Transcript

Regulate 2 Educate- Class in Session

Busted Pencils · Wed Oct 15, 2025

Yeah, you know what that means? It's busted pencils fully. Let it education talk educated educators talking education

Dr. Johnny Lupinachi Jacob chairman of the board me Dr. Tim Slecker and it is a class

In session and it is a special class in session. Oh, yeah, Johnny because you know, probably

One of our all-time favorite guests

In fact listeners you're gonna know who we're talking about because oh, yeah her and her part

Have been a large part of the show for for as long as we have been with civic media, so

But I don't know. Let's just you know, we're talking about teacher Halley teacher

Penalies in the house

Man everybody's like when is teacher Halley coming back on right?

Just throw out people we got her, you know, you know, but we got to make sure that the timing is just

Perfect and

Based on what I'm seeing here and what we're gonna talk about we're like four days away from

What will be a launch I think right Halley? Yeah, okay, so teacher Halley. Yes part of the duo teacher Halley teacher Joe Anna

As you can amplify

They've been on the show together. We've been we've put their podcast out to look at

Halley. Yes teacher, but teacher Halley now

I'm wondering are we gonna have to start calling you entrepreneur Halley

That'd be great

Teacher to change maker Halley. Oh, okay change maker not entrepreneur. Let's keep it

I'm sure I mean that's what we're talking about Johnny, though check it out right

Teacher Halley we get this little thing going hey guys

I

Got something else kind of going on and when she talks about it. We're not gonna be

Surprised about the content, but regulate to educate. Yeah

Teacher Halley has founded her own

LLC. Yes, oh my god, so you are a beer you're an independent business woman regulate to educate

What are we talking about what's this business all about?

I know, you know, and I am so glad on your website that you pointed out very quickly

For slow learners like me that regulate is not

referring to

Rules and ordinances that make life miserable

In fact it's correct white the opposite teacher Halley. What's going on with regulate to educate? Yeah, so obviously you know

Myself and teacher Joanna have always talked about the concept of nervous system regulation and that was the cornerstone

The the foundation the everything of when we were teaching together

What everything was built off of and so

Right you leave the classroom you have all these big ideas and you're like I'm gonna change the world

And then two years went by and nothing happened

We're not nothing, but I didn't change the world is what what did happen

um, and so this is really like

a combination of my teaching experience plus really being able to take the last two years to really

Imagine put together reflect on like okay, what's needed? You know like I think I just spent the last two years really trying to find like us

base or people that were like

Really talking about how we are going to help the profession of education

And I think there are definitely people like obviously you guys are out here like sharing what's going on

And there's like different people, but I was like

No one's talking about nervous system regulation in schools like

You know, they're talking about nervous system regulation as a parent or

Nervous system regulation for yourself for nervous system regulation for weight loss, but I was like

Oh my gosh like

It's that out here or if it is it's really hard to find

So it's really the same mission and vision as we've always been talking where I just really want to empower educators

To understand to what nervous system regulation is

Um, and I had a mentor along the way

Um who helped me see that I dream very big which

Has not gone away

But she was like you need to take small actionable steps, you know

Because I want to like bust in the door go to the Capitol and be like we're changing laws now, right

And that's now it works

So my small actionable stuff is creating this LLC

um

About regulate to educate how do we bring nervous system regulation as the foundation of education

And so it's starting off. I really just I want to work with educators and you know

That includes teachers counselor staff that works in our schools K through 12 schools

I could open it up to the Johnny Lupinatches of the world too

I was gonna say I think I saw him actually hitting the he's signing up already

Thank you

But um, yeah, I I want to create spaces. It's just a continuation of what we've always done

I want to create spaces and connect with educators to empower them to bring things into the classroom

For themselves because I know they are down and out out here. So that's what it's all about

Johnny

Well, I love it. I love it. You know, it's not just an update

It's the next actionable step coming from

Teacher Halle and from all the ways that you've not only identified

You know barriers for teachers and in challenges that we face in the classroom

But you're always taking that step to organize and and make that next step whether it's policy recommendation

Right rolling up your sleeves and being a part of the school board

Right, whatever you can do to help serve

Teachers and teacher labor like how we can really do our jobs better

Because we're taking better care of ourselves through practices that line up and balance

All right, I love this

I mean, I love all the work that you and Joanne have done and continue to do and I love this regulate to educate

And it's act it's so accessible. That's what you're talking about if this stuff does exist in

pockets and places

It's usually like you you have to dig really deep to find it

And then if you're like me over the years you find it and you're like you could go on this retreat

Way off in the Pacific somewhere and I'm like no because I don't have any time

And I don't have a ton of money. I'm a teacher and I'm dysregulated and I need to regulate

And I don't have time to you know do a whole spa week

Of course, you know, so tell us a little bit about regulate to educate and and excitingly what's coming up soon

And it's super accessible for a lot of our listeners, especially with constant teachers listening

Yeah, so since this is like my first kickoff. I was like, okay, what can I naturally bring to the table that I

Feel really good at so right? I'm a teacher like at heart and I think forever

It's just a kind of a new format of teaching. So I'm offering a course. It's five weeks long

It's purposely placed. It'll start next Sunday, October 19th and it's five weeks leading up to Thanksgiving and then the holiday

Extravaganza that happens right when stress levels really rise

And so I did purposely line it up that way practice regulation before the holiday season

And so right now this course

Has a combination of many things. There will be a 21-day journal that

You know participants that sign up will be able to engage in this

My own turn

Nice. Oh, I love it. Oh my god. I can't believe it

So I think eventually I'll offer this more mainstream, but I'm like for now. Let's have a course

It's called the empowered educator 21-day journal regulate educate by

Kelly

And so I'm just really excited that we'll be able to follow along

Like real actionable practical practical things about bringing nervous system regulation

Included in it too will be modules where I'm literally teaching what nervous system regulation is

I do recognize I just constantly say regulation and some people might think rules and then I'm like

Okay, wait, there's like this whole thing

And so there's modules to watch and then also zoom meetings

To connect once per week with a group of people or just just talking and I am so open like it isn't

I'm being really intentional not being like okay day one less than one right like it is very

Open accessible if you want to talk about a module we can talk about a module

If you want to talk about a specific situation that happened in your classroom where you are like

Whoa, is this this regulation? We can talk about that too

So I'm really open to

Wherever the course takes us

In the five weeks, but always guided by the journal and then nervous system regulation and practicing it for yourself

First

So that's kind of what it is about and then right like you said if you live in Wisconsin and you wear a weak member

So a teachers union teacher

It is free

Ah

And so I'm super excited about that like that was such a neat

Coming together with weak that they were like oh

Thank you for offering this course. Do you know it's freedom members and I was like

I thought I was gonna have to talk about like how do we make this accessible and how do we know people be able to afford this

And the fact that I don't have to and I can just be like take it, you know feels really good

So yeah, I'm excited about all of that

Well, so I mean this is you know, what what you have you've you've talked about this and dreamed about this

You say, you know, you've got big ideas big dreams, but you know

Maybe this is a small accidentable step, but I also think this is part of the big dream

Correct do this. Let's not minimize the fact that you're putting in to play

Something that you and teacher Joanna have been advocating

nonstop and so, you know, here you are

You know regulate to educate yeah for everybody listening and Wisconsin weak members, you know, what a great deal free

That ain't bad, but you know any other listener wherever you are even our listeners in Finland, you know 300 US dollars

Hey, I ain't bad either come on. No, it's really not. Yeah, you know, if you if you've looked at you know, what it takes to sign up

Now teacher Ali just so people want to get a sense though too because I think I kind of figured this out as you're talking

So over the time there are going to be kind of like asynchronous types of modules that people can do on their own

with with

Random or semi-regular or you know

live zoom meetings with you

To talk about that

And then the journaling so I guess you know for for all of you tech people out there

Sounds like a hybrid type of model of delivery. Yeah

Yeah, I guess I could say that, but that makes me like break out and hives and think of COVID. So I don't use that word

Make makes it makes you retake your own class again. I gotta gotta regularly, you know

Yeah, oh my god. Yeah, and any any reference to COVID, but I mean, you know, that is um

You know that that ability to kind of work at my own pace if I'm doing it

You know the way you know if it's 2 a.m. And I really need to

Regulate I'm like I can get up and dig in to the to the course

And then when I'm totally like oh my god, I I need to talk to teacher Halle you're saying you're gonna be available

Yeah, so right now how it works is it's we have dedicated times once per week

So on Tuesdays nights once per week we can all meet it as a group now

It doesn't mean that I'm unwilling to chat with people or find another opportunity to talk with people

I don't know. It's my first time offering it. So I am so open to

You know what works what doesn't work um, but I think for right now, you know a lot you know

I mean the majority of my teaching was in circles, right? And then like I mentioned before on COVID

I figured out how to do circles

Overzoom

So that's why I feel comfortable with this and I'm like let's start here

And I love the concept of them being able to like write teacher from

One part you like north

West part of Wisconsin can connect with teacher from southeast part of Wisconsin, right? Or oh no

The people in Finland listening, you know, and so I like the concept of connecting with other educators

Because really my goal in this is like the journal says I want to empower educators

Or I want them to feel in power because we do feel so

deflated, you know, take an advantage of

Exploited burnt out whatever the words, you know, they're negative

And so I want this to be an opportunity for people to connect

With other educators to re, you know, re-bring inspiration and hope and like okay

Maybe we can produce little soldiers to help us like

re-think or re-new public education because we know it's just

Such a little cesspool of craziness right now

You know, I love this teacher, Halley and I think so often about

Myself and my own growth as a teacher and I learned to write new lesson plans and you know, I got you know

All kinds of great professional development on new strategies to

You know engage learners to differentiate curriculum and all this like skill building around my craft of teaching

I got very little support on how to take care of myself or even recognize what a

Disregulated nervous system is and I think you've talked about that and taught that on our show and certainly and on your website and everything

You talk about the nervous system for our listeners who are thinking like what what do they really talk about because I'm really listener

I'm really

Always a fan of teacher, Halley, but especially this because there are so many resources for us as teachers

Like how to improve our lesson plans how to implement strategies for

You know a learner with this Lexia all kinds of really cool stuff

That we know about learners

But there is not a ton at least in my experience. And that's why I'm educated educator. I teach teachers

There's very little on how we take care of ourselves and how that care or even that knowledge or balance and understanding of our nervous system

Translate to good pedagogy, but it does and you and teacher Joanna make that connection. So far listener

I've talked enough. Can you explain like how do you know if you're dysregulated?

So here's what I'll say is

nervous system regulation is so like it's just how our brains and body work

So what's why I mean it blows my mind that we

Just have schools that we're like we're going to focus primarily on academics

And we assume and expect children to walk into our doors

And we shove 30 in a classroom at a time with one adult and and they should all be ready and it blows my mind because

Basically our brain is the command center of everything we do and there's this part in our brain called the amygdala

That is

It's only job is to scan for danger and danger is different for all of us

So like what could be danger or a threat or something unsafe to Tim

Could be safe to Johnny you know like math problems right right

Right, so if if little Johnny

Is amygdala's going because that's a job and it's math time and little Johnny is like oh crap. I hate math

The crazy thing about this is that the amygdala will sound off unconsciously and send messages through our body

Okay, and so whether it's headaches stomach aches a stress response that maybe's fight or flight

It just happens automatically

And the fact that we don't have any of that baseline understanding is wild to me because little Johnny could be freaking out internally

Let's say but maybe little Johnny you know we're used to seeing like the student that's like

This is dumb or like throws the pencil or yells and they kick them out whatever

Little Johnny could be more of a freeze response and just be like frozen

But he's not interrupting he looks like a good little student

So we don't even realize that little Johnny is freaking out about the math that's sitting in front of him

And so it's just about

Increasing our awareness to understand that this is happening and the most beautiful part to me is that it's happening in all of us

So it's super accessible and you can feel more in control when you understand it for yourself

But that's why I always say it starts with the adult in the room or it starts with you

because if you don't understand that

Little Timmy's fight response triggers you you know like if little Timmy's freaking out

And then you start freaking out like it's just this like crazy like everybody can kind of domino affect each other

And if we don't have that baseline understanding right it just turns into the rules it turns into the policies

It turns into the one size fits all it turns into compliance

And I'm just really about like okay, this is just how our brains and body work

And I do respect that neuroscience has developed you know, and so I do understand we didn't know this when like schools were developed

But I think it's time for us to evolve as an education

You know, you mean like back in the day when you know

When you were in school

What I would say

When I am engaged in performing a dysregulating act in front of my teachers and and they and they decided that

My my best place would be out in the hall and the way they got me in the hall

Um was literally picking me up and

throwing me out into the hall

Correct that teacher was dysregulated

correct

100% I'm not gonna call you up teacher, but you know who you are that you're listening to the show

Yes, I still remember that moment and

You just didn't know how dysregulated you were yeah, they let their dysregulation turn into regulation on you Tim

Regulators mount up tossed him in the hallway

The best part of that episode is the kid who got thrown out there before me was out in the hallway crying

And as I came out into the hallway, I came out laughing and I was just like

Oh two different effects on the being thrown out of the classroom

But no, I mean this is thinking about that teacher howley there the interactions right and even when you talk about rules

It's it's like

You know what happens is you know, I was remember this you know being taught to be a teacher and then going in and then my principal

You know, where is your assertive discipline chart, you know that lays out the rules and the consequences for each time you break an infraction

And you're like, okay, cool and then all of a sudden

you get

somebody like myself at that age

Who um is fully aware of the consequences and the rules and really doesn't care

And so you as a teacher you start, you know, we're yeah, yeah

Guess what hey when you're teaching fifth graders if you're out there and you've done that um they sometimes can get

Annoying and so you're like um, sorry Timmy um that is I'm gonna write your name on the board

Okay

Great well Timmy's like, okay, cool whatever, yeah, and then it levels up and

All of a sudden you as the teacher have gone like

None of these rules are working

Mm-hmm, and that's when you enter that phase of oh my god. I don't

Potence I what you're saying is like I didn't know what to do

In that heightened situation because I'm starting to get really uptight stressed and

Probably then the way I handled that stressful situation

Really itself was probably not the best way because of my

Disregulation and my inability to kind of see that event as it was happening and kind of go whoa hold on

I didn't need to step back or maybe even

How not to get there to begin with are we talking about that potentially or we talking about reactive types of

No, no, no, this is far more proactive, but you have to have an understanding in order to get there

I think the other thing that's interesting about this is you know

I think often times I don't really know why but nervous system regulation is more looked at a socially emotional type of thing or

Only behavior and I want to help introduce this concept even to how like how we function in schools

Increases dysregulation so loud noises or the fact that there's so much pressure and compliance

The competition that exists because of standardized testing that I think I was up

Disregulation. I kind of was even potentially saying that by saying like like the rule system and compliance system that I was required

Yes, implement in and of itself was

Was you know both a behavior system, but it was actually a compliant system that really didn't take into account any of the things

That you're going to be whole teaching

Yeah, that would you know, I don't want you know for some reason maybe even potentially like um, you know

Get away from generic behavior consequence systems and really be

You know engaged in in authentic relationships

Yeah, like go ahead, Hallie. Well, and taking a deep dive into

Just taking a look at what things in our system

Naturally increases dysregulation and how can we look at that differently if we continue to restrict recess

We're only increasing that dysregulation, you know like people need fresh air

They need to move their bodies the more we're sitting sitting and getting in order to get all the curriculum in like

It's just it's rubbing against like what is actually developmentally appropriate for a learning brain

And so we just need to have those conversations

I'll also say that I am very ready to empower educators because so much of our system relies

On educators saying yes and not setting boundaries and not being able to say no and so

It increases their dysregulation as well, and so I can't wait to empower educators to say

No

Like added things right like they already have a full-time job

So when we add duties and you know like testing and you know like just all the added things that are just naturally expected because

You love the students

Do this for the students. I like how can we crack open and expose how this is actually really toxic

And so I get it's going to rub against people's hemas of school and I'm okay with that

This is my attempt at working towards how can we actually make this profession a space where professionals flourish and so therefore

students

Flourish

Yeah, I love it. I've long said the human body is not a machine

Right and to understand teacher labor as simply just tune up the machine and you know program it

To do more or different tasks

You know overlooks like you're saying teacher howie the natural

Ways our bodies work the ways with we as learners lead learners

Right the ways our brains are engaged if they if we if we're expected to do great inquiry

Conversations with patients and inquiry with young people

But be completely

You know this regulated

Before they even get through the door because schools are set up in very dysregulated ways

Right that the that the labor isn't

You know defined for us or supported in a way that's

That that allows for good teaching and great learning to happen

So I love all these parts coming together, you know teacher howie has it here regulate to educate I mean teacher howie's also a treasure trove of

Like great phrases that aren't just cooked up like they match actually like the stuff

They're on just like you cook up these phrases that are catchy. They really help us remember

I mean it must be you must be a teacher right they really help us remember and communicate meaning

But regulate to educate it's a big deal. I'm a big fan

We're glad that you're here to talk about it and Johnny probably the most infectious awesome

laugh

There it is the cat so teacher teacher howie it starts this Sunday

Yep, October 19th

people can go to

regulate number two

to educate

Click on the course they can sign up right there yep and

Wow, and we will definitely have this in the description of the podcast

So if you get it there, but if you're listening right now, you're like I got to sign up regulate the number two educate

Dot com you can go right there click on that and howie

We also though gonna give you know you're gonna be it looks like you're gonna be on tv pretty soon and when that happens

So we're just gonna put that out there. Yeah, stay tuned because teacher howie's gonna be coming back on oh

Yeah

Let's go

Yeah, and if you want to talk about a cackle

I think the b-roll of that entire show is my laughter

I'm so much so I'm on a tv show. I'll give a plug. I'm on a tv roll called shift the gotten intelligence blueprint

Really fancy ways I'm to say

How I talk about nervous system regulation basically. It's very similarly aligned

But it was a Wisconsin-based DACU series where a woman is using her techniques to help people work through

Relationships a career change all sorts of things

And so she made this show it will be on hulu

Apple tv and amazon

So it's gonna be where people are watching

But we just don't have a release date yet

But again, if you go to regulate the number two educate com

I'll definitely update when that comes out

And then you can also click on the upper links for my socials. I'm on a whole bunch of them

Trying to figure out the world of social media

But yeah, no, it's it's all wonderful. It's all great

You know teacher Joanna is backing you 100% and I do see in my crystal ball

We will come back together

You know, but we both are independently dabbling in our things and I can just feel this beautiful

I don't know coming back together once for both like, oh, that's what's gonna happen. That's gonna be the sound

You know it. It's teacher howie regulate to educate

Yeah, the trailer also it is on regulate to educate so you can check it out teacher howie

Thanks for busting pencils

Yeah, thank you

And now it's time for your moment of zin

Oh

Civil disobedience that's not our problem our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty

And starvation and stupidity and war in cruelty

Our problem is the grand thieves are running the country

Civil obedience that's our problem

Hey

Thanks for listening to busted pencils class in session with teacher howie back in the saddle with busted pencils

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