Creating a Connected Classroom with Marti Smith & Amie Huggins {EP 258}
What if the biggest barrier to learning in the classroom isn’t behavior… but safety?
Teachers are overwhelmed. Kids are dysregulated. And somewhere in the middle, everyone is trying their best…but it’s not working the way we hoped. In this conversation, I sit down with occupational therapist Marti Smith and educator Amie Huggins to talk about what happens when we bring relational neuroscience into the classroom in real, practical ways.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Why behavior in the classroom makes more sense when we see it as communication, not defiance
- How connection, co-regulation, and felt safety actually support learning (not compete with it)
- Simple, realistic ways teachers can meet sensory and relational needs—even with a full classroom
Resources Mentioned on the Podcast
Listen on the Podcast
This blog is a short summary of a longer episode on The Baffling Behavior Show podcast.
Find The Baffling Behavior Show podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or in your favorite podcast app.
Or, you can read the entire transcript of the episode by scrolling down and clicking ‘transcript.’
Robyn
Author of National Best Selling Book (including audiobook) Raising Kids with Big, Baffling Behaviors: Brain-Body-Sensory Strategies that Really Work
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- No Strategy Will Fix This: What Actually Helped Instead {EP 260} - April 7, 2026




