The Unteachables Podcast

What comes to mind when I say that as teachers we need...

STRONG expectations and FIRM, CONSISTENT boundaries.

Does it sound like:

"You as a student are not going to act a fool in my classroom and go UNCHECKED. You are not going to be rude and disrespectful UNCHECKED. And yes go tell your parent I said it! Standards and boundaries from DAY 1!"

OR does it sound like:

"Welcome, Year 8, Come on in!"

Spoiler alert: It's the latter. 

Because behind the scenes of that sentence, are all of the things that are done to non-verbally reinforce your expectations and boundaries. 

• Your responses
• Your routines
• Your planning
• Your practices
• How you foster connection
• Your modelling
• Your mindset
• Your classroom environment.

Every 👏 single 👏 thing we do is sending messages to our students about what we expect from them.

What do I mean? In this episode of The Unteachables podcast I give you ONE as an example. Your classroom environment.

Listen in as I dig into how our classroom environment could be make or break for our classroom management, how before our students even walk in, we could be mitigating (or fuelling the fire of) challenging behaviours.

Want a free resourced and ready expectations lesson? Leave me a written review, take a screenshot, send it over to me on Instagram @the.unteachables or send it to my email [email protected] and I will send it over as a thank you!

Have a question, comment, or just want to say hello? Drop us a text!

RESOURCES AND MORE SUPPORT:

• Shop all resources
• Join The Behaviour Club
• My book! It’s Never Just About the Behaviour: A holistic approach to classroom behaviour management 
• The Low-Level Behaviour Bootcamp
• Free guide: 'Chats that Create Change'

Connect with me:

• Follow on Instagram @the.unteachables
• Check out my website

Classroom management can, oftentimes, leave teachers grappling with feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt, failure, and powerlessness. 

You might feel walked all over, that you can't do anything about behaviour, that your students simply don't care about what you're teaching. This can be an incredibly disempowering place to be in as a human being, and if this is you at all, if you have ever ever felt like this, any of these things, this teacher pep talk is definitely for you. 

Never forget:
You can not control anybody elses behaviour.
Nobody is a puppet on a string.
You can not make a human being do anything that they don’t want to. No matter how old they are.

What you CAN do, is control your practice, your responses, yourself. Once you know exactly what you CAN control, the teaching, learning, and behaviour game changes.

Have a question, comment, or just want to say hello? Drop us a text!

RESOURCES AND MORE SUPPORT:

• Shop all resources
• Join The Behaviour Club
• My book! It’s Never Just About the Behaviour: A holistic approach to classroom behaviour management 
• The Low-Level Behaviour Bootcamp
• Free guide: 'Chats that Create Change'

Connect with me:

• Follow on Instagram @the.unteachables
• Check out my website

A very special bonus episode coming to you from the That'll Teach 'Em Private Podcast!

On today's episode I answer Michelle's 'question' (well - I respond to her comment).

"This can’t start quick enough - I wouldn’t even call myself a new teacher but I am drowning in behaviour and whenever I reach out for help, and I'm not shy in doing so I’m so keen to learn and improve, my head of department always umms and ahhs, makes excuses, and has never actively observed me, supported me, or really answered any questions around classroom management. I am so happy to be a part of the That'll Teach 'Em community and to finally feel like I’m not alone."

I know this is something that many of you are experiencing, or have experienced. So if this is you, this episode is definitely worth a listen.

Have a question, comment, or just want to say hello? Drop us a text!

RESOURCES AND MORE SUPPORT:

• Shop all resources
• Join The Behaviour Club
• My book! It’s Never Just About the Behaviour: A holistic approach to classroom behaviour management 
• The Low-Level Behaviour Bootcamp
• Free guide: 'Chats that Create Change'

Connect with me:

• Follow on Instagram @the.unteachables
• Check out my website

Watch the full replay here: Turn Your Teaching into a Classroom Management Machine

What does it really take to confidently classroom manage?

A little bit of everything. Yes. Everything!
 
Every single thing we do in our teaching practice works towards effectively and sustainably mitigating and addressing challenging classroom behaviours.

In this replay of the free live webinar, 'Turn Your Teaching into a Classroom Management Machine', I guide you through my tried and true 3-step roadmap to getting on top of challenging behaviours and running your room with confidence, compassion, and calm.

The 2024 intake for That’ll Teach ‘Em is now open! TTE gives you the exact roadmaps and resources you need to adopt a holistic behaviour approach, so you can walk into your classroom feeling confident, calm, and in control. So if you are ready to feel confident reducing, responding to, and resolving challenging classroom behaviours, we can't wait to welcome you in!

Pre-order a copy of my book ‘It’s Never Just About the Behaviour: A holistic approach to classroom behaviour management

Other ways I can support you in your teaching practice:

• Download my free guide: 9 Tiny (But Mighty) Tips to Transform Your Teaching
• Follow me on Instagram for daily micro-professional learning and support
• Connect with me on LinkedIn

So the research shows that punishment doesn’t change behaviour? So then what do we actually do as teachers?

 What’s on the table when other things feel like they are off it?

In today's episode:

• I give you a few ins and outs of the impact of punitive punishment
• Why sometimes it seems to really work
• 3 really tangible takeaways you can immediately apply in your classrooms 

Speaking of research, want to have a read? Here are some good places to start:

Jean-Richard-Dit-Bressel P, Killcross S, McNally GP. Behavioral and neurobiological mechanisms of punishment: implications for psychiatric disorders. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2018;43(8):1639-1650. doi:10.1038/s41386-018-0047-3

Lukowiak T, Bridges J. Punishment strategies: First choice or last resort. JAASEP. 2010:63-72.

A great book that will sum up a bunch of research on punishments and rewards is Alfie Kohn's book Punished by Rewards.

Have a question, comment, or just want to say hello? Drop us a text!

RESOURCES AND MORE SUPPORT:

• Shop all resources
• Join The Behaviour Club
• My book! It’s Never Just About the Behaviour: A holistic approach to classroom behaviour management 
• The Low-Level Behaviour Bootcamp
• Free guide: 'Chats that Create Change'

Connect with me:

• Follow on Instagram @the.unteachables
• Check out my website

It is so easy to get lost in the noise in teaching. ‘Best practices’ are pretty dependant on who you speak to. Some will advocate for a trauma informed approach, some talk about restorative practice like it is the holy grail. Some will call it different names entirely. Some still stand by the use of extrinsic rewards and detentions, there is PBL, PBIS, tiers, intervention after intervention, a million pieces of the big old puzzle that is classroom management.

So what do we do? What is good classroom management, really?

For me, it is the holistic approach that I have adapted over the past 13 years. An approach that effectively reduces, responds to, and resolves, challenging classroom behaviours. An approach that not only supports every student, but empowers every educator. 
 
In this episode of The Unteachables Podcast, I am going through the entire thing. 

Have a question, comment, or just want to say hello? Drop us a text!

RESOURCES AND MORE SUPPORT:

• Shop all resources
• Join The Behaviour Club
• My book! It’s Never Just About the Behaviour: A holistic approach to classroom behaviour management 
• The Low-Level Behaviour Bootcamp
• Free guide: 'Chats that Create Change'

Connect with me:

• Follow on Instagram @the.unteachables
• Check out my website

We are often told to go back to our 'why' as teachers when things get tough.  
My goodness is it important for us to have a strong purpose in a job like teaching, yet it certainly is no classroom management magic bullet.

Why, oh why, is a why not enough?

Because it takes FAR more to have a strong, compassionate, and calm approach to teaching. 

In this episode of The Unteachables Podcast, I take you through my own journey to demonstrate how even with the strongest why, without the proper support and strategy we can be left drowning in classroom behaviours and becoming the teacher we never envisioned being. 

I hope this episode serves as a comfort to new teachers and experienced teachers alike, and is validation that if you are finding classroom management hard, that is because it really is that hard. No matter who you are, and why you chose to be a teacher.

Have a question, comment, or just want to say hello? Drop us a text!

RESOURCES AND MORE SUPPORT:

• Shop all resources
• Join The Behaviour Club
• My book! It’s Never Just About the Behaviour: A holistic approach to classroom behaviour management 
• The Low-Level Behaviour Bootcamp
• Free guide: 'Chats that Create Change'

Connect with me:

• Follow on Instagram @the.unteachables
• Check out my website

On today's podcast episode I interview probably THE most quotable guest I have had on the show.

Bobby Morgan, the founder of The Liberation Lab, is a spearhead for disruptive education practices that break away from the confining norms of high-control teaching. We unravel the threads of deficit ideologies and reimagine a classroom where culturally responsive teaching and social justice aren't just concepts but are interwoven into the fabric of learning.

Right at the very heart of our discussion, we cast a spotlight on the harsh truths behind punitive discipline in schools, advocating for a seismic shift towards nurturing relationships within classroom management. We dissect the unrealistic standards we set for our students, standards that we, as adults, often fail to meet ourselves. Our exchange serves as a mirror, reflecting the essential need for educators to embody the principles they champion, fostering an environment ripe for understanding, compassion, and true behavioural change.

This episode is overflowing with value, as we touch on:

• What is a disruptive educator (and how can we be one)?
• A little about our own roots in education and some  mistakes we have made along the way
• Teacher helplessness
• The 4 types of educators you will come across at every school, and finally (but most importantly:
• A really practical and immediate way you can bring more restorative practice into your classroom to have a positive impact on behaviour.

This is an episode that truly calls for teachers to be the catalysts of growth, nurturing every child's potential through self-awareness and continuous development. I can't wait for you to listen.

Have a question, comment, or just want to say hello? Drop us a text!

RESOURCES AND MORE SUPPORT:

• Shop all resources
• Join The Behaviour Club
• My book! It’s Never Just About the Behaviour: A holistic approach to classroom behaviour management 
• The Low-Level Behaviour Bootcamp
• Free guide: 'Chats that Create Change'

Connect with me:

• Follow on Instagram @the.unteachables
• Check out my website

There are absolutely no absolutes when it comes to behaviour. So when somebody makes a sweeping generalisation that if you do X, Y, and Z you will have very few behavioural issues in your class, they are misleading you, big time. 

In this podcast episode I talk about a very misleading teaching post I stumbled upon on social media. It was divisive. It was shame-inducing. And it went VIRAL! Which means there were a hell of a lot of teachers who saw it, engaged with it, and may have felt like crap because of it.

Listen in as I break it down and smash it apart. 

This is a no-shame space for teachers!!

Have a question, comment, or just want to say hello? Drop us a text!

RESOURCES AND MORE SUPPORT:

• Shop all resources
• Join The Behaviour Club
• My book! It’s Never Just About the Behaviour: A holistic approach to classroom behaviour management 
• The Low-Level Behaviour Bootcamp
• Free guide: 'Chats that Create Change'

Connect with me:

• Follow on Instagram @the.unteachables
• Check out my website

On today’s episode I talk to Jess Steadman who is an experienced Australian primary educator. You might know her as @thesydneyteacher on Instagram where she develops resources for teachers, but I brought her on the podcast today because she recently went on a study tour of Finland! 

Finland routinely tops rankings for education, yet what we know is that there is very little homework, mandatory testing and less time actually spent in a traditional classroom setting. But when Aussie teacher Jess heads into Finnish schools, what were her observations, what was different? And what are some of the things that teachers could bring back and implement into their own islands which could be transformative for their practice, academic outcomes, and the behaviours of the students we teaching. 

Have a question, comment, or just want to say hello? Drop us a text!

RESOURCES AND MORE SUPPORT:

• Shop all resources
• Join The Behaviour Club
• My book! It’s Never Just About the Behaviour: A holistic approach to classroom behaviour management 
• The Low-Level Behaviour Bootcamp
• Free guide: 'Chats that Create Change'

Connect with me:

• Follow on Instagram @the.unteachables
• Check out my website