Tuesday Talks!

Tuesday Talks Rewind: 7 Episodes That Sparked Change

• Dr. Tiffany • Season 3 • Episode 8

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A lively roundup of the best takeaways, aha-moments, and recurring themes from the last seven episodes.

We look back at seven episodes that moved families and classrooms forward—from starting the school year off right to understanding IEPs and early developmental milestones to shaking up the school system, resources for kinship parenting, teacher support, and trauma‑informed teaching practices. The thread running through each story is simple and demanding: family-school-community partnerships matter!

• setting routines and goals with a fifth grader for a smoother start to school
• how a two‑week screen break improved focus, mood, and follow‑through
• IEP breakdowns parents can use to ask sharper questions and track services
• early childhood milestones that build classroom‑ready learners
• why middle school is the leverage point for system change
• resources for grandparents and kinship caregivers navigating school and services
• practical ways to support teachers without stepping into the classroom
• trauma‑informed teaching that upholds standards while reducing barriers

Which episodes resonated with you? Like, share, subscribe and comment to let me know!  

Tuesday Talks—Real conversations sparking real change in education.

New episodes every Tuesday!

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Connect with us via email at info@ourwordsmatterllc.com!

Tuesday Talks is hosted by Dr. Tiffany. She has been a Speech/Language Pathologist for 20 years. She's also a speaker and educational consultant. Dr. Tiffany hosts webinars and in-person workshops for teachers and parents.

Book Dr. Tiffany as a speaker for your teachers, parent groups and professional development sessions! Our Words Matter Consulting

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to Tuesday Talks, your educational podcast helping parents become strong advocates for their kids and teachers to make big impacts in the classroom. Here we go. Hey, hey, hey, we are back for another Tuesday Talks. Thanks so much for joining me again. Um, you know, every week I'm trying to bring good high-quality content based on all things education, parenting, community support, because every part of that pours into our kids. And so I really hope that you're feeling that through these episodes. Please go ahead and like, share, subscribe, comment if you found any of the episodes to be helpful. I know sometimes people send me a text message on my phone to say how much the episodes have really touched them and spoke to either their personal situation or a situation they know somebody else is going through. But feel free to leave that comment on YouTube, on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, on Instagram, on TikTok, all the things because we are never going through anything that is unique to us. Someone else has probably experienced something very similar. And so when you share how it's touched you other people, it resonates with them. So every month I have decided I want to do a recap episode to touch on a lot of the great content that I'm sharing each week. I know schedules get busy, sometimes episodes get missed. And so I thought it was a really great way to kind of round out the first seven episodes that we've done for season three and talk about these past topics that we've had on here. So we kicked off season three with one of my most favorite people in the world, my 10-year-old son, Uriah. Um, the episode was really about setting himself up for success for the upcoming school year. Um, he was about a week into school, and I really wanted him to step up. You know, each each school year, you're older, new responsibilities. And so the episode was great. The conversation got really interesting when we talked about him doing a better job with his morning routine on school days, because you know, by this age, I shouldn't have to tell you all the things to do, and what goes on at home directly impacts what goes on at school. Because if you go to school with uh unbrushed teeth and musty armpits, the likelihood of somebody mentioning that to you in an unkind way is pretty high. So I would rather you just go ahead and establish a good morning routine and take care of all that stuff in the morning. And so that was one of the things that we talked about in that episode. And so I'm just gonna play a clip for you all. Yes, my love. Those are things you're supposed to do every day. So you see here, I was tired. So that means you can go to school ashy with no deodorant and a dirty face. Huh? We listen and we don't judge. So that was his take on it. We listen and we don't judge, but somebody's gonna judge. So I am happy to report that he has gotten much better with the morning routine and being consistent with it. I hope that you have set up your kid for success by talking about what your expectations are for this school year. So let me know in the comments. Did you all set goals? Because we talked about that in that episode. What are what are your goals for yourself for fifth grade? Um, what are some of my goals that I want him to accomplish for fifth grade as well? And also, we talked about in that episode ways that I can support him better in his learning. And y'all, he told me straight up, he was like, Can you just back off a little bit? And at first I was like, oof, back off. If I had said that to my mom when I was younger, it might have been a different response. But as I asked him to explain, he was like, give me a chance to do things without like taking over and making me do it your way. Like, give me a chance to do it and show you that I can before you step in and just take over the whole operation. And that's good feedback because I have a tendency, you know, as parents, I can tell you real quick how to get this done. I can lay out all the steps for you and you will be successful. But then is that him learning how to manage his time? Is that him learning how to organize himself, his materials, his schedule? No, it's me telling him what to do. And that is one of the most debilitating things we can do to our kid is to be the one telling them to do everything all the time. Because then they turn their brains off. Why do they need to think? We're we're thinking for them and telling them exactly what to do. So that episode was full of some really great conversations about getting ourselves off to the right start for the school year. Now, about a month and a half into the school year, he made some choices that were resulted in him getting his electronics taken away. That means no iPad, no TV, um, no computer. He doesn't have a phone, so I didn't have to take that away. But he got that taken away for two weeks. Um, that was the consequence. And it was a big deal because he enjoys his hour of TV that I allow him to watch after school. He enjoys listening to music on his iPad, you know, while he's doing stuff around the house. And so that was that was a big deal for him. And you know, a punishment for a kid can quickly turn into punishment for the parent. Because now that you don't have your devices and your screens to take up your time, now you want to be all in my business and what I'm doing. So I had to set that boundary too, like, hey, just because you can't watch TV doesn't mean I can't watch TV. So I'm in here watching TV, you need to find something else to do. But I was said to him at the end of that two weeks, like, dude, I have noticed a change in you. Like, I've noticed a change in your a change in your just conversation. And he's a chatty kid, but it seemed more transactional, like, oh, can you give me more time on this app? Oh, can you, you know, I don't know, give me money for Robux or something like that. It wasn't as transactional. So the conversations improved, his attention, his focus, his attitude, completing tasks, things around the house just all improved. And I asked him if he noticed the difference. And he was like, Yeah, we're not getting into as much back and forth, you know. Hey, I need you to go do that. Oh, can I have five more minutes? No, I want you to do it right now. Please, can I have five more minutes? It was, you know, just got up and did it, primarily because he didn't have anything to distract him, i.e., the television or his iPad. And so I said, you know, take stock in that, like reflect on that. You've been, you I'm getting like bad, you know, improved reports from school. He's not a bad kid, but the teacher's like, hey, he's stepping up, he's really being a leader in the classroom, he's knocking out school things to do. And so I was like, look at the improvement. I even noticed improvement in his extracurricular activities too. So that got me to thinking, and he was in agreement. He was like, I see a difference, I notice a difference. So I was like, just keep that in mind when you do get your electronic privileges back. Like, take a break, come up from for air yourself. Don't always let me have to be the one to say, all right, take a break, or okay, that's enough. Monitor yourself. And I I mean that's something we all have to do as adults, too, right? Like we're scrolling, scrolling, and it's like, okay, enough. Um, I've consumed enough. I need to take a break. And so that's hopefully something that he's learning. Time will tell, since he got his electronics back. Um, but that got me to thinking about like a 14-day challenge for parents to eliminate screens for kids. I saw a post the other day that said, like, toddlers weren't meant for scrolling, they were meant for for showing, for teaching. Like they're just scrolling on these iPads. And just like any parent, you know, you are here, take the device so I can have a minute to do fill in the blank. You know, it becomes a babysitter, whether it's long for a long period of time or a short period of time. I think most parents would say, yes, I've done that before. So that just got me to thinking. So stay tuned for more on that in an upcoming episode. Okay, so another great episode was about IEPs. My kid has an IEP. Now what? Big question, because a lot of times parents, you know, they work hard to get their child evaluated for services. They finally get the IEP and they think, okay, I'm just gonna sign it and the school's gonna take care of everything from there. But last season on Tuesday Talks, um, Val and I talked about a high schooler that graduated from high school without being able to read. And turns out he was dyslexic, and the parents thought that his IEP that was in place was setting him up for success, but it wasn't. So it's so important to strike that balance as a parent between informing and educating ourselves and trusting the school. There have it's a balance there, right? Because you can't just blindly follow the lead of an entity, in this case, a school. You want to have some education and information for yourself to be able to counter when maybe there's a better solution, maybe there's a better idea. And so for parents who are really on top of it, you know, kudos to you because I've been in meetings with parents who bring in all the advocates, the educational attorneys, all these things. And you know, the best way I can sum it up is the squeaky wheel who has an understanding of mechanics, gets the oil. You can't just be the squeaky wheel these days and not have any background knowledge. Then you're just making noise, you're not saying things that are really adding up. The school kind of realizes okay, this parent is just, you know, talking a lot, but doesn't really understand how education works. So once you start understanding and informing yourself, and then you start speaking that way at these meetings, it perks their attention up. And that was something that I talked about in that episode for um about IEPs, because it's really important to understand what you're signing. Um, and so we really dove into that for that episode, and I put together this free download, understanding your child's IEP, and broke down every section that was really important. Um, that functional performance, the academic achievement, the present levels, goals, and objectives, a placement, progress monitoring, and then even included some key takeaways. So if you didn't get a chance to check that out, definitely head over to my link tree, which is in the description for the show. Click that, and you'll just scroll down to the bottom and you'll see the free download for this document right here, so that you can understand what each section of the IEP should include, and then be able to ask questions about why a certain piece of information is not in there. You have to inform yourself before you can start asking the right questions. So I got a lot of positive feedback from that episode. Um, parents saying, Thank you so much. I didn't know that this was something I needed to be thinking about. This isn't something that I, this is something that I thought the school was going to take care of. Building those strong, respectful partnerships with the school team is so important. Monitoring progress regularly and speaking up if something isn't working. If something in your IE, your kids' IEP is not working, that is a living document. You will hear schools say that all the time. It's a living document. It can be changed, updated at any point in the school year as many times as it needs to be in a school year. But you have to know your parental rights. And you have to also have a good understanding about what your child needs. So collaborating first and then only escalating when it's necessary. But you have to be informed yourself first. So definitely if your kid has an IEP or you're thinking that they might need one, check out that episode because it is chocked full of really good information to get you up to speed so that you can go into those meetings asking the right questions. Um, if there is one part of education that really represents my passion, it is early childhood education. The little ones, I talk about them all the time. Toddlers, all the way up to right when they get into um kindergarten. That is just naturally a part of what I've done throughout my career as a speech therapist. So my episode on early intervention was really loaded with a lot of good information. I actually shared some really good um developmental milestones that you all could really take part in to know, hey, this is what my kids should be doing at this age. Oh, this is what my kids should be doing at, you know, this age. It's it's definitely something that you are gonna want to pay attention to because that is really the only way that you're gonna know what your kids should be doing at specific ages. And so um, I posted this on social media. So if you follow me, Dr. Tiffany SLP on Instagram, um, TikTok, I also uh share this on YouTube as well. These developmental milestones that every parent should know. And I went through ages two through five, and I just included some really all the milestones are critical, but of course, you can only fit so much on a slide. But I really included the ones that I think are easiest to pick up on, ones that maybe parents might not be thinking of, but that are very critical because these skills build on each other, right? Like this one for age two, following those one-step directions. If you tell your kid, hey, go get your shoes, that is a one-step direction, very concrete, but they need to understand what go means. That's action words. That means I need to do something. They also need to understand where shoes are. And if your kid is walking around and has no idea of how to take your words and put them into action to complete the task, then it's gonna be really difficult when they get older and they're gonna be expected now to follow two-step directions. That go get your shoes is gonna turn into go get your shoes and bring them to me. Those are two different things you've asked your child to do. So they all build on each other. So this was a really great resource that I shared on my social. So be sure to check that out again, all the way from ages two up through age five. And I know a lot of times with the younger kids, we might just be thinking, you know, they're too young to really monitor what they can or can't do. But there are so many of those basic skills that are going to be built upon that you need to know whether or not your kid is struggling with those or not. And in that episode, I talk a lot about what to do if your kid is struggling with some of those things. So, really important information. I I can't like emphasize it enough because a lot of times I've seen parents just show up for that first day of kindergarten and expecting all that should have been learned when they were younger to be learned in kindergarten. And unfortunately, that's just not how public schools in the US are set up. We are in kindergarten testing these kids before the first month of school is over to get baseline data so we can track their progress over the school year. And so if you don't come in with a certain set of skills, and I'm not always talking about academic skills, you'll see on these slides, there's not much here about the academic piece, but ready to learn. Ready to learn. Your kids have to be ready to learn. That is an actual thing. And if they're not, then it just they're missing out on academic information that they really need to be taken in, uh, because they're still trying to figure out how to function in a classroom setting, and some of those developmental skills just aren't there. So, definitely a great episode to check out if you have little ones, if you run a daycare, if you are, you know, caring for young kids as a grandparent. Perfect episode to check out. Uh, episode four was a great uh collab episode with Clarissa Hightower. And she and I talked about shape shaking up the school system, like changing the status quo. I feel like that's such a big idea to even conceptualize, but we all know that there's a lot of great things that happen in schools, and there are a lot of things that need to change in schools too. That's just the truth of the matter. And so, Clarissa and I, one of the parts of the episode, we really talked about where we need to start with change in schools. Like what age group, where do we need to kind of focus our attention to get the most bang for our buck, so to speak, and improving certain areas? And again, my passion being early childhood education, I thought that's where the conversation was headed. But Clarissa had a different thought on it, and I really like to take a beat. What do you think the system, the school system, is the most broken? And where do we even need to start as we talk about shaking things up?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, you know what? I I have for me, I'm gonna say based on my experience, I think that middle school aged kids in the middle school, that that is that is where we should start, right? So so so hear me out. I was uh I was an associate principal at a middle school, um, but I also had my own child as middle school age and remember what that's like. So if you think about um even if you look across the the country in general, when you start to see attendance tank, when you start to see uh discipline occurrences increase, it happens in the middle school, in middle school ages, right? And I personally feel like the the way we do school, also we could talk about that, needs to change drastically, but especially in the middle, we have okay, we have adolescents children walking around with underdeveloped prefrontal cortexes, yes, also exploring new levels of independence, hormones, like all of the things if you could just put together the the the I don't know, like the highest potency of things that can impact a body and a mind, that is what middle schoolers are going through during those years. And instead of taking, in my opinion, taking advantage of the fact that they're in this exploratory part of their lives and taking away some of the boxes that they that middle school pushes them into, in my opinion, uh instead of doing that, instead of relieving them of that, we we make them tighter. Um and it it I think that is what is causing the students to behave or not perform in the ways that I know that they can. If you sit and talk to a middle schooler one-on-one, well, you gotta have thick skin because they can tell you like all the things I love it's it's an inquired taste, but I love middle school. Um, but if you sit with a middle schooler age student and talk with them just about even if it's academics or or social emotional learning, you may not call it that, but just their interactions with their peers, they're they're they can be they're intelligent kids, right? They they're gonna tell you some things and about their life experiences, they know how they connect, but when it's time to make the decision because of what's happened with them biologically, if you will, sometimes it doesn't always get there. But but if you take so for me, if I had to uh to put a dream like situation together for middle school, half of the curriculum, if you will, the time these things with kids would be uh social emotional learning, love it, and dignity, right? You need to understand like who what's going on with you and how you interact with others or interpersonal, all of that, individual. And then the other half is exploratory learning. So engaging them through their interests academically, yeah. Because that's because because when you ask a student why they don't go to class or why they didn't come to school, number one, you could probably repeat it with what you think the number one answer is from a student, why they don't come to class and why they don't go to school. I'm bored, like it's boring. It's boring, and as an adult, you're looking at them like if you at least you get to go to school and you got all these reasons why, and they they're looking at you like yeah, and it's still boring. It's still boring. Yes, be thankful I get to go to school, and and and then they say, but but if you had to sit in these classes that I had to sit in, you would see what I see, and so that is uh a space of huge MIT and of huge improvement, if we could just revamp what our middle school age kids are going through, because then we prepare them for that high school experience where a little more development appears happening, but they're they have now a four-year time period between learning really deeply about themselves and others.

SPEAKER_01:

It was such a great episode. So if you haven't watched or listened, please go back because I would never in a million years would have thought middle school would be the area of focus that Clarissa would have said, but that's just because my experience has been with the little ones, and I'm like, this is fertile ground, they're young, they're ready to absorb everything. You can, you know, prime them to love learning, let them explore. But that's a small subset of kids, right? Middle school, like Clarissa said, is really where a lot of the attendance, the behavior. There's a lot of research out there to support that as well. Middle school is that age where, you know, I like she said, she loves it. It is definitely an acquired taste to work in a middle school with middle schoolers. I've done it only to cover a maternity leave for a speech therapist that was out. And those were the longest six weeks of my life. It was they are a different, different breed. And so now, with all of the external influences that go on, and you want to tack on classes that are not that interesting, that was just a really great dynamic conversation with Clarissa. So if you have ever thought about, I need to get some stuff changed. Like she mentioned, she was at the administrative level, she was in the offices with the superintendents, she figured out how to break through the barrier of what she was saying as a teacher, what she heard other teachers saying to district level staff and not getting much, you know, change happening. She actually got in the room with the change makers, with the decision makers, and learned how to speak their language. And she talked a lot about that in that episode. So if you're wanting to create some change, definitely check out the episode with Clarissa Shaking Up the School System because she gave you the insight on how to get stuff done. I loved it. Uh, the next episode we had was Grandparents Raising Grandkids. And this is something that has over the years become a greater and greater uh area that needs more focus and resources because, as I shared in that episode, more than two and a half million kids in the U.S. are being raised by grandfamilies or kinship caregivers. And that just means grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, they're not being raised by parents. And there are a lot of things that I think schools need to understand about how grandparents become the primary parent because it's not always the same. And the roles are different. And I talked about that in that episode. You could have daycare grandparents, you could have we're living with grandparents, you could have custodial grandparents, and all of those come with their own unique challenges, but there are a lot of shared challenges there as well. These are grandfamilies and kinship caregivers who have stepped up to the plate because a parent is unable to for a laundry list of reasons that I talked about in that episode. And so parenting the second time around as a grandparent is very challenging. And imagine that you raise your kids in the early 90s, late 80s, and now you're raising a grandkid here, you know, in the 2000s. So uh the parenting styles have changed, the access the kids have has changed, the world we live in has changed dramatically. I don't, I mean, that's just pretty obvious. But grandparents are either retired, some are still working, and now you're raising kids who have access to internet, smartphones, social media, all of these things. And as a parent, now at my age, I feel not equipped, and I can't imagine taking on, you know, raising a grandkid trying to use the same parenting techniques that I used in the past with the new generation that we have right now. They are very different. So we talked a lot about that in the episode, and I also share some really great resources. There are groups that meet uh locally, you just have to search them up. Pasta was one that we talked about. That acronym stands for parenting a second time around, and then another group called grandparents is parents, the gap is what they call it, and they offer resources. And I know here in Georgia, where I am, there is a really good resource here for kinship uh care in Georgia, and it really does offer that a laundry list of resources, and I'm just gonna make it bigger here on the screen so y'all can see it. But we are talking about community support resources, financial support resources, legal services, health and wellness services. And each of these has a website, and some of them have a website and a phone number. And I was really caught off guard by reading some of the research out there as I prepared for that episode that Georgia ranks sixth in the nation for um kids being raised by grandfamilies, by kinship caregivers. That is pretty hefty. Um, so reach out. If you are a grandparent who is parenting your grandkids or an aunt, uncle, cousin who are raising younger kids that were not born to you. Look for resources in your area because they are out there. And you know, the way that a lot of these operations go, if people aren't accessing it, those that create it and fund it feel like, okay, this isn't filling a need because nobody's accessing the resources. So we have to take you know advantage of the resources that are there. So definitely look, you know, Google it, search it up, ask friends, start to ask the schools if they have resources, because the kids are different and it's gonna require different parenting. And also getting access to financial support because raising kids is not cheap. And working off of retirement income, or you know, you know, maybe just a second job after retirement, financial resources. Resources, any amount can help with the kids that you might be raising the second time around. So definitely check out that episode on grandparenting grandkids because it's chocked full of really great information. Whether you're the grandparent, whether you're the school, whether you're the teacher, just knowing how these situations can come to be and what you can do as a person who is looking out for the best interest of the kid that's involved, that episode is great. So definitely check that one out and share it with um friends, family, colleagues, all that really great. Episode six was all about teacher stories. You know, we talked so much about how AI helps teachers really be more efficient in the classroom, but there are some things that AI cannot help with. And we talked a lot about that in sharing some of the stories that I have gotten from teachers. There is no magic wand to make everything better. But what we don't want is for good teachers to continue leaving the classroom. And a lot of those teacher stories, it just built off of low morale, high workload, student behavior, lack of support from administrators. And so then it got me to thinking, you know, as a parent, I can only do so much, right? I can do for my kid, I can come in and volunteer. But a lot of times we don't really have the time as working parents to make it into the school system to, you know, volunteer to be in the classroom. And so I put together a resource to just really show you that you can support teachers in the classroom without actually being in the classroom. So you don't need to volunteer. And so I just listed out a few ways for you to be able to do that. Easy, simple ways, but I think some reminders that parents need uh to just remember to be kind and respectful. Your words have power, you can shift the dynamics of any situation. Be respectful in what you share to teachers, communicate consistently, don't just spark up because it's a problem, and now all of a sudden you're very communicative. You need to also be there to communicate the things that you see going really well, the things that you appreciate, avoiding assumptions, making sure your child is ready to learn. There's that term again. And then remembering that teachers have lives too. This is the profession that they chose, but it is definitely not their life. So remembering that they're a human too, respecting their time, thanking them for their focus on your child's learning. I think you would be surprised as a parent who hasn't worked in a school to know just how much it can mean to hear. Thank you so much for what you do. Thank you for helping my child with X, Y, and Z. Thank you for reaching out to me to let me know about this situation. Instead of just always on the attack and only commenting or chiming in when something is going bad. Teachers hear enough of that all day long. So any area of light that you can shed into a teacher's day is much appreciated. And that graphic that I just showed you is also on my social. So be sure to check that out as well and share it with others because it is really important to just take ownership of what you can do. What can I do? Me wanting to change the whole school system. That's that takes a lot of time if it's even possible, right? Let's just be honest. Me changing the dynamics of my school, maybe a little bit more attainable, but still that takes a lot of time. But what can I do that can have an almost immediate impact? And those things that I shared in that graphic will have that immediate impact on the person that is directly responsible for your kids' learning and shaping the way that they experience school. You don't want kids to go to school every day hating it, dreading it. And so shedding a little light on the teacher is something that has nothing but positive benefits. There's nothing negative that can come of that. And then the most recent episode that I did was about trauma-informed teaching. And really, it was about just thinking about shifting that mindset from what the heck is wrong with this kid? to thinking, what has happened to this kid? And that takes a big shift because when you have a little one, a kindergarten, first grader, or older kids, high school, middle school level, that are acting out in class and being all kinds of disrespectful, it is really hard in the moment to think, oh my goodness, what has happened to this kid? No, you're thinking like, what the heck is going on? I need admin in here. This kid needs to get out of my classroom. It's easy to go there. That is a normal reaction. Hopefully, once that imminent situation is handled, you can take a step back to think about what has happened to this kid that made them blow up about something super small, that made them, you know, aggressively go after another kid that made them have this meltdown in the classroom and scream. And the more that I talked about that, because I got some really good positive feedback from people who thought, you know, this is really great. This needs to be in more and more classrooms. On the flip side, I also got some comments about, you know, this is hard to do in a classroom. And that's something that I even talked about in the episode. Is this a very broad topic that to implement this with every kid in your classroom could be very challenging and overwhelming. I've done it in my small groups, and three or four kids is about all that I can mentally and emotionally manage at a time. And so when you have a classroom of 25 plus kids, it's really hard to be able to employ this level of teaching with each of them. But I thought it was really important to point out, you know, it trauma-informed teaching matters because you're supporting the student's well-being, it reduces those barriers to learning. I gave an example in that episode about a student who's unhoused and, you know, how that can impact them and how they show up in your classroom. And so they're not ready to learn. They are experiencing tremendous instability in their home life outside of school. And so trauma-informed teaching, you know, creates that environment that can help to remove some of those barriers to learning for students who have experienced trauma. And then also it fosters healing and really makes schools not just a place for learning, but a space for healing and support. And that is a big concept because from the moment kids walk into school until the moment they leave, every minute is filled with something tied to academics. It's just the nature of how most public schools are functioning. So to say that schools need to be a space for healing and support, it sounds great. I believe it, but that takes time. That's not something something that's just gonna happen overnight. That takes time. And what you can control, going back to what can I control as an educator in schools, what what I could control as I was working there as a speech that speech therapist is what happens in this group that I'm working with right now. What happens with this one student? What happens with this other student? I couldn't think about my whole caseload of 65 plus kids. I sometimes had to pick and choose. And it was really the ones who who needed, you could see they needed the most support. And so in the episode, I really talk about ways to do that and those key principles involved with trauma-informed teaching. So if it's something that you've thought about, heard about, or maybe not even considered, I think it's a great episode to look, listen to and and watch because I think you'll take something away from it that could really inform and perhaps change how you show up in the classroom and how you are perceiving the behaviors. Now, what I definitely highlighted in that episode is what trauma-informed teaching is not, right? It is not an excuse for bad behavior, it is not lowering the standards or excusing poor performance, it is not a deficit approach, meaning we're not focusing only on the students' weaknesses. And it's definitely not a therapy, it's not a prof as an alternate for professional counseling or therapy. As educators, we're not there in the role to diagnose or treat anything, and so we shouldn't be taking on that responsibility. But I think the most important part there that I got a lot of um feedback from was, you know, we're looking at how what's happening to these kids, but you know, how are we thinking about how they're impacting the classroom, how they're impacting others? Definitely you need to be thinking about that because even if a kid has an IEP, that does not give them free reign to, you know, leave a trail of fire behind them wherever they go. That's not what that document is for. So we're not excusing bad behavior. There still have to be consequences, whether your action was tied to trauma or it wasn't, there are natural consequences that happen. When you're little, maybe other kids in the class aren't ready to be friends with you because you pop off and have a meltdown and start throwing things. That's a natural consequence. Kids want to be friends or friendly with those who they feel safe around. And so maybe now you, you know, your child is playing by themselves, maybe their student is playing by themselves at recess, and that's a natural consequence. And as a teacher, you could try to foster some friendships with a student who you think could potentially, you know, set a good model for the student. But even as you know, kids are getting older, the traumas are different. And so I talk about all of those in that episode and also about how if you want to explore that, talking about it with your administrators, with your district people, because it can't just be a one-day training, can just be a oh, this sounds good. Let's just get all the staff to do this one-day training. It needs to come with additional support. There, this is a very layered topic. It's not a oh yeah, just think about how it's impacting the kids. Think about what's impacting them at home and psychologically, and then just make the adjustment. It's not that easy. And I don't want that to even come across in how you know I present any of this because it's not easy. It is hard, it is another thing to do, and that's why I like to say pick a student, pick a kid, a kid, start with one single kid to just go a little bit deeper in your understanding of either their situation, their uh parenting. You'll find out some details that will help you really see a have a better insight into what could be having them act out in class or perform a certain way. And then it just becomes about developing a relationship with the kids. So those five principles that I talked about in that episode will really, really come in handy. So that was just the first part of season three. So if you haven't noticed, uh we are going deep. This is no foo foo stuff, and I really hope that you are able to take this information, implement it, you know, take what you need, leave what you don't, share what you think will be beneficial. But again, comment, like, share, download episodes, reach out for those resources, follow me on socials to just be able to get the resources that you need to share them out, or either use them to inform your own practice. And so with that, it brings this episode to an end. And I hope that you thoroughly enjoyed this look back over our past seven episodes. And stay tuned for more because I got a lot of great things coming up. Take care. I'll see you next week. Bye. Be sure to share this episode and join me next week for a brand new data. See ya.