After a school break, many tweens and teens return to the classroom:

• Looking unmotivated, disconnected, or shut down.
• Homework goes missing.
• Work feels overwhelming.
• Some students freeze, avoid tasks, or ask to leave the room altogether.

In this episode of Bouncing Back with Karen Brisport, Karen helps parents and educators understand what’s really happening beneath these behaviors, and why they’re not signs of laziness or defiance.

Drawing on her background as a school counselor, Karen explains how breaks can disrupt routines, confidence, and academic stamina, making learning feel hard again.

You’ll learn how to decode common post-break behaviors, re-establish classroom routines with compassion, and support students as they rebuild focus and engagement.

Karen shares practical, trauma-informed strategies for easing students back into learning, strengthening home-school partnerships, and recognizing effort in ways that restore confidence and connection.

This conversation is a reminder that when adults respond with understanding instead of pressure, students feel safer, and learning can begin again.