A student throws a book across the room.

Another one puts their head down. Won't look up. Won't respond.

A third one makes jokes, derails the lesson, does everything possible to avoid picking up the pencil.

Hilderbrand Pelzer III has spent his career inside juvenile correctional facilities and alternative schools.

And he said something I haven't been able to shake:

"When you see that frustration during reading time — a child putting their head down, talking back, leaving the room — that child is saying: I need help."

Not: I'm a problem.

Not: I don't care.

I need help.

That reframe doesn't make classroom management easier overnight. But it changes what you're looking for. And what you're looking for changes what you do next.

If you have a student right now — one who's been hard to reach — go back and listen to Hilderbrand's episode this week. There's something in it for you.