The Practice Ground

04/08/2026

Adolescents live in a space that can feel both deeply sincere and painfully self-conscious at the same time.

In this piece, I explore what happens at that edge - where kids are trying to figure out who they are, while also watching themselves be seen.

If you work with teens (or love one), this might help you understand what’s really going on beneath the surface.

Why irony has become a form of protection - and what it costs

04/06/2026

Sarcasm is often framed as humor - but what if it’s actually something else?

In my latest article, I explore how adults sometimes use sarcasm to manage discomfort, control behavior, or avoid vulnerability - and what that can feel like on the receiving end for kids. When “just joking” becomes a pattern, it can quietly shape trust, safety, and connection.

If you’ve ever wondered why certain kinds of humor don’t land the way we think they do, this one might resonate.

Most adults don’t think of sarcasm as a regulation strategy.

04/02/2026

In many classrooms, stillness is treated as a prerequisite for learning. But for many students, especially adolescents, it may be the very thing getting in the way. In my latest article, I explore why movement, not stillness, is often what real learning requires.

Why stillness ≠ attention

03/29/2026

Your teenager isn’t giving you a hard time—they’re having a hard time. The adolescent brain is still under construction, and what we see on the surface is only a small piece of a much bigger, still-forming story.

Why teenagers aren’t irrational - they are running a different operating system

03/25/2026

What’s the difference between playful teasing and something that actually hurts? It’s more subtle - and more important - than we often realize. In this piece, I explore how to recognize the line and why it matters for our relationships.

https://kathimartuza.substack.com/p/the-difference-between-playful-teasing

03/22/2026

There can be a quiet contempt many adults hold toward adolescents - and most of us don’t even realize it. This article invites a deeper look at how that shows up, and what it costs our relationships with young people.

There is a tone I sometimes hear when adults talk about adolescents.

03/18/2026

Cynicism can look like wisdom, but it often disconnects us more than it protects us. I wrote about the difference between being guarded and being truly emotionally intelligent - and why that matters.

(Especially for Neurodiverse Adolescents)

03/15/2026

Teenagers often look unpredictable, emotional, and messy-but that chaos isn’t random.
It’s part of a powerful developmental process where the brain and identity are reorganizing into something new. Adolescence is one of the most intense periods of learning and neural rewiring we experience. 

I wrote about this through the lens of chaos theory and development in my latest Substack.

If you spend enough time around teenagers, one thing becomes clear:

03/12/2026

For most of my life I lived in two worlds that rarely spoke to each other.

In dance, learning lived in the body.
In school, learning was expected to live in the head.

Over time I began to see something clearly:
the body is not separate from learning — it is where learning begins.

I wrote a short reflection on what I call Education From Within and how movement, visualization, and the nervous system shape the way students truly understand.

Reconnecting movement, visualization, and understanding in the classroom.

03/08/2026

Healthy relationships are not defined by the absence of conflict.
They are defined by what happens after the rupture.

Repair is one of the most powerful forces for trust, growth, and resilience, in families, classrooms, and communities.

I wrote about why in my latest essay: “Rupture Is Inevitable. Repair Is Transformational.”

If you work with children or adolescents long enough, you will lose your patience.

03/01/2026

Before we talk about curriculum or strategy, we have to talk about nervous systems.

In Regulated Adults, Regulated Classrooms, I explore the physiology beneath learning — and why adult regulation is the foundation of every thriving classroom.

In education, we often focus on curriculum and instructional strategy while overlooking the biological conditions that make learning possible.

02/24/2026

https://kathimartuza.substack.com/p/why-adolescence-feels-like-the-ground

There is a moment in adolescence when the world tilts.