The Language of Behavior

Joshua Stamper and Charle Peck

The Language of Behavior Podcast with Charle Peck and Joshua Stamper explores the deeper meaning behind student behaviors and provides actionable strategies for educators and leaders to respond with empathy and effectiveness. Each episode dives into innovative ways to create secure and supportive learning environments. Join us as we decode behaviors and build healthier school communities, one conversation at a time.

  1. 9H AGO

    Webinar Replay: Equip and Empower Your Staff to Transform Student Behavior

    In this Webinar Replay, Joshua Stamper and Charle Peck share practical, school-tested strategies from The Language of Behavior that help staff move from reactive discipline to proactive, relationship-based support. You’ll learn how to: - Shift from isolated trainings to a cohort model that embeds skills into daily practice - Use “Consider Your Environment” to audit classroom and campus conditions that fuel or calm behavior - Provide staff with simple, repeatable language and tools for responding to challenging behavior - Align initiatives with your school’s identity so they survive turnover, time pressures, and competing priorities This webinar is perfect for principals, assistant principals, special education leaders, counselors, social workers, and teacher-leaders who want concrete next steps—not just more theory. -- FREE The Language of Behavior Book Study Kit: https://thrivingeducator.myflodesk.com/lobbookstudy Do you have any questions for the podcast? Fill out this quick Google Form: https://forms.gle/u5axHazzuyN5pry76 -- About Charle Peck: Charle Peck is the co-creator of Thriving School Community, a revolutionary program designed for schools to improve mental health. She holds an MS in Education and an MS in Social Work as a 20+ year veteran in education (K-12). As a global keynote speaker, she delivers powerful messages of hope to educators and facilitates meaningful professional development. Charle successfully equips school staff with practical tools to mitigate teacher burnout and the youth mental health crisis providing relief to schools all across the country. Her unique lens as a high school teacher turned clinical therapist specializing in trauma makes her stories relevant and captivating to educators struggling in today’s system. You can purchase her book “Improving School Mental Health: The Thriving School Community Solution” on Amazon and connect with her on X @CharlePeck. Follow Charle Peck: Website: www.ThrivingEducator.orgTwitter: https://twitter.com/CharlePeckFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlepeckconsulting?mibextid=LQQJ4dLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlepeck/Other: charle@thrivibgeducator.orgPodcast: Thriving EducatorBook: https://www.amazon.com/Improving-School-Mental-Health-Community/dp/B0BTS3MN2P?crid=EIKAGWZ4V006&keywords=charle+peck&qid=1705780803&sprefix=charle+peck%2Caps%2C181&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=aspirewebsite-20&linkId=6456f4f1bc2440be71d094a5d14656a4&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl About Joshua Stamper: Joshua Stamper is the Director of Innovation for the Teach Better Team, a multifaceted role that encompasses his talents as an author, podcaster, leadership coach, and education keynote speaker. With a rich background as a middle school administrator, classroom art educator, and athletic coach, Joshua brings a wealth of experience to his work in education. Joshua is passionate about implementing trauma-responsive techniques, exploring alternative student discipline methods, and promoting healthy leadership habits. He is deeply committed to enhancing leadership capacity through self-care practices, ensuring that educators are equipped to lead with empathy and resilience. As the author of The Language of Behavior and Aspire to Lead and host of two popular podcasts, Joshua...

    1h 3m
  2. FEB 11

    59. New Initiatives that Stick

    In this week's episode of The Language of Behavior, Joshua Stamper and Charle Peck address a leader’s question about new year initiatives: “If I’m trying to implement practices to help students and staff, how do I make sure they don’t fall to the wayside?” They explain why one and done PD fails and why long term sustainability requires the cohort model, where a committed team embeds skills into everyday practice with consistent touch points.​ Charlie calls out the need to stop adding tasks and instead shift to prevention, while Josh emphasizes making initiatives part of campus identity so they survive staff turnover and budget cycles. They revisit Tenet 1’s “Consider Your Environment” inventory to audit social and physical classrooms for predictability and trust, while reshaping student engagement and focus. -- 2026 KASEA Winter Conference: https://usakansas.wildapricot.org/event-6477424 NCMLE Conference: https://ncmle.org/2026-ncmle-conference -- FREE The Language of Behavior Book Study Kit: https://thrivingeducator.myflodesk.com/lobbookstudy Do you have any questions for the podcast? Fill out this quick Google Form: https://forms.gle/u5axHazzuyN5pry76 -- About Charle Peck: Charle Peck is the co-creator of Thriving School Community, a revolutionary program designed for schools to improve mental health. She holds an MS in Education and an MS in Social Work as a 20+ year veteran in education (K-12). As a global keynote speaker, she delivers powerful messages of hope to educators and facilitates meaningful professional development. Charle successfully equips school staff with practical tools to mitigate teacher burnout and the youth mental health crisis providing relief to schools all across the country. Her unique lens as a high school teacher turned clinical therapist specializing in trauma makes her stories relevant and captivating to educators struggling in today’s system. You can purchase her book “Improving School Mental Health: The Thriving School Community Solution” on Amazon and connect with her on X @CharlePeck. Follow Charle Peck: Website: www.ThrivingEducator.orgTwitter: https://twitter.com/CharlePeckFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlepeckconsulting?mibextid=LQQJ4dLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlepeck/Other: charle@thrivibgeducator.orgPodcast: Thriving EducatorBook: https://www.amazon.com/Improving-School-Mental-Health-Community/dp/B0BTS3MN2P?crid=EIKAGWZ4V006&keywords=charle+peck&qid=1705780803&sprefix=charle+peck%2Caps%2C181&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=aspirewebsite-20&linkId=6456f4f1bc2440be71d094a5d14656a4&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl About Joshua Stamper: Joshua Stamper is the Director of Innovation for the Teach Better Team, a multifaceted role that encompasses his talents as an author, podcaster, leadership coach, and education keynote speaker. With a rich background as a middle school administrator, classroom art educator, and athletic coach, Joshua brings a wealth of experience to his work in education. Joshua is passionate about implementing trauma-responsive techniques,...

    14 min
  3. FEB 3

    58. Year One Impact with Tools and Takeaways

    In this milestone episode of The Language of Behavior, Joshua Stamper and Charle Peck celebrate the book’s first birthday with reflections on its impact, favorite reader takeaways, and practical tools educators are using across the country. They highlight the “Consider Your Environment” inventory for transforming social and physical classrooms, and Josh’s free Relationship Inventory a checklist of 20 daily best practices like door greetings that boost engagement despite the chaos of interruptions.​ Charlie shares how the book is sparking staff conversations and helping schools shift from reactive discipline to proactive prevention, while Josh reveals light bulb moments like the push in model that are saving instructional time and rebuilding teacher student relationships. The hosts also preview their free February 12th webinar, Equip and Empower Your Staff, designed to give leaders actionable solutions for student behavior challenges. -- FREE The Language of Behavior Book Study Kit: https://thrivingeducator.myflodesk.com/lobbookstudy Do you have any questions for the podcast? Fill out this quick Google Form: https://forms.gle/u5axHazzuyN5pry76 -- About Charle Peck: Charle Peck is the co-creator of Thriving School Community, a revolutionary program designed for schools to improve mental health. She holds an MS in Education and an MS in Social Work as a 20+ year veteran in education (K-12). As a global keynote speaker, she delivers powerful messages of hope to educators and facilitates meaningful professional development. Charle successfully equips school staff with practical tools to mitigate teacher burnout and the youth mental health crisis providing relief to schools all across the country. Her unique lens as a high school teacher turned clinical therapist specializing in trauma makes her stories relevant and captivating to educators struggling in today’s system. You can purchase her book “Improving School Mental Health: The Thriving School Community Solution” on Amazon and connect with her on X @CharlePeck. Follow Charle Peck: Website: www.ThrivingEducator.orgTwitter: https://twitter.com/CharlePeckFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlepeckconsulting?mibextid=LQQJ4dLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlepeck/Other: charle@thrivibgeducator.orgPodcast: Thriving EducatorBook: https://www.amazon.com/Improving-School-Mental-Health-Community/dp/B0BTS3MN2P?crid=EIKAGWZ4V006&keywords=charle+peck&qid=1705780803&sprefix=charle+peck%2Caps%2C181&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=aspirewebsite-20&linkId=6456f4f1bc2440be71d094a5d14656a4&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl About Joshua Stamper: Joshua Stamper is the Director of Innovation for the Teach Better Team, a multifaceted role that encompasses his talents as an author, podcaster, leadership coach, and education keynote speaker. With a rich background as a middle school administrator, classroom art educator, and athletic coach, Joshua brings a wealth of experience to his work in education. Joshua is passionate about implementing trauma-responsive techniques, exploring alternative student discipline methods, and promoting healthy leadership habits. He is deeply committed to enhancing leadership capacity through self-care practices, ensuring that educators are equipped to lead with empathy and resilience. As the author of...

    19 min
  4. JAN 28

    57. Tiny Habits that Provide Big Relief from Daily Stress

    In this week's episode of The Language of Behavior, Joshua Stamper and Charle Peck answer a listener’s question about daily stress and practical routines that actually help, rather than add more pressure. Charlie explains how habits live in the basal ganglia, why we cannot “think” our way into new routines, and how tiny, brain friendly steps like a funny alarm or simply throwing the covers off can jump start change for people stuck in overwhelm or depression.​ Josh shares how shifting from outcome goals to identity based goals for example, “I am a runner” or “I am a healthy eater” helps habits last beyond the first burst of motivation. Together they offer concrete strategies such as shrinking goals into easy first steps, designing your environment so the right choices are visible and convenient, using habit trackers for encouragement and honest data, and pairing new habits with values and small rewards so the cue behavior outcome loop works in your favor instead of against you. -- FREE The Language of Behavior Book Study Kit: https://thrivingeducator.myflodesk.com/lobbookstudy Do you have any questions for the podcast? Fill out this quick Google Form: https://forms.gle/u5axHazzuyN5pry76 -- About Charle Peck: Charle Peck is the co-creator of Thriving School Community, a revolutionary program designed for schools to improve mental health. She holds an MS in Education and an MS in Social Work as a 20+ year veteran in education (K-12). As a global keynote speaker, she delivers powerful messages of hope to educators and facilitates meaningful professional development. Charle successfully equips school staff with practical tools to mitigate teacher burnout and the youth mental health crisis providing relief to schools all across the country. Her unique lens as a high school teacher turned clinical therapist specializing in trauma makes her stories relevant and captivating to educators struggling in today’s system. You can purchase her book “Improving School Mental Health: The Thriving School Community Solution” on Amazon and connect with her on X @CharlePeck. Follow Charle Peck: Website: www.ThrivingEducator.orgTwitter: https://twitter.com/CharlePeckFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlepeckconsulting?mibextid=LQQJ4dLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlepeck/Other: charle@thrivibgeducator.orgPodcast: Thriving EducatorBook: https://www.amazon.com/Improving-School-Mental-Health-Community/dp/B0BTS3MN2P?crid=EIKAGWZ4V006&keywords=charle+peck&qid=1705780803&sprefix=charle+peck%2Caps%2C181&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=aspirewebsite-20&linkId=6456f4f1bc2440be71d094a5d14656a4&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl About Joshua Stamper: Joshua Stamper is the Director of Innovation for the Teach Better Team, a multifaceted role that encompasses his talents as an author, podcaster, leadership coach, and education keynote speaker. With a rich background as a middle school administrator, classroom art educator, and athletic coach, Joshua brings a wealth of experience to his work in education. Joshua is passionate about implementing trauma-responsive techniques, exploring alternative student discipline methods, and promoting healthy leadership habits. He is deeply committed to enhancing leadership capacity through self-care practices, ensuring that educators are equipped to lead...

    18 min
  5. JAN 22

    56. Assessment, Attitude, and Action for Self Harm

    In this episode of The Language of Behavior, Joshua Stamper and Charle Peck unpack a critical question from a recent Kentucky training on non-suicidal self injury (NSSI): how can we train teachers to respond effectively when self harm shows up in classrooms and hallways? Charlie shares the AAA framework assessment, attitude, and action that she uses with educators and clinicians to clarify roles, keep protocols simple, and move adults from freezing or overreacting to calm, supportive next steps.​ Listeners learn what NSSI can look like across age groups, from hair pulling, biting, and skin picking in younger students to cutting and concealed injuries in teens, and how to notice behavior pattern shifts such as sudden long sleeve clothing, bathroom trips, or refusal to dress out for PE. Charlie models neutral, non shaming language teachers can use, explains why promising secrecy or threatening to “call home right now” can escalate shame and hiding, and outlines how to document only what you can see and hear so mental health professionals can assess risk and function of the behavior. -- FREE The Language of Behavior Book Study Kit: https://thrivingeducator.myflodesk.com/lobbookstudy Do you have any questions for the podcast? Fill out this quick Google Form: https://forms.gle/u5axHazzuyN5pry76 -- About Charle Peck: Charle Peck is the co-creator of Thriving School Community, a revolutionary program designed for schools to improve mental health. She holds an MS in Education and an MS in Social Work as a 20+ year veteran in education (K-12). As a global keynote speaker, she delivers powerful messages of hope to educators and facilitates meaningful professional development. Charle successfully equips school staff with practical tools to mitigate teacher burnout and the youth mental health crisis providing relief to schools all across the country. Her unique lens as a high school teacher turned clinical therapist specializing in trauma makes her stories relevant and captivating to educators struggling in today’s system. You can purchase her book “Improving School Mental Health: The Thriving School Community Solution” on Amazon and connect with her on X @CharlePeck. Follow Charle Peck: Website: www.ThrivingEducator.orgTwitter: https://twitter.com/CharlePeckFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlepeckconsulting?mibextid=LQQJ4dLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlepeck/Other: charle@thrivibgeducator.orgPodcast: Thriving EducatorBook: https://www.amazon.com/Improving-School-Mental-Health-Community/dp/B0BTS3MN2P?crid=EIKAGWZ4V006&keywords=charle+peck&qid=1705780803&sprefix=charle+peck%2Caps%2C181&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=aspirewebsite-20&linkId=6456f4f1bc2440be71d094a5d14656a4&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl About Joshua Stamper: Joshua Stamper is the Director of Innovation for the Teach Better Team, a multifaceted role that encompasses his talents as an author, podcaster, leadership coach, and education keynote speaker. With a rich background as a middle school administrator, classroom art educator, and athletic coach, Joshua brings a wealth of experience to his work in education. Joshua is passionate about implementing trauma-responsive techniques, exploring alternative student discipline methods, and promoting healthy leadership habits....

    15 min
  6. JAN 16

    55. Overwhelmed After the Break: Simple Systems for Staff Well Being

    In this timely episode of The Language of Behavior, Joshua Stamper and Charle Peck respond to a vulnerable question from an educator: "I'm still overwhelmed and stressed out even after the break. We keep talking about mental health, but where are the solutions?" Drawing on their work with teachers, counselors, social workers, and school psychologists, they name what everyone is feeling too much on the plate, rising student behavior, and a system that keeps taking without giving back and then offer concrete, realistic steps leaders can take now.​ Charlie shares practical ideas like removing tasks instead of adding new initiatives and using staff meeting time for energizing practices such as writing positive notes to families, while Josh unpacks how boundaries, sleep, hydration, movement, and passion projects can restore hope and capacity for educators in the toughest seasons. They also outline a quick, high impact strategy: sending a one question staff survey ("What do you need from me to make your job easier or better?") and actually responding with small, tangible supports from working staplers to mental health referral lists and access to therapies like Accelerated Resolution Therapy. -- FREE The Language of Behavior Book Study Kit: https://thrivingeducator.myflodesk.com/lobbookstudy Do you have any questions for the podcast? Fill out this quick Google Form: https://forms.gle/u5axHazzuyN5pry76 -- About Charle Peck: Charle Peck is the co-creator of Thriving School Community, a revolutionary program designed for schools to improve mental health. She holds an MS in Education and an MS in Social Work as a 20+ year veteran in education (K-12). As a global keynote speaker, she delivers powerful messages of hope to educators and facilitates meaningful professional development. Charle successfully equips school staff with practical tools to mitigate teacher burnout and the youth mental health crisis providing relief to schools all across the country. Her unique lens as a high school teacher turned clinical therapist specializing in trauma makes her stories relevant and captivating to educators struggling in today’s system. You can purchase her book “Improving School Mental Health: The Thriving School Community Solution” on Amazon and connect with her on X @CharlePeck. Follow Charle Peck: Website: www.ThrivingEducator.orgTwitter: https://twitter.com/CharlePeckFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlepeckconsulting?mibextid=LQQJ4dLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlepeck/Other: charle@thrivibgeducator.orgPodcast: Thriving EducatorBook: https://www.amazon.com/Improving-School-Mental-Health-Community/dp/B0BTS3MN2P?crid=EIKAGWZ4V006&keywords=charle+peck&qid=1705780803&sprefix=charle+peck%2Caps%2C181&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=aspirewebsite-20&linkId=6456f4f1bc2440be71d094a5d14656a4&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl About Joshua Stamper: Joshua Stamper is the Director of Innovation for the Teach Better Team, a multifaceted role that encompasses his talents as an author, podcaster, leadership coach, and education keynote speaker. With a rich background as a middle school administrator, classroom art educator, and athletic coach, Joshua brings a wealth of experience to his work in education. Joshua is passionate about implementing trauma-responsive techniques, exploring...

    16 min
  7. Notice, Evolve, and Thrive with Lainie Rowell

    JAN 7

    Notice, Evolve, and Thrive with Lainie Rowell

    In this uplifting conversation on The Language of Behavior, Charle Peck sits down with author, consultant, and continuous improvement expert Lainie Rowell to explore how gratitude and intentional noticing can transform stressed-out schools and organizations from the inside out. Lainie introduces her Notice–Evolve–Thrive framework and shares the science-backed reason “notice” is the essential first step in healing, behavior change, and culture work.​ Together, Charle and Lainie unpack practical strategies leaders can use tomorrow, including “bright spots walks” with sticky notes, gratitude emails, and simple rituals that honor often-overlooked staff and students. They dig into why shifting from a deficit lens to a strengths-focused one matters for mental health, and how practices like the praise-to-correction ratio and Gottman’s “bids for connection” shape relationships, resilience, and behavior across a system.​ About Lainie Rowell: Lainie Rowell is an educator, author, podcaster, and international consultant who specializes in working with other educators to find innovative and sustainable ways to transform teaching and learning. Her areas of expertise include online/blended learning, designing innovative learning experiences, professional learning, and community building. During her more almost 25 years in education, Lainie has taught elementary, secondary, and higher education. She also served in a district-level leadership position supporting 22,000 students and 1,200 teachers at 33 schools. As a consultant, Lainie's client list ranges from Fortune 100 companies like Apple and Google to school districts and independent schools. Lainie is a TEDx Speaker with more than 15 years of experience presenting at regional, national, and international conferences including Building Learning Communities (BLC) and the Leadership 3.0 Symposium. Lainie was a contributor to the 2019 National Standards for Quality Online Teaching and on the 2014 Blended Learning Teacher Competency Framework committee. Since 2014, Lainie has been a consultant for the Orange County Department of Education's Institute for Leadership Development facilitating professional learning for administrators. From 2010-2014, Lainie served as the Program Coordinator for Leading Edge Certification, a national certification program in educational technology and curriculum innovation created by an Alliance of nonprofits, universities and educational agencies. She led the creation and curation of all four certifications, Online and Blended Teacher, Administrator, Digital Educator, and Professional Learning Leader. Lainie is honored to be an Apple Distinguished Educator, Google for Education Certified Trainer, and Google for Education Certified Innovator. She has also been recognized as Teacher of the Year and was featured in OC Family Magazine as one of 10 Teachers Making a Difference. In 2011, she was elected to CUE's Board of...

    23 min
  8. 12/30/2025

    54. Trauma or Manipulation? Reading Behavior Without Losing Your Boundaries

    In this New Year’s episode of The Language of Behavior, Joshua Stamper and Charle Peck tackle a question they hear constantly from educators: “How do I know if behavior is trauma or just manipulation?” Kicking off 2026 with honesty and nuance, they unpack why this either/or framing rarely fits real students and explain a crucial distinction: manipulation is a learned skill, while trauma is a fast, reflexive survival response in the nervous system.​ Charlie explains how trauma and attachment wounds can, over time, create patterns that look manipulative, and why “trauma explains behavior but does not excuse it.” Together, Josh and Charle explore:​ How trauma responses show up inconsistently as triggers in the environment changeHow manipulation shows up as a predictable pattern with a clear payoffWhy adults cannot regulate someone else’s nervous system—and what healthy co-regulation actually looks likeThe critical difference between guilt (“I did something wrong”) and shame (“I am bad”) when helping students repair harm​ They also zoom out to the adult side: how a teacher’s own history with manipulative family members can intensify reactions to students, and why therapy, self-awareness, and regulation skills are leadership tools—not luxuries. Packed with practical language, boundaries-focused strategies, and nervous system-informed insight, this episode is a must-listen for anyone trying to hold both compassion and accountability in schools. -- FREE The Language of Behavior Book Study Kit: https://thrivingeducator.myflodesk.com/lobbookstudy Do you have any questions for the podcast? Fill out this quick Google Form: https://forms.gle/u5axHazzuyN5pry76 -- About Charle Peck: Charle Peck is the co-creator of Thriving School Community, a revolutionary program designed for schools to improve mental health. She holds an MS in Education and an MS in Social Work as a 20+ year veteran in education (K-12). As a global keynote speaker, she delivers powerful messages of hope to educators and facilitates meaningful professional development. Charle successfully equips school staff with practical tools to mitigate teacher burnout and the youth mental health crisis providing relief to schools all across the country. Her unique lens as a high school teacher turned clinical therapist specializing in trauma makes her stories relevant and captivating to educators struggling in today’s system. You can purchase her book “Improving School Mental Health: The Thriving School Community Solution” on Amazon and connect with her on X @CharlePeck. Follow Charle Peck: Website: www.ThrivingEducator.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/CharlePeck Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlepeckconsulting?mibextid=LQQJ4d LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlepeck/Other: charle@thrivibgeducator.org Podcast: Thriving EducatorBook:...

    22 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

The Language of Behavior Podcast with Charle Peck and Joshua Stamper explores the deeper meaning behind student behaviors and provides actionable strategies for educators and leaders to respond with empathy and effectiveness. Each episode dives into innovative ways to create secure and supportive learning environments. Join us as we decode behaviors and build healthier school communities, one conversation at a time.