134 | How I Made a Connection with the Toughest Kid in 7th Grade

Enjoy Teaching Again | Elementary, Teacher Burnout, Student Behavior, SEL, Classroom Management · May 8, 2026 · 9m

Some students are hard to reach. And if you’ve been teaching long enough, you know exactly the kind of student I’m talking about—the one who seems completely shut down, disengaged, or like they just don’t care. In this episode, I’m sharing the story of a 7th grade student who challenged me in a way I didn’t expect. He came into my classroom with a tough exterior and very little interest in what we were doing… and for a while, nothing seemed to work. But then something shifted. And it wasn’t a big strategy or a complicated plan. It was something much simpler—and much more powerful. If you’re…