Nobody teaches you how to run a classroom. Kristy Herrera cannot remember a single lecture on it in her teacher preparation program. Chrizia Dela Rosa was told to be strict and not to smile until December.
Between them, they now hold two of the most visible roles an educator in California can hold. Chrizia Dela Rosa was named California Teacher of the Year. Kristy Herrera was elected teacher union president. Neither of them got there by learning to control a room. Kristy describes the shift that changed her practice as moving away from managing student behavior and toward “figuring out what they needed.”
Dr. Ilana Nankin brings them together – one kindergarten teacher and one high school math teacher – to ask whether the work of classroom management is actually the same across thirteen years of student development. It is. The language changes. The underlying human needs do not.
Together, they get practical about what that means: what to do on day one, what to do when your structures get tested, and what to do when the classroom comes apart anyway. And beneath every strategy is a deeper shift: from managing behavior to understanding the whole human being in front of you – and creating the conditions for every student to feel, connect, learn, and thrive.
Here are some of the best moments from the episode:
- Back-to-School Check-In: Feeling “Scare-Cited”
- Redefining “Classroom Management” Beyond Control
- Shifting from Compliance to Whole-Child Support
- Co-Creating Classroom Agreements vs. Rules
- Intentional Ways to Build Student & Family Relationships
- Streamlining Daily Check-Ins & Data with AI
- Cultivating Belonging Through Presence & Eye Contact
- Trauma-Informed Teaching: Choice, Voice & Emotion Naming
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