The Unteachables Podcast

By Claire EnglishEducation How To Courses

The Unteachables Podcast episodes

January 30, 2024#48: Should we be ‘letting things slide’ as teachers? Or should we be holding students accountable for every little challenging behaviour?
Classroom management is nothing if not confusing. One of the things I have been told along the way is that we need to be picking our battles with behaviour. Another thing I have ALSO been told along the way is that we shouldn't be letting things slide. I have also given both of these pieces of advice at different times in my career.

So what do we do? Where do I stand?

Well the reality is that it is far more complicated than this.

Are you surprised?

As I always say, classroom management is incredibly nuanced, and there’s very rarely a black and white answer. However, in today’s episode, I do aim to provide you with a bit of clarity on what it means to balance rapport with addressing challenging behaviours.
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
23 min
January 23, 2024#47: How teachers are set up to fail, what SHOULD be included in teacher training, and what a trauma-informed approach looks like in action. A discussion with Em Gentle, founder of The Grad Guide
Today I am joined on the podcast with Em Gentle, a graduate teacher mentor, fellow edu-podcaster, and founder of the grad guide where she supports new teachers adopt a trauma informed approach to teaching.

In today’s episode we go on all the rants including:
What teachers should be taught in teacher preparation programs before entering the profession
Our 'inherited' classroom management and teacher guilt around it
What a trauma informed approach looks like in action
What we see new teachers struggle with the most (self-doubt, overwhelm, a lack of behaviour support) and
What things we would recommend for new teachers to know and do with their classroom management and teaching and learning.
Although new teachers are definitely the focus for this episode, it is just as valuable for all teachers.

After all, it is simply about great teaching.

Find more of Em's work on instagram: @thegradguide_

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
52 min
January 16, 2024#46: What it really takes to change behaviour with the hardest to teach (and why it can take so damn long)!
Today on the podcast we will be talking about working with the students who are the hardest to teach, and the hardest to reach.

The students who you are told to try to build the relationship with, but they resist it and throw it back in your face.

The students who need a hell of a lot of support, and let’s face it probably need a placement that is more therapeutic, but are still working with you in your classrooms.

I take you through a metaphor for understanding what it truly takes to shift behaviour in these students, but why it also takes so so long.

We discuss:
What a disorganised attachment is how it manifests in challenging behaviours
What neuroplasticity is and how it works
How the practices we use in our classroom change behaviour little by little
Why we need to show ourselves grace and compassion, and why you're having more of an impact than you think

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
26 min
January 09, 2024#45: Are you classroom managing like a fist, or a palm? A game-changing metaphor that will shape the way you approach behaviour in the heat of the moment
In today’s episode, I am going to be giving you a visual metaphor to approaching challenging classroom behaviour that can be a game changer.

This is something that I was taught way back in my first year of teaching and it has stuck with me ever since. It is one of the things that started to really build my own classroom management approach to what it is today.

I use it in my own classroom, I discuss this over the table with my own staff, I have presented this to different schools, I embed it in my online courses, and today, I will be sharing it with you.

As the first episode of 2024, I will also be giving you a bit of an overview of all of the exciting things happening here at The Unteachables Academy, including the release of my first ever book!

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
24 min
December 19, 2023#44: The one thing you need to do during the holidays to improve your classroom management in 2024.
I spent the first 5 years of my career feeling like I needed to be ‘all over’ every single facet of the lesson to contain and reduce challenging behaviours. This meant working through almost every weekend and break that I had.

Yes, it helped my classroom management! I was able to create lessons that were well-resourced, pitched right, scaffolded brilliantly so students could access them, relevant… all of the things that support us in mitigating some of the challenging behaviours that we may see.

What I didn’t release at the time was I was taking two steps forward and three steps back. I wasn’t resting, I wasn’t filling my cup, I wasn’t investing in myself, and I was BURNT OUT. Worse yet, I was on the brink of full-blown compassion fatigue after spending years absorbing the traumas of the young people I worked with.

This meant I was missing the biggest piece of the classroom management puzzle.

Ensuring I was okay, that I was regulated, that I had the capacity to co-regulate, stay calm, and influence the energy in the room. As cliched as it sounds, I wasn’t putting my own oxygen mask on before fitting it onto those around me.

So as we head into the holidays, this episode is a big reminder that resting is the most important thing that you can do, because the efficacy of your teacher self, is reliant on the health and wellbeing of your real life self. If this sounds like something you need a little bit of a reminder around, or you struggle to set boundaries, then this is the episode for you.

This is the last episode of The Unteachables Podcast for 2023 - I will be back Tuesday 8th January! I can’t wait to continue to support you in 2024.
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
18 min
December 12, 2023#43: 2023: The year I became a mother, a wife, and an author. Reflections, regrets, and lessons learnt.
2023 has been one of the biggest, and most transformational times in my life. Both professionally, and personally.

It has been a year where too many dreams decided to show up at once (I understand how much of an oxymoron that is).
So I just had to lean into the beautiful chaos of it all and MAKE it work.

I had a baby.
I wrote a book.
I ran my business.
I got married.
I was a senior leader.
And allll of the things that go along with every single one of the above.
In this episode, I reflect on the year that was and go through how I navigated all of it (and came out the other end in relatively one piece).
Thank you for listening in to The Unteachables Podcast this year, it’s been amazing to have you along for the ride!

Claire
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
26 min
December 05, 2023#42: Want to do some laid-back learning at the end of the year, and STILL maintain a calm and controlled environment? This is what you need to know.
As the year draws to a close, things start to get increasingly challenging.

You have your head teacher telling you that you need to keep learning until the last minute, even though you KNOW your students are checked out (and let’s be honest, we’re teetering on that edge too).

Your students are becoming more and more unsettled. The energy shifts. The disruptions, and the general volume, within the class, increase.

Yep, that countdown starts to drag, and drag, the closer we get. We feel like we should be on the wind down to the silly season but the expectations on us get higher whilst it feels like it gets lower for the students.

This episode is all about WHY these challenges emerge at this time of year (because there are multiple culprits at play), and what we can actually DO to keep some semblance of control over our classroom spaces.

It’s all about being able to inject some much needed fun into the end of year whilst still maintaining a sense of calm amongst the excitement.

In this episode I discuss how to set the stage for more laid-back learning, and explore a structured start to keep your students engaged. It’s all about thriving in the lead up to the holidays, not simply surviving!
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
21 min
November 26, 2023#41: What Is the Conscious Competence Ladder, and Why You Need to Know About It for Learning, Behavior, and Your Own Professional Development.
One of the things that used to really grind my gears as a teacher was when I was trying to teach a new skill to students, whether it be an analytical response or a piece of creative writing, and they would say something like the following:

“I know how to do this already”
“This is baby work, I did it in Year 3”,

Or the worst one…

“Why do I have to learn English, I already speak the language!!”

Of course as a teacher I COULD spend a chunk of the lesson explaining until I am blue in the face about how there is a progression of skills, how English as a subject permeates everything we do, how the writing they did in Year 3 is not the writing I am expecting of them.

And I did. Often.

Now? I understand that all of us, human beings in general, simply don’t know, what we don’t know!!

So what do I do instead?

I teach them about the conscious competence ladder (not necessarily using that lingo).

Listen in to this week’s podcast as I go over what the Conscious Competence Ladder is, and why it is such a valuable theory to support us in teaching our students, and applying in our own practice.
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
18 min
November 21, 2023#40: Want a Calm Lesson? You Need a Calm Start! The 3 Proactive Classroom Management Strategies Every Teacher Should Know!
The first 5 minutes of a lesson can absolutely be make or break for behaviour.

What you do in this time and how you prepare for it can be the deciding factor between a productive, calm, controlled space where students can learn, and a lesson that very quickly continues to descend into chaos.

So how to make sure those first 5 minutes are absolutely on point with what is needed to ensure the best success for you and your students?

The 3 Es.

Listen in as I talk through what these 3 Es are and how you can use them to really get on top, and stay on top, of behaviours throughout the lesson. Best part, they work on a proactive level, mitigating challenges before they arise and saving you a hell of a lot of time on addressing low-level disruptions.

If you want to read through this or share it with your team, you can access a copy via my blog right here!

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
26 min
November 14, 2023#39: Four Steps to Better Parent-Teacher Relationships: Tackling those Tough Conversations
Ever wondered how you, as an educator, can foster and nurture a positive and productive relationship with the parents of your more challenging students? This episode guides you through the hurdle-filled journey of positively engaging with parents, even when resistance or blame are at play.

This podcast episode dives into four actionable steps that will help shift the overall sentiment of your parent interactions. I share effective strategies for getting off on the right foot, making those difficult calls, and mastering the all-important art of balancing tough conversations with positive ones.

By the end, you'll be equipped with the skills to handle these interactions more confidently, changing the dynamics of your communications with parents.
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
23 min

About The Unteachables Podcast

From the publisher's feed

Welcome to 'The Unteachables Podcast', your go-to resource for practical classroom management strategies and teacher support. I’m your host, Claire English, a passionate secondary teacher and…