Last chance for early bird discounts on the 40 Hour Teacher Workweek!

Get an early bird discount by July 1st when you join the 40 Hour Teacher Workweek Full Year program! The full transcript of this announcement is below. ---- Hey there, it’s Angela, I just wanted to release a quick announcement letting you know that our 40 Hour Workweek programs are now open for early bird access for the 2024-2025 school year!   I’m going to share the updates first for those who are already familiar with 40 Hour or have enrolled in the past. If you’re brand new and have no idea what 40 Hour is, keep listening to the end, and I’ll fill you in.   We’re releasing a brand new membership called 40 Hour AI, which is designed to help you integrate artificial intelligence tools into your workflows to make teaching more effective and efficient.    It’s for folks who are worried about the ethics of generative AI and don’t want to just dive in and hope everything works out.    And it’s for folks who have tried GPT, but felt like they had to rework the output so much they might as well have written from scratch. (I get that–if you don’t know how to use AI well, it can actually take more time than writing something yourself.)   It’s also designed for teachers who like using AI but feel overwhelmed with all the possibilities. I get emails from all the Ai tools designed for educators and it feels like they release 10 new features every single week. If you’re working full-time in the classroom, there’s no possible way to keep up with all of that on top of everything else.    The curation piece is where I come in. It’s my job to shorten that steep learning curve, so AI can become like your own personal teaching assistant right away. 40 Hour AI is a brand new (and ever-growing) collection of video trainings to help you feel confident about using artificial intelligence to streamline your workload in an ethical, responsible way:   ✅ Watch the on-demand trainings that show you only what you NEED to know to trim hours off your workweek. The foundational videos have no fluff or filler, and will help you quickly learn the basics of AI, an overview of the free AI tools available to teachers, and the ethical considerations. ✅ Learn to incorporate AI into your existing work habits so it's your go-to tool instead of an afterthought (without having to completely change systems that already work well for you). ✅ Utilize the ever-growing collection of 5 minute timesaver how-to’s anytime you feel stuck on how to complete a teaching task with AI. You'll know exactly which AI tool to use and how to get the results you want. The downloadable prompt resources will help you phrase your request for great AI output on rubrics, SMART goals, lesson plan ideas, text differentiation, and more. ✅ Discover new AI tools and uses that have been vetted by knowledgeable educators so you don’t have to spend hours on trial-and-error. You won't have to look anywhere else to feel up-to-date: new video trainings are added on a monthly basis so you always have the most recent information. I’m creating some of these myself, and others will be shared with you directly from our 40 Hour graduates who are current classroom teachers. They’ll show you exactly how they’re using AI everyday to save time.  ✅ Use the private discussion community to stay updated even if you don’t have time to watch training videos. It’s held within the membership site (not on social media), and you can stay in the loop and ask questions there anytime.   As always with my resources, the goal is to help you avoid overwhelm and cut through the noise.   You don't need to know EVERYTHING that's possible with AI up front. (Who has time for that?)    You just need the MOST impactful ways to streamline your teaching workload now, and a way to quickly get answers when you need help with a task.   A free year’s unlimited access pass to 40 Hour AI is included when you enroll in the 40 Hour Full year program. I made the decision to do this because I’m going to be talking a lot about AI tools in the coming school year with the current 40 Hour Full Year cohort, and I didn’t want some of the cohort to have access to the AI recommendations and some not have it.    If you’re not ready to explore AI tools like MagicSchool, Eduade, Brisk Teaching, and so on, you can just utilize the core 40 Hour Full Year materials, which don’t discuss AI at all. I know some folks are apprehensive or just not interested in artificial intelligence, so I made the choice not to change the Full Year program, which doesn’t mention AI. Full Year is focused on classic productivity and organizaitonal systems which generally stand the test of time.   The awesome thing about keeping the AI materials in a separate membership is that I can update them frequently. The AI trainings are short videos around 5 minutes each, and other materials that I can quickly make changes to as the technology develops constantly.     I know that making AI trainings for teachers is going to be a major undertaking with lots of work to keep everything current. I’m committed to do that–to staying on top of the trends and dvelopemnets and curating them for you so you don’t have to explore everything yourself or feel overwhelmed with constant changes. I’m weeding through everything that’s out there and finding only the best stuff and the most effective, efficient ways to streamline your workload.   The way I chose to set up 40 Hour AI is as a membership rather than forever-access like the rest of my courses, including the 40 Hour Full Year program. If I can be really real with you…I’ve crunched the numbers, and it just isn’t financially viable for me to offer them as a one-time payment for forever-access.    So, 40 Hour AI is set up to allow you to purchase an unlimited access pass to all the trainings for $29/quarter or $89/year. I do have a discount code for folks who have taken other 40 Hour courses in the past, and those have been sent out via email (and will be sent again a couple of times, as well as listed in the 40 Hour course materials you have access to, so you can find it there if you missed the initial announcement.)    To sum up so far: if you previously enrolled in our 40 Hour Teacher Workweek Full Year program, you get the unlimited access pass (quarterly or annual) for a discount. If you never enrolled in 40 Hour before, 40 Hour AI is open to you now, so you can start learning about artificial intelligence right away. You can just get the AI stuff is that’s all you want.   The other option for folks who have never joined the 40 Hour Teacher Workweek Full Year program is to enroll with the latest cohort, and you’ll get a free year’s unlimited access pass to 40 Hour AI.   As a podcast listener, I’m guessing you’ve heard me mention the program here on the podcast but maybe you’ve never gotten around to checking it out thoroughly with everything else going on.   You might have assumed 40 Hour is for new teachers, or really disorganized people, or those who want to work ONLY their contractual hours.   And it is–we have lots of members who fit one (or more) of those descriptions and find the solutions they need in 40 Hour.   But, 40 Hour is also designed for experienced educators who are highly skilled at their craft, and questioning whether the increasing demands and pressure will allow them to stay until retirement. These members have witnessed so many changes to the profession that they barely recognize it from 10, 20, or 30 years ago. They need practical advice about how to make everything work (and support figuring out what they can realistically take off their plates.)   It’s also for folks who love organization and enjoy learning tips and hacks to be more efficient. These teachers join to make small tweaks to their existing systems, and collaborate with other like-minded educators to streamline even more and keep their teaching feeling fresh and creative.   And, 40 Hour is for teachers who don’t mind working a bit on their own time, but are tired of giving up ALL their evenings and weekends to do documentation, data collection, and other tasks that feel far-removed from helping kids. They want to do more meaningful work and less busywork. Also, some of our members know that working contractual hours isn’t realistic in their personal situation, and they’re just looking for ways to take 10 or so hours off their workweek. Others aren’t paying attention to hours at all: they just want to feel more effective at their jobs and less frazzled and exhausted.   It might seem impossible for one program to differentiate for alllll of these different needs, but…   There’s one thing all 40 Hour members have in common:   They’re educators who love the job and want to find a SUSTAINABLE approach, so they can stay in the field WITHOUT burning out.    So, 40 Hour provides a broad range of tips, strategies, editable templates, and other resources so you can find ideas that work for YOU and your teaching context.    Download only the resources that feel relevant and helpful to you each month, and take a few weeks to experiment with them. You can share ideas and troubleshoot with other members.   You’ll never lose access to the resources, so you can go back to anything you skipped in future years (or try out different ideas if you change grade levels or subject areas later on.)   Because of the wide variety of materials, there really is SOMETHING for EVERY K-12 teacher in 40 Hour. And if you join and find that it’s not a good fit, you can get a complete refund through Sept. 15th.    There are 4 sets of summer planning bonuses included with 40 Hour Full Year which are all about using your summer to get rested and re-energized. You can use them to make a plan for everything you want/need to do during your break, create healthy habits, get organized at home, and more.   But, you don’t have to start right away. The cohort kicks off July 1st, but lots of members take a break from everything work-related over the summer, and then look at all the July and August materials for back-to-school when they’re ready to begin planning. Start whenever it’s most convenient for you!   This is not a formal course. You don’t have to “keep up” or submit any assignments to us (unless your district requires you to). Use 40 Hour as a resource and community to give you ideas and support for managing your workload. Check in whenever you’d like and see what’s new.   And, it’s designed so you don’t have to spend a lot of time learning in order to get results. You’ll need about 30 minutes a month to explore the Core Concepts (most important ideas). You can either read the PDF or listen to the audio version. If you’d like, you can explore the 3 extension choices, but those are optional. You can create better systems and work habits just with the Core Concepts in 30 minutes a month.   With 40 Hour Full Year, you never lose access to the materials and can come back to things you skipped anytime. Revisit the optional extension choices later in the year, or even in future years. This program is designed to help you throughout your teaching career, no matter what, where, or how you’re teaching later on.   And remember, as a special bonus when you join this year’s cohort, you’ll receive a FREE 365 day unlimited pass to our 40 Hour AI trainings. The short videos in 40 Hour AI will help you feel confident about using artificial intelligence in an ethical way to help you streamline differentiation, lesson planning, assessment, and more.    So, if you teach K-12 general education, I’ll hope you’ll join us un 40 Hour Full Year or 40 Hour AI, or both! You can enroll on your own, and we accept school purchase orders, gift certificates, and DonorsChoose.    40 Hour Full Year is a professional development program worth up to 104 CEU hours, and will help you adapt and develop new pedagogies in the coming school year. Your job is changing: don’t be afraid to ask for the support and training you deserve.   So, that’s the update on 40 Hour this summer. I’ll be back on July 7 with a new Truth for Teachers podcast episode for you. Thanks for listening, and for supporting my work. 40 Hour Teacher Workweek 40 Hour AI  

We know there’s potential…but let’s talk about the larger implications for the profession. In this episode, I’m sharing how AI has already transformed the way many teachers work, and exploring the ethics, best practices, and future trends for AI in schools. Listen in to hear: What surprised me in a survey about schools' AI policies 3 principles that guide my approach to AI Why educators MUST shape the direction of AI (and not leave this to tech companies) My favorite ways to use AI to streamline teaching tasks, including differentiation and assessment When you might want to use ChatGPT in place of a search engine My recommendations for the best free AI tools for teachers 3 crucial mindsets to develop as you plan how to incorporate AI in your work Let's explore the big picture overview of AI’s impact, its strengths and weaknesses as a tool for teachers, and specific ways fellow educators have used it to reduce their workload responsibly. Get the shareable article/transcript for this episode here. Learn about 40 Hour AI here.

As an educator who's lived and taught in both the US and Denmark, Pernille’s story is a revealing look into two vastly different education systems. Let's unpack her journey and what it tells us about work-life balance, societal values, and teaching philosophies. You’ll hear: Why Pernille’s family moved to Wisconsin from Denmark when she was a teenager, how she became a teacher in the U.S., and why she and her American husband made the decision in 2022 to move with their four children to Denmark The cultural differences Pernille has noticed living in Denmark, particularly in relation to families, children, work, and school How the Danish school system is set up, including how students are not formally taught to read until the equivalent of 2nd grade in the U.S, and how high school (as Americans understand it) ends around age 15 so students can focus on career training What the school day looks like for Pernille, who is looping with her students through multiple grade levels, including how much instructional vs planning time she has and why Danish teachers are not permitted to work more than 40 hours a week The aspects of the Danish approach to work/life balance that U.S. educators might replicate to make teaching more effective, efficient, and enjoyable She shares, "In Denmark, being a teacher is about nurturing well-being first—both for students and educators. It's about giving your best within working hours and then fully embracing life at home." “And, education here isn’t just academics; it’s learning through play, community building, and practical skills that prepare children for real-world challenges from an early age." I’m always curious about what it’s like to teach in different countries, and if you feel the same, I think you’ll find this informal conversation is a fascinating deep dive into values, priorities, and what it means for kids and teachers to co-thrive. Click here to read the transcript and participate in the discussion.

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.

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

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.

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.

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!

It's the only event focused entirely on saving teachers TIME! Learn from current K-12 teachers as they share their best tips for working more effectively, efficiently, and enjoyably. The 40 Hour Teacher Workweek program is an online course I first created in 2015 (with a total update in 2020), and we’ve now had tens of thousands of teachers complete the course. With so many different personality types and teaching contexts, the amount of new ideas to spring out of the course was inevitable. I’ve always been impressed by the tweaks, offshoots, extensions, and transformations teachers have done as they’d made my ideas their own. The Summit is an opportunity for you to learn more about them and their phenomenal work! The 40 Hour Teacher Workweek Online Summit this April features: Opening and closing keynotes by 40 Hour founder Angela Watson (that's me) 30+ presentations by current K-12 classroom teachers No fluff, filler, icebreakers, or sales pitches Each session is just 15-20 minutes long The ability to chat with other teachers during the live sessions to get personalized advice This event is entirely online, completely FREE, and beneficial for all K-12 teachers! Some presenters will take you on a video tour of their classrooms to share organizational tips and classroom routines. Others will screen share their way through tutorials of how they organize digital files, manage assessment, or plan lessons. Still others will give a fast rundown of all their best timesaving tips for grading, differentiation, email, and more. You can join us LIVE for FREE in April: 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 a session or want to watch and rewatch at your convenience, the Forever Access Pass will get you all the recordings, plus a notetaking guide, summary of key ideas for each session, full time-stamped transcripts, and special bonuses. It’s just $19 right now (the price will increase once the event begins).  Your purchase of the Forever-Access Pass helps me recover some of the costs of running this as a free event and paying our presenters. Thank you for your support! Questions? Check out the FAQ here. Please share this free event widely with teacher friends and colleagues! Just send folks to join.40htw.com/summit.

Teachers spend so much time giving feedback to students, but often kids don’t internalize it. They tune out the carefully-crafted written comments on their work, briefly register the grade they earned, and move on. So how can we help students care about improving their skills and take time to reflect deeply on their learning? In this episode, you’ll hear how two different teachers have reimagined their instruction to make that possible. It’s a sneak peek at two sessions from the upcoming 40 Hour Teacher Workweek Online Summit, a FREE event that is focused entirely on saving teachers time, and helping you do your job more effectively and efficiently. First up, you’ll hear from Andrea Clark. She’s presenting for the elementary Summit in a session called, “Feedback first: Shifting from traditional grading to reflection sessions.” As you’ll hear from Andrea’s description of her fifth graders’ reflection sessions, this is one of the most worthwhile ways she spends her time as a teacher because her students learn so much from it. Then, you’ll hear from Tanya Jo Woodward. She’s presenting for the secondary Summit in a session called, “7 time savers for IB and AP teachers.” She talks first about how she grades and gives feedback in her high school English classroom while students are working independently on a task or assessment. She also offers tips for helping students self-correct by providing editing stations or peer editing guided sheets. Like so much of the Summit content, I think you’ll find value in hearing both of these teachers’ experiences, regardless of which grades or content areas you might teach. Listen in now to hear Andrea and Tanya Jo share the exact processes they’ve used to transform the way their students think about feedback vs. grades. Then, save your spot for the 40 Hour Teacher Workweek Online Summit. All sessions are just 15-20 minutes long with no filler, fluff, icebreakers, or pitches. And, all the sessions are presented by current K-12 teachers, with bonus keynotes from me (Angela Watson). 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!