The Middle School Mary Poppins Podcast
🍎 Apple is currently fixing a glitch affecting ratings/reviews. If yours doesn’t show yet, it’s coming!
Spotify: 3000 5 Star Rating: ⭐️⭐⭐⭐⭐🔥A+
Practical magic for real middle school life. Regulate. Connect. Thrive. 💜
New here? Start with “Ridiculous Joy: It’s a Beautiful Life.”
It captures the heart of the show—helping middle schoolers (and the adults who love them) navigate emotions, pressure, and growing up with warmth, humor, and honesty.
Middle School Mary Poppins™ is for the kids who don’t fit the mold—and the adults who care about them. Maybe even still are.
What if middle school wasn’t something to survive… but something to unlock?
Welcome to a smart, playful, research-informed podcast reimagining the most misunderstood years of human development.
Think a little everyday magic meets emotional intelligence—
with a dash of 80s–90s nostalgia, a spark of divergent thinking, and a whole lot of heart.
☂️ Hey y’all! I’m Suzanne M. Swain—veteran middle school teacher, child therapist, educational sociologist, and proud advocate for kids who think differently here in the hills of Tennessee.
I’ve spent over two decades teaching & training inside of classrooms, counseling offices, and school systems watching one truth play out again and again:
Everything important starts in the middle.
Middle school is where identity forms, emotions intensify, creativity explodes—and where far too many kids are misunderstood, mislabeled, or managed instead of taught.
This podcast exists to change that.
Each episode blends real classroom stories, clinical insight, and pop-culture joy to explore how creativity, emotional regulation, neurodiversity, and mental health intersect during the tween and teen years.
We talk autism, ADHD, anxiety, executive functioning, and emotional overload—not as deficits, but as signals of untapped potential.
🎮 Expect:
• Gamified thinking, imaginative worlds, and creative metaphors kids actually remember
• Practical strategies for parents and educators supporting divergent learners
• Honest conversations about post-pandemic brains, emotional overload, and school culture
• Humor, warmth, and a retro remix that makes learning feel human again
At its core, Middle School Mary Poppins™ is about flipping the script.
What if the traits we’re trying to suppress are actually superpowers in disguise?
What if arts-based education and emotional literacy were foundational, not optional?
What if preventing school violence, burnout, and disconnection really does begin here?
I’m here to prove it does.
So grab your metaphorical quarters, hop in the arcade, and join us on a multiverse ride through the messy, magical middle years.
We’re the Goonies at heart. Now we have kiddos. Time for adventure!
🎧 It’s time for a retro remix of middle school.
Ready, player one?
If this show helps your family or classroom, you can support it at msmarypoppins.com → Support the Show
Hosted by Suzanne M. Swain, EdS, LMSW. Email Steve or Suz: suzanneswain@gmail.com
The Middle School Mary Poppins Podcast
S2 EP 1 - Test Anxiety: This One's For the Children
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Welcome back, clever little foxes! Season 2 of The Middle School Mary Poppins Podcast is officially here, and Suzanne M. Swain—your go-to guide for all things educational, emotional, and real—is kicking things off with a deep dive into test anxiety. This episode is packed with practical tips, thoughtful encouragement, and just the right amount of sass to help students (and their grown-ups) face testing season with confidence.
Suzanne reflects on a whirlwind school year filled with everything from pre-K energy to fourth-grade insights, sharing what she's learned from her students and how we can all rethink the way we support mental health in schools. She introduces her shaggy sidekick, Lieutenant Steve, and previews the bite-sized, real-life topics coming this season—from neurodivergence to emotional intelligence to COVID kids.
Whether you're a parent, a teacher, or just someone who wants to understand how to better support the kiddos in your life, this season is all about doing the work together. So let’s boom, bounce, and breathe our way into a season full of learning, growing, and maybe even a little magic.
Contact Suzanne Swain:
Email: suzanneswain@gmail.com
Facebook: Suzanne Swain
Produced By: StellaMix Podcast Production
Send Suzanne a Question or Comment:
If this episode helped your family or your classroom, you can support the work behind Middle School Mary Poppins by visiting msmarypoppins.com and clicking Support the Show.
Your support helps keep the podcast free, research-based, and focused on emotional health for kids—especially neurodivergent tweens and teens.
Thank you for being part of this community. 💛
