You know that quiet student in your classroom, Niepodam?

She turns her homework in on time, follows every rule, and never causes you a single problem.

That student can be telling you something just as urgent as the child who flips a chair.

And the chair flipping usually isn't about defiance or manipulation either.

This week on the podcast, I sat down with occupational therapist Kim Barthel who has spent more than 40 years studying how kids' bodies respond to stress.

She completely flipped how I read behavior in a classroom.

People pleasing and acting out are two sides of the same coin.

At the core, both kids are showing you that they don't feel safe. They just show it in completely opposite ways.

If your first thought is that you can't be a therapist on top of everything else you're doing, I hear you.

That isn't what Kim is asking of you.

She shares one simple, kind technique that helps your troublemakers and your people-pleasers settle down enough to actually learn.

You could be the one steady adult who sees a child for who she really is.

And you'll walk out of your own day calmer for it.

🎧 Listen to the full episode right here.

Things I'm excited about this week

This week's Friday Freebie

Ever wish there was a book that magically adjusted to fit each student's skill level?

Now there is!

Decodable Apple Books are landing in the Science of Reading Formula vault this Friday.

It's the same six-page story of an apple growing from seed to harvest, written nine different ways so it matches the exact skill each student is working on: CVC words, digraphs, blends, etc.

Every version is built from words your students can actually sound out with the skills you've already taught them.

Nobody in your room has to know they're reading the "easy" version. They're all just reading about apples.

Your students get a book that meets them right where they are, no one's confidence gets shattered, and you don't have to hunt down nine different books!

26 Editable Word Work Centers

You’re about to unlock what one teacher called "the holy grail of word work activities."

When every student in your class needs something a little different, it can mean hours on Pinterest hunting down the perfect activities.

But with the 26 Editable Word Work Centers, all you have to do is type in the words once and you'll instantly have all the activities you need.

These work with any word list you're teaching: sight words, phonics patterns, spelling lists… whatever your students need right now.

And you don't have to piece it together from a gazillion places.

Grab it over on Teachers Pay Teachers.

From me to you

As a recovering people-pleaser, this week's episode hit close to home.

It gave me more compassion for myself, and that made it a whole lot easier to see what the people around me are doing too.

So here's my one thing for you this week:

Find that quiet student and tell her one specific thing you noticed about her that has nothing to do with how well she behaved.

It takes ten seconds. It tells her she doesn't have to earn her spot in your room.

You might be the teacher she remembers, just because you helped her stop working so hard to feel safe.

Your fan,