“I go out of my way to know the families. I have a great relationship with the families, but I want them to be able to trust my judgment, because I know that there could potentially be a day where I have to call home and say ‘Your kid did that.’ I want them to know that they can trust me and they don't have to come at me with a defensive response (…) The kid might have a greater chance of being successful if parents already trust my judgment or my intentions. So I really make my intentions known.”
“And then, what can I do that is relevant to my class that could help them—getting them away from a screen, figuring out how to do communication that [does] not [involve a] screen. Get them outside—we're going to do a refrain run after our concert. That's how I'm going to teach song form. So between refrain-bridge-verse modulation, we're going to do a 5k together, all of us, because movement is also important. My kids need to go outside and (…) they need to have some vitamin D because they're not getting that. And they're so jazzed about it. We're creating a Spotify playlist right now, all songs that have banger refrains. Listen—Dolly Parton's ‘9 to 5’ will crush you because she does the refrain three times in a row—and you don't see it coming—and you're supposed to sprint at all of the refrains. So just when you think you don’t have to sprint anymore, she does the refrain again.”
“We're getting out and moving. Just incorporating little things that the kids need, I think, helps to deter some of the [behavior issues].”
“And if you're a teacher, you know that you can't get rid of all of the things. So you're signing on for some of the things, right? So if I can weather a tornado at 75%, but 77% is the breaking point, then what can I do to win me that 2%, so that I can weather the tornado and then be able to hold on?”
“You cannot be defensive and you cannot take things personally, and that takes therapy sometimes to get through and to be able to understand. You cannot get into a power struggle—and I almost feel like we need a different term for that (…) We get into power struggles because often that's a trauma response [on our part]—somebody squares up with you and and you're going to let them know that there's no way, so I'm going to intimidate you into behaving. But this kid's also got a trauma response that's going to come back at you and this kid can go way further than you can.”
“I just feel like you need to know where and what your triggers are.”