Chantel Nelson

• What Does It Cost to Belong? How groups shape what we say, what we hide, and when we speak up. • Why Do Smart People Stay Quiet? Psychological safety and the social risks of disagreeing at work. • When Feedback Makes You Want to Try Again. How feedback shapes confidence, belonging, and motivation. • What Makes Students Willing to Be Wrong? How teachers can build classrooms where students take intellectual risks.

Since 2021, I’ve taught high school Math I to eighth graders at Mills Park Middle School in Cary, North Carolina. Beginning teachers are sent to observe my classroom and see how I use questioning and feedback to make student thinking visible. In 2026, all 110 of my Math I students passed the state end-of-course exam, and 107 scored at the two highest levels. I also founded and ran B Natural Music Studio for about a decade. I hold a Master of Arts in Teaching from NC State and am a PhD student in Industrial and Organizational Psychology at Walden University.

I’m drawn to questions people recognize from their own lives. When have you kept an opinion to yourself because you knew what it would cost to say it out loud? What made it easier to speak up somewhere else? I like to start with a question like that, bring in the psychology, and let people test the ideas against their own experiences. My style is direct, conversational, and interactive. I’d love to bring what I’m learning about identity, belonging, and motivation into classrooms where students can use it to make sense of the groups they’re already part of.