacted by the larger political, cultural, societal, and institutional frameworks that our schools operate within. So, we don’t shy away from discussing current events, and work to inform and equip educators to navigate systemic challenges.
• We believe that a free high quality public education is not only the right of every child, but essential for the greater good of a nation. We respect parental choice, and support teachers working in private and charter schools. We also have a deep passion for strengthening our public school system through equitable learning conditions for kids and sustainable working conditions for educators.
• We actively look for solutions that make teaching more effective, efficient, enjoyable, and equitable. We seek to help teachers find a sustainable approach to their work in order to maintain their enthusiasm and creativity. We support them in identifying practices that make the best use of class time and help meet the needs of all students, without burning out.
• We believe our mission is up for questioning but not up for debate. We invite healthy discussion initiated in good faith for the purpose of clarification. We encourage pushing one another’s thinking to include additional perspectives. And, we welcome all educators in this space. In the interest of cohesion and forward progress, we focus on the needs of educators who share our core values. We do not compromise the work of our community to center the perspectives of those who are disinterested in (or opposed to) our goals.

If you feel energized and excited after reading this … you’ve found your community of educators. We’re glad you’re here!

Sign up to be part of this community, and we’ll send you an encouraging message every sunday night., featured in.

Join our community of educators

If you are a teacher who is interested in contributing to the Truth for Teachers website, please click here for more information.

Join over 87,000 educators who follow us on Pinterest

Join our community of over 160,000 teachers on Facebook

Join our brand new community on TikTok

X / TWITTER

Join over 22,000 teachers who network with us on X / Twitter

Join over 23,000 teachers who connect with us on Instagram

TEACHERSPAYTEACHERS

Join 22,327 educators to learn about new resources

Inspired Together Teachers

Living with Grace Ep. 88

October 30, 2024 By Inspired Together Teachers Leave a Comment

Living With Grace Season 6 Episode 88 Check out this episode to learn how to combat tension and divisiveness by living with grace for yourself and others.  Show Notes:  Episode Summary: In this episode: The following notes are key concepts … Read More...

Check out these posts:

Who Are You When You’re Teaching at Your Best? A Fun, Insightful Activity

Who Are You When You’re Teaching at Your Best? A Fun, Insightful Activity Season 6 Episode 87 Listen to this episode to learn a fun, quick strategy that will give you insight to who you are when … [Read More...]

Don’t Let Boredom Drag You Down Ep. 86

Listen to this episode for ideas of how to eliminate boredom and add a little spice to your life!  Show Notes: Episode Summary: Do you ever feel bored? We often think of boredom as affecting … [Read More...]

Be Brilliant, Gorgeous, Talented, and Fabulous Ep. 85

Listen to this episode to be inspired and learn how you can use your unique gifts and talents to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous!  Show Notes:  Episode Summary: Today we are diving … [Read More...]

My Three Words: A Strategy for Living With Intention Ep. 84

My Three Words: A Strategy for Living With Intention Season 6 Episode 84 Listen to this episode to learn how choosing three simple words can help you to be the version of yourself you like best and … [Read More...]

Define Your Own Measures of Success Ep.83

Define Your Own Measures of Success Season 6 Episode 83 Have you ever wondered how successful you really are? Listen to this episode to learn an easy and effective tool you can use to define your … [Read More...]

Don’t miss these…

Being Seen, Heard, and Understood: The Power of Validation Ep. 82

Being Seen, Heard, and Understood: The Power of Validation Season 6 Episode 82 Listen to this episode to learn how you can use validation to acknowledge and bring out the best in yourself and … [Read More...]

Build Better Relationships and Cultivate Community Ep. 81

Build Better Relationships and Cultivate Community Season 6 Episode 81 Listen to this episode for simple tips to help you build better relationships and create strong community in your classroom … [Read More...]

From Conflict to Collaboration: The A+B+C+D Formula for Positive Discussions

From Conflict to Collaboration: The A+B+C+D Formula for Positive Discussions Season 6 Episode 80 Check out this episode to learn four steps you can take to make sure you have positive discussions … [Read More...]

Kick Off the New School Year With a New Morning Routine Ep. 79

Kick Off the New School Year With a New Morning Routine  S. 5 Ep. 79 Listen to this episode to learn how  you can find more calmness and peace, develop more clarity and focus, increase your … [Read More...]

4 Tried and True Ways to Increase Student Engagement Ep. 78

4 Tried and True Ways to Increase Student Engagement  S. 5 Ep. 78 Check out this episode and learn ways to get students excited about learning and increase student engagement!  Show Notes: In … [Read More...]

More great stuff…

A Fresh Start: Top 10 Tips for a Great School Year Ep.77

  A Fresh Start: Top 10 Tips for a Great School Year S. 5 Ep.77 Listen to this episode for our top 10 best strategies and tips for a great school year! Show notes:  In this busy back-to school … [Read More...]

10 Movies That Will Inspire You Ep. 76

10 Movies That Will Inspire You  S.5  E.76 Listen to this episode to hear about movies that will inspire you to live a life of intention and encourage you to hold onto your dreams!  Are you a … [Read More...]

8 Nonfiction Books that Can Change Your Life Ep.75

8 Nonfiction Books that Can Change Your Life S. 5 E.75 Listen to this episode to hear about some of our favorite nonfiction books that can change your life.  Show Notes:   Episode Summary: Are … [Read More...]

Is it Time to Add More Play to Your Life? Ep.74

Is it Time to Add More Play to Your Life? S. 5  E.74 Do you want more fun in your life? Listen to this episode to find out why play is not only fun, it is important!  Show Notes: In this … [Read More...]

How to Build Better Relationships: Lessons from Our Pets Ep. 73

How to Build Better Relationships: Lessons from Our Pets S. 5 E. 73 Check out this episode if you are a pet lover! We're sharing tips on how to build better relationships that we've learned from … [Read More...]

Connect with us on Social Media!

Occasionally, posts on this site will contain affiliate links. We only write about or recommend products we truly like or use and would personally recommend to you. If you purchase a product through our link, we may receive a small percentage of the purchase amount. There is no additional cost to you. This allows us to pay for the costs of hosting this blog.

Additionally, we do collect a small amount of personal data so that we may create the best experience possible for our visitors. To learn more about how we collect this data please review our Privacy Policy .