Creating A Connected Classroom. Connection, Compassion & Classroom Strategies - Amie Huggins M.Ed;Jamie Tanner;Karen Walen

Brain science that battles burnout.

Teachers are burned out and current behavior plans aren't working. This is not a one-size-fits-all fix. Just honest conversation without jargon or judgment joined with accessible resources exhausted teachers have been searching for.

The connected classroom offers connection, compassion, and classroom strategies for the kids who need you most. It's a book written by a 30 year classroom teacher and an occupational therapist who specializes in trauma and nervous system vulnerability.

The authors use personal and relatable stories to translate developmental and relational theories into metaphors, scripts, lesson plans, and charts. Making strategies accessible and retainable for educators.

This book will give you a better lens on baffling behaviors and the methods needed for long-term healing; for students and for your community.

These authors have been in the trenches with you. They wrote the resource they wish they had 20 years ago. But they needed to learn from their own mistakes first and the science needed to expand. Now they share both with you. When you read this book, you will find your joy and hope in teaching again.

A more personal note:

Our book begins with relatable stories and validation that education is really difficult in 2026. We hope you feel seen and heard by us. We then move quickly into attachment theory and why that matters in the classroom and in life. We expand on that with befriendable little owls, watchdogs, and possums inspired by Robyn Gobbel's work and how they connect to the work of other relationally-informed models such as TBRI®, Dr. Perry's arousal continuum, and other sensory and neuro-focused approaches. Once readers have the foundations of the whys behind behaviors (for their students and themselves), we get straight to the strategies.

We include scripts, charts, lesson plan ideas, content ideas, "what to do when" sections and strategies you can use immediately with no investment of time or resources. We finish the book with practical and honest conversations on how to work with various types of administrators and parents. The last chapter is our favorite. It's like a little love note to teachers who have been told to do "self-care" but not given the time or resources to access the ideas given. We invite you to join us as we talk about how people who have been helped can help others. Others have helped us. We want to help you. Those who have read the book before you have told us they felt inspired and want every teacher to read this book. That is our hope as well. - Marti and Amie