Keynote speaker, consultant, and professional learning specialist helping educators understand challenging behavior through a lens of belief, connection, and support.
About Sam P.
Sam Parmerlee is the educator behind @TheEDQueen, where she shares practical strategies, mindset shifts, and supports for working with students who display challenging behavior. She currently serves as an Assistant Director of Special Education and has previously worked as a district behavioral consultant supporting more than 10,000 students across Indiana. Before that, Sam taught in a self-contained special education classroom for students with behavioral disorders. Her passion lies in helping educators reframe the way they view behavior, with a focus on brain-based regulation, social-emotional learning, and building strong collaboration with teachers and administrators.
Professional Presentations & Training
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'Your Brain on Behavior', Keynote Speaker, Seeds of Hope Utah Education Association 2026
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'Redirecting the Undirectable', Breakout Session, Seeds of Hope Utah Education Association 2026
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'Your Brain on Behavior' Keynote Speaker, Indiana State Teachers Association Good Teaching Conference, 2025
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'Redirecting the Undirectable', Breakout Session, Indiana State Teachers Association Good Teaching Conference 2025
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‘Your Brain on Behavior’, Ultimate Sped Summit, 2025
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‘Benefits of a Collaborative FBA Process,’ Indiana Behavioral Consultants Group, 2025
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‘How to be a Supportive Administrator in Navigating Difficult Student Behavior’, Whole Child Summit, 2025
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‘Behavior Bits Webinar: Power Struggles’, 2024
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‘Mindset Shift for Behaviors’, The Intentional IEP, 2024
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‘That Family Again? How to Thrive not just Survive in Difficult Case Conferences’, ISTA, 2024
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‘Beyond the Coffee Cart,’ Indiana Counsel for Administrators of Special Education, 2023
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‘Bus Behavior for Students with Autism,’ Indiana Resource Center for Autism (IRCA), 2023
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‘Humanizing Students with Behavioral Challenges and Addressing Unmet Needs’, School Struggles Summit, 2022
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‘Trauma Informed Behavioral Strategies’ Ball State University, 2022
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‘Boundaries, Behavior and Balance: Creating Healthy Boundaries Around Challenging Student Behavior’, Educators2Educators, 2021
Publications
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‘De-escalating the Brain Not the Behavior,’ Edutopia, 2024
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'Facilitating Solutions-Oriented Meetings About Student Behavior', Edutopia 2026