Returning to Us

In this episode, Lauren walks through the basics of our nervous system. Whether you have more sympathetic or parasympathetic nervous system activation, it is helpful to know how to recognize when your nervous system is dysregulated. The goal is to stay within your Window of Tolerance and to get back into it as quickly as possible after becoming dysregulated. Lauren shares tips and ideas for preven...

In today's episode, Lauren is tackling listeners' most common questions. She will walk through answers to questions about topics ranging from regulating your own responses to getting to the root of unwanted behaviors in your students.  Tune in to get some great knowledge nuggets and resources or email your question to us so we can answer your question in a future episode. Try-at-home tip...

The way that you communicate with kids directly impacts their self esteem and worthiness. So often the way that adults communicate with their own children or kids in a classroom setting is not productive. In this episode, Lauren points to some areas that may be going wrong in your communication with kids. She walks through the areas that you can focus on to make sure that your kids are feeling hea...

Research show that suspending students worsens behaviors, leads to more negative educational outcomes, and results in poor academic performance. So then, why are 3 million students suspended in the United States every year? Undesirable behaviors in children are most often caused by unmet needs. They are seeking connection and relationships. They very likely don't have the tools to correct the...

The terms "self care" and "stress management" are overused terms these days, but what do they really mean? Making the time to take care of yourself and your needs shows respect for yourself and your body and sends a message to those around you. "When you start with yourself on the inside and address things that need to be healed and neutralized, it radiates outward."...

Behaviors are most often an expression of of unmet needs. It's easy to get bogged down in trying to stop a student's unwanted behaviors. Working to meet the underlying needs that are causing the unwanted behavior may be more effective. There are 5 categories of needs that typically drive undesirable behaviors. In this episode, Lauren walks through these needs and gives examples so that y...

The start of a new year is a great time to sit down as a family to define your family's core values. This is a conversation that you can have with your whole family, including your youngest kids. Lauren provides a framework for developing and using core values for your family. From accountability meetings to using core values in behavior re-direction, she has a treasure trove of ideas for ins...

If we can create a stabilizing routine, even if it's just morning and evening, we can maintain emotional regulation though the holidays. Lauren gives some ideas for how you can incorporate fun holiday routines into your daily life during the 2 weeks around the chaos of Christmas.  Lauren answers this week’s listener question during the episode: How do we problem solve through behaviors? Try-a...

The holidays are fun and exciting, but are also a break from routines and can be chaotic. We're traveling, have new and different plans and events, the house looks different, people you don't see all the time are coming to visit, etc, etc, etc.  In this episode, Lauren focuses on managing kids' emotions and behaviors around the holidays. She talks through how to do all the fun stuff...

After giving a quick overview of the anatomical parts of the brain and their roles in functioning, Lauren moves focus to how we can strengthen and grow our executive functioning skills as a method of calming our limbic system. Incorporating games and activities that strengthen executive functioning and cognitive flexibility at all ages helps to grow and strengthen these important skills. Strong ex...

PAUSE this series until after new year!!!!! In this episode Lauren walks us through the 4 steps for emotional regulation and gives tips for how to provide support and space for these in your classroom. These skills should be practiced, evaluated, and adapted as you continue to use them with your students and in your own life. Check out the resources below. These should make it easier to set these...

Behaviors are not the result of moral or personality flaws. They aren't signs of lack of willpower or bad character either. Behaviors are caused by neurochemical changes in the brain and can change based on your environment or experiences. Positive loving environments can change these patterns in a positive way to make space for our brain to focus on things like exploration, play, learning, a...

Healing takes place in the presence of positive, loving, and empathetic relationships - it only takes one positive relationship to form new neural pathways. Connectedness has the power to counterbalance adversity and that is something that we can foster in classrooms to promote focus and learning. Understanding trauma and its causes is important for recognizing stressors in the classroom. In this...

The internet has opened up a world of resources and connectivity, but online teaching and learning has its challenges. Organizing lessons, keeping students interested, and assessing what they are learning are unique challenges when it comes to online learning.  In this episode Lauren unpacks the pros and cons of teaching online and gives tips for keeping students engaged. She also walks through th...

Are you a perfectionist? We live in a world where everyone is striving for perfection, but it's an impossible goal. Because perfection doesn't exist, the more you chase it the more likely you are to experience anxiety and depression. In this episode Lauren walks us through the dangers of perfectionism, its connections to anxiety and depression, and how you can practice self-love to turn...

Today the focus is on assessments in education. Lauren walks through self assessments, pre-testing, formative, and summative testing and how they can be actively and interactively implemented in the classroom setting. When it comes to assessments in the classroom, remember that the goal is for students focus on the mastery of learning instead of their test performance. Comment below if you use sel...

Ideally we'd spend 20% of our days in group work; whether it's adults at work or kids in the classroom.  Group work doesn't always have to be an assignment, though. There are a lot of ways to build collaboration into classroom activities. In this episode Lauren provides a framework for planning group work, walks through her simple method for handling conflict, and gives some out-of-...

We are biological and social beings that seek human connection and belonging. Collaboration in classrooms, schools, and workplaces provides synchronous time to connect with your peers. In this episode, Lauren discusses the importance of collaboration and how you can successfully create a collaborative environment in your classroom or workplace. From skills preparation to setting expectations to se...

As part of our mini-series focusing on productivity, Lauren shares memory enhancers that will help your students (and you!) to hone their memory skills. These ideas can be implemented in the classroom and taught to your students to help improve their memories. Techniques like connecting information to the senses and creating funny mnemonics can improve information retention and create strong memor...

Our brains are not capable of doing multiple cognitively demanding things at once which is why reducing multitasking will increase your productivity and motivation. In this episode Lauren breaks down the Pomodoro Method and how people from toddlers to adults can use it to build stamina around focus and sticking to one activity at a time. Try-at-home tip: Use music to regulate (use 80 beats per min...

What kind of environment can we create that's more conducive for productivity, learning and listening? There are some simple environmental changes you can make to improve stress, productivity, attention, and behavior. In season 1 we did a series on Room Design and how to optimize spaces for better learning and attention. In this episode, Lauren gives an short overview of how to optimize space...

Sean has lived 32 years with autism spectrum disorder. He consults on autism and working with people with autism. Sean is working on a book (Summer 2024) looking at autism in terms of polyvagal theory.  Jessica loves helping people who help people. Jessica and Lauren have partnered on a new project that provides training and resources for organizations that want to implement trauma-informed care....

Every moment of every day, your brain and body are subconsciously working to appraise your current situation. While you aren’t conscious of this, your nervous system is.  In this episode, Lauren walks you through how to set up your routines to help students prepare to learn, AS well as the UDL engagement guidelines: recruit interest, sustain effort and persistence, and self-regulate.  Lauren answe...

When your emotional networks impact your state of mind it disrupts your ability to be present, neutral, and ready to learn. Emotional states impact attention, memory learning, and they are contagious. So, how do you teach students who have dysregulated emotions?  Today Lauren discusses how to use  non-verbal cues to help understand someone’s current emotional state and how to change your emotional...

In this episode, Lauren delves into how the brain works and what to do at each stage of childhood to best help your child. She walks through suggestions from toddlers/preschoolers all the way through the difficult teen years. Two of the biggest requirements for children and adults are sleep and water intake.  Lauren answers this week’s listener question during the episode: How can I know that a st...