In this episode, I talk about the revelation that completely changed my approach to supporting children's behaviour.

In this episode you will learn:

• What exactly are belief systems, and how they influence your interactions
• The impact of understanding and changing belief systems on supporting children’s behaviour
• Why doing the deeper work, beyond surface level strategies is the key factor for lasting change in educators
• How to change your deep seated beliefs to improve your ability to support children effectively
• Why is it important to work on yourself for lasting personal and professional growth

Resources Mentioned:

• If you resonate with this episode, check out my course HERE, The EMotionally Intelligent Educator, available in self-paced study, group coaching, or VIP 1:1 sessions. We start next week so REGISTER now!

Connect with Em

• Website: emmagentle.com.au
• Instagram: @em_gentle
• LinkedIn

TW: This episode discusses childhood trauma, and abuse.

In this episode, I get the absolute privilege of talking with Beck Thompson. She is absolutely amazing, sharing her journey of resilience, transformation, and empowerment. As a teacher, author, and speaker, she brings a unique perspective shaped by her lived experience of trauma and abuse.

We discuss how transformative compassionate teaching can be and the impact educators can have on their students, often without even realising it.

This episode is not to highlight the difficulties that some of your students will go through, but how impactful you can be as an adult in their life, without even realising it. It’s to help you understand what it’s like in the classroom for a child with trauma and how important teachers really are.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

• How understanding trauma can help you support your students more effectively
• Why it is absolutely ok to prioritise compassion and safety before the curriculum
• How recognising and nurturing a child's strengths can make the world of difference and transform their educational experience
• Why small conversations and interactions can have a lasting impact on students' lives. It’s the micro-moments that make all the difference
• How the brain processes trauma and it affects what you are seeing in a student's behaviour.
• Why perceived and felt safety is the number one thing that needs to be prioritised for children to learn
• Why adults are so important in the development of resilience in a person's life.

It’s about giving educators permission to focus on creating a safe, supportive environment where every child feels seen, heard and valued.

There is so much more I could add to this list.

This is for you. To recognise and truly understand the impact you, as a teacher, has on a child in your classroom. Make sure you listen in, because this may open up a perspective and change the way you support your students, in the most simple but effective way.

Connect with Beck Thompson:

• Trauma Informed Teachers Page Facebook - Join her community here.
• Facebook: BECK Thompson - Author, Chasing Normal.
• Website: beckthompson.com.au
• Instagram: @beckthompson_teachersmatter
• Book

Connect with Em

• Website: Emma Gentle
• Instagram: @em_gentle
• LinkedIn

In this episode, I’m talking about emotional coaching in education and how it can change how children behave and engage in your classroom. 

Here’s what you’ll learn:

• How emotion coaching can change your classroom environment
• What it looks like to be emotionally attuned to your students.
• How to balance emotional support with setting necessary boundaries.
• The five steps of emotion coaching and how it can lead to happier, more focused students.
• Why it’s important to validate and role model emotions in the classroom.

If you're looking to improve how you support classroom emotions and behaviours, without rewards and punishments, take a listen! 

Resources Mentioned:

• I’m hosting a FREE masterclass. If you're a teacher or a parent, I have a masterclass coming called - Supporting children's behaviour without rewards and punishments. Here’s the link to register!
• If you’re a parent, teacher, or leader and want to learn more about your emotional intelligence, how to support your children or your students in the classroom with their emotions, and how to really understand why you react the way you do, then this course is for you. Join the waitlist here! (The waitlist is the only way to get access to $100 off when the course is ready for you!)

Connect with Em

• Website: emmagentle.com.au
• Instagram: @em_gentle
• LinkedIn

In this episode, I talk about why it's difficult for teachers and parents to sit with children's emotions. I also discuss how self regulation and understanding our beliefs about emotions, influence how we react to children when they express big emotions.  

Here's what you'll learn:

• Why your own childhood experiences can make it difficult to handle your children's emotions
• How understanding your reactions can help you co-regulate effectively with children.
• How to become more comfortable with the full range of emotions
• The benefits of embracing, rather than suppressing difficult emotions, in educational and parenting. 

If you've ever found yourself struggling to maintain composure or felt overwhelmed by a child's emotional expression, this episode is for you.

Resources Mentioned:

• I’m hosting a FREE masterclass on 28th August called Supporting Children's Behaviour without Rewards and Punishments. Here’s the link to register! 
• Join the waitlist here for my Emotional Intelligence course starting in September. (The waitlist is the only way to get access to $100 off when doors open!)

Connect with Em

• Website: www.emmagentle.com.au
• Instagram: @em_gentle
• LinkedIn

In this episode, I redefine what it means to be ‘regulated’. I talk about the misconception that staying calm is the goal of regulation. When children are having big feelings, big emotions, big behaviours in the classroom, our job is not always to stay calm.

True regulation is about connection and not just appearing cool, calm and collected. Children KNOW when we aren’t being authentic.

What you'll learn: 

• Why connection is more important than staying calm when it comes to supporting children and big emotions.
• How understanding the real goal of regulation can change the way you handle big emotions
• What you can do to genuinely connect with your emotions during challenging moments with children
• Why it’s important to embrace and process your emotions rather than suppressing them
• How recognising what activates you can improve your ability to support children effectively
• What practical steps you can take to ensure you're genuinely present and supportive, rather than just appearing calm

Emotional regulation is so important for effective teaching, parenting, and leading.  Learn how to connect with your emotions and those of children so that you can support the little people in your life.

Resources Mentioned:

• If you’re a parent, teacher, or leader and want to learn more about your emotional intelligence, how to support your children or your students in the classroom with their emotions, and how to really understand why you react the way you do, then this course is for you. Join the waitlist here! (The waitlist is the only way to get access to $100 off when the course is ready for you!)
• If you want more 1:1 personalised support - check out my coaching sessions HERE

Connect with Em

• Website: emmagentle.com.au
• Instagram: @em_gentle
• LinkedIn

Welcome to EMpowered. The podcast for creating a new generation of emotionally intelligent humans.

In this episode, I am sharing my story into emotional intelligence and why I have rebranded from The Grad Guide to Emma Gentle.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

• How my business started
• Why mentorship and coaching have been so important for me in the last three years and why I wanted to become a coach.
• How I went from teacher, to assistant principal to entrepreneur.
• Why being uncomfortable in experiences really creates growth and personal development.
• How emotional intelligence (EQ) is so important in supporting children
• Why learning about emotions on a deeper level is the best investment you can make for yourself as a parent, leader, coach and teacher.

If you want some help learning how to support children's emotions I have a framework for you, you can FIND IT HERE

If you'd like to join the WAITLIST for my emotional intelligence course and receive $100 off when it launches, CLICK HERE 

Connect with Em

• Website: emmagentle.com.au
• Instagram: @em_gentle
• LinkedIn

In this episode, I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with Maggie Dent.

She shares her extensive experience and the need for a shift in how we approach teaching and parenting. We explore the importance of creating safe, nurturing environments in schools, understanding the unique needs of all children, especially in their early years, and how this can dramatically improve both learning outcomes and teacher satisfaction.

It is such a passionate conversation and one that I really enjoyed having!

Here’s what you are in for:

• The importance of meeting the needs of everyone in the classroom.
• The power of a flexible and engaging classroom environment.
• The six things you need to become an exceptional educator.
• How bias and assumptions can influence student performance
• Effective strategies and communication techniques for managing classroom behaviour.
• The critical role of relationships, connection, and play in education.
• Specific strategies to help boys thrive in the school environment.
• The importance of setting non-negotiable boundaries for your wellbeing.

This conversation is jam-packed and will no doubt empower you to reflect on how you teach, understand and support the children in your life.

Whether you're an educator or a parent, this episode is for you.

Resources Mentioned:Teachers Help on Maggie’s Website

Connect with Maggie

• Website: maggiedent.com
• Instagram: @maggiedentauthor

Connect with Em

• Website: thegradguide.com.au
• Instagram: @em_gentle
• LinkedIn

In this episode, I am talking about something I am so passionate about - emotional intelligence in education.

Emotional intelligence is often the overlooked cornerstone that can transform both teaching methods and student engagement.

But it’s not given the attention it deserves within our curriculum for preparing educators.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

• The impact of emotional intelligence on preventing teacher burnout, improving student relationships and workplace culture.
• Techniques for building emotional resilience and self-regulation.
• Strategies for developing self-awareness and understanding personal triggers in educational settings.

Educators with emotional intelligence are less prone to burnout, better at handling classroom challenges, and more effective at building a nurturing educational environment.

Want the full masterclass replay? DM me on Instagram and I will send it through to you.

Connect with Em

• Website: thegradguide.com.au
• Instagram: @em_gentle
• LinkedIn

In this episode, I sit down with Gen Muir, the founder of Connected Parenting. She shares her journey into connected parenting and discusses how her personal experiences as a social worker and mother of four boys led her to this approach.

This episode dives into the importance of connection over compliance, how to set and hold boundaries with kindness, and the role of emotional intelligence in parenting and teaching. We also touch on supporting neurodivergent children and the significance of understanding sensory needs and natural consequences.

Here’s what you’re in for:

• The foundational role of connection in parenting and teaching.
• Practical examples of connecting with children to address behaviour.
• The balance between kindness and firmness in discipline.
• Strategies for setting boundaries that children understand and respect.
• The concept of natural consequences versus punitive measures.
• The impact of mislabeling behaviours and the importance of an empathetic approach.
• The benefits of a non-punitive approach for neurodivergent children.
• The role of self-awareness and regulation for effective parenting and teaching.
• The importance of modelling emotional intelligence for children.
• Strategies for teachers to manage stress and connect with students.

If you have little people in your life, in any capacity, you will get so much out of this one. I cannot WAIT to hear what you think. Send me a DM on Instagram and let me know how this one landed for you.

Until next time, legends.

Resources & Other Amazing People Mentioned

• Lael Stone: Aware Parenting: @laelstone
• Maggie Dent: @maggiedentuthor
• Podcast Episode: Secure Attachments & Student Wellbeing with Dr Billy Garvey
• Mona Delahooke: @monadelahooke

Connect with Gen:

• Instagram: @connectedparentingau
• Website: connectedparenting.com.au
• Check out her book: Little People, Big Feelings.

Connect with Em

• Website: thegradguide.com.au
• Instagram: @em_gentle
• LinkedIn

Today, I'm diving into mastering your teaching style and why adopting an authoritative approach is my go-to recommendation. This is a replay of my most recent masterclass for new teachers.  

This episode is perfect for you if you're trying to balance developing positive relationships with students and effective boundary setting in your classroom.

In this episode, you’ll will learn

• The different teaching styles, their advantages, and drawbacks, and why the authoritative approach could be the most beneficial for you.
• What some common myths about teaching styles and how to implement an authoritative approach in your classroom.
• How to hold space for student feelings while maintaining clear boundaries and expectations to create a respectful and supportive classroom environment.

I share my journey from a teacher's aide to an assistant principal, and why I started my business to support the development of emotionally intelligent educators.

Resources Mentioned:

• TGM - The Grade Guide Membership. If doors are closed, and this is something that interests you, DM me on Instagram. This is the last time TGM will be offered as a coaching mentorship and I want to make sure that you have the support you need in your teaching career.

Connect with Em

• Website: thegradguide.com.au
• Instagram: @em_gentle
• LinkedIn