Our guest this week, Neysa Olivares-Torres, breaks down the process of finding and developing your own personal teaching style. Neysa details how she landed on her “firm-but-fair" approach before sharing tips for other educators trying to develop their authentic teaching style. Neysa and Ana also discuss how finding—and embodying—your teaching style can reduce classroom behavior challenges. Our beloved Classroom Insider, Eric Cross, then joins Ana to share how he carved out his personal teaching style, “the warm demander.”

Show notes:

• Connect with Neysa Olivares-Torres on LinkedIn
• Read the "Achieving student growth in middle school" district success story
• Subscribe to Beyond My Years: https://amplify.com/beyond-my-years
• Follow us on Instagram: @amplify.education
• Connect with Eric Cross: https://www.ericcross.org/
• Connect with Ana Torres: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anayansi-ana-torres-m-ed-26a10654/

Quotes:

"Understand that a teaching style is not just [something] you find once and then that's it, right? It's ever evolving; it's always in progress; and its not one size fits all." –Neysa Olivares-Torres

"Great teaching is just like cooking, right? You never really stop learning, adjusting, and reflecting because our students keep evolving. And so we should, also." —Neysa Olivares-Torres

"My style came, really, with experience, with time, and with observing other teachers." —Neysa Olivares-Torres

"It's important to make sure that it feels like a partnership with your students, that we are equal partners in learning." —Neysa Olivares-Torres

"When I did show up as my authentic self, it made such an impact in my classroom." —Ana Torre

"Look at your strengths, your personality, and your values, and then build your classroom approach based on that." —Eric Cross

Tina Boogren, Ph.D., joins Ana Torres, not only to discuss how it’s completely normal for first-year teachers (and even some veterans) to experience disillusionment, but also to offer tactics for overcoming those feelings. Tina and Ana kick off this episode by explaining Ellen Moir's “The Phases of First-Year Teaching," which outlines the emotional stages new teachers move through. They discuss how teachers have to name their feelings to tame their feelings, the difference between stress and burnout, and the importance of giving ourselves grace and avoiding comparison with others. Tina also details her three research-backed strategies for self-care: gratitude, altruism, and laughter. Finally, Classroom Insider Eric Cross joins Ana to share takeaways from the interview, including how and why to ask for help, even if it’s just so you can take a small break.

Show notes:

• Connect with Tina Boogren:
  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-tina-boogren
  • Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/thboogren.bsky.social
  • X: https://x.com/thboogren
  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/selfcareforeducators/
  • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thboogren
  • Website: https://www.solutiontree.com/tina-h-boogren.html
  • Podcast: https://www.selfcareforeducators.com/
• Resources:
  • Read The New Teacher Center’s “Phases of First-Year Teaching.”
  • Read The Maslach Burnout Inventory.
• Subscribe to Beyond My Years
• Follow us on Instagram @amplify.education
• Connect with Eric Cross: https://www.ericcross.org/
• Connect with Ana Torres: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anayansi-ana-torres-m-ed-26a10654/

Quotes:

“It's teeny tiny little things. When you combine those together, you are tapping into that brain research that's giving our brain a different assignment and looking for the positive. And we will find it.” —Tina Boogren, Ph.D.

“I always say it's an ‘and’; it's not an ‘or.’ It's not instruction or self-care.” —Tina Boogren, Ph.D.

”It's those small wins that we look over. If we're not looking for them, we can miss them, and we just keep thinking, ‘I'm not as good as that person.’” —Tina Boogren, Ph.D.

“It's vulnerable but it's necessary to be able to honor yourself and say, ‘I need help. I need support.’” —Ana Torres

“Sometimes your day is just teaching someone a life skill…and hopefully that's going to get them to learning.” —Eric Cross

“ Whatever I'm feeling is not just impacting me, even though I want to think it is, or that I’m masking it. I know that if I'm not at my A game, it's impacting my students.” —Eric Cross

Angela Duckworth, Ph.D., the New York Times bestselling author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, joins Ana Torres to discuss school phone policies and what the science of self-control can tell us works. In this episode, Angela highlights the many complexities surrounding student cell phone use in schools and why there is a need to conduct research, such as her “Phones in Focus” study, to look at which phone policies are actually yielding the best outcomes. She also outlines the limitations of “growth mindset” and "simply trying hard," and instead suggests four ingredients that set young people up to reach their goals. Finally, Ana and Classroom Insider Eric Cross reflect on Angela’s insights, and Eric shares the strategies he plans to implement to provide mentors to his students.

Show notes:

• Resources:
  • Phones in Focus survey: https://phonesinfocus.org/
  • Read: Schools don’t know how well cellphone policies are working. You can help
• Connect with Angela Duckworth:
  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angeladuckworth
  • X: https://x.com/angeladuckw
  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/angeladuckworthgrit/
  • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angelalduckworth/
  • TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@aduckworth
  • Website: https://angeladuckworth.com/
• Subscribe to Beyond My Years https://amplify.com/beyond-my-years
• Follow us on Instagram @amplify.education
• Connect with Eric Cross: https://www.ericcross.org/
• Connect with Ana Torres: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anayansi-ana-torres-m-ed-26a10654/

Quotes:

“It is not just trying hard that makes you successful. You need to be set up in a situation that helps you like an ally, as opposed to fighting you like an enemy.” —Angela Duckworth, Ph.D.

“Aside from parents, there's nobody more important than teachers in the life of a kid. They are looking to you as a role model.” —Angela Duckworth, Ph.D.

“The strategy for regulating yourself that is the most successful for people of any age tends to be situation modification. That is not relying on willpower, but deliberately placing things either farther or closer, depending on whether you want to do them more or do them less.” —Angela Duckworth, Ph.D.

“There is nothing more beautiful than a person who is fulfilling their potential. When people are doing what they love and doing it with all of their heart, it is like music. It is like poetry.” —Angela Duckworth, Ph.D.

“That science of self-control—we have to actually teach that to our students. That is not something they come out of the womb knowing how to do.” —Ana Torres