A teacher wants the student out. A counselor wants support. A parent wants answers.

The question is: How do we get staff on the same page about student behavior when everyone sees the problem differently?

In this first episode of Not Your Average PD, host Jessica Sinarski shares what happened when a large district in the Midwest brought everyone together to figure out why big investments in trauma-informed practices were not paying off. Bus drivers, teachers, principals, and superintendents were in the room. A teacher said, "I just don't know how I'm supposed to fit one more thing into my day." A principal sitting next to her said, "I know teachers are struggling, but when do we get to put the focus back on the students?" Every person in that room cared about students, and it was still easy to start picking sides.

Jessica shares an idea she keeps coming back to: stress is a sign that something we care about is at stake. When stress runs high, our brains slide into protection mode and we start to see each other as the threat. She tells a story from home about a power struggle with her tween son over a device, and how it shifted from her against him to the two of them against the problem. As Jessica says, "It's not me versus you, it's us versus the problem."

In This Episode

• Why people who care about the same students can end up on opposite sides

• How stress and protection mode affect difficult conversations

• What changes when we get curious about the concerns underneath someone's behavior

• Two questions that help us move from conflict toward collaborative problem-solving

🧠 Two Questions for Hard Conversations

The next time you find yourself at odds with a colleague, parent, or student, try asking:

1. What is their brain trying to protect?

2. What's the problem we can get on the same side of?

You don't have to agree on everything to start working together.

📚 Free Resource: A Teacher's Guide to Proprioception

Sometimes movement and sensory input are part of helping students regulate and learn. Find this free guide in the BraveBrains Powerful Printables library.

Explore Powerful Printables

💡 About BraveBrains

BraveBrains helps educators and school leaders rethink behavior through practical, brain-based tools that make school work better for both students and adults.

Learn more: BraveBrains.com

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🎁 A Thank-You for Listening

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