The Unteachables Podcast
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 leader turned teacher mentor and author of 'It's Never Just About the Behaviour: A Holistic Approach to Classroom Behaviour Management.' I'm on a mission to help educators like you transform your classrooms, build confidence, and feel empowered.
Why am I here? Not too long ago, I was overwhelmed by low-level classroom disruptions and challenging behaviors. After thousands of hours honing my skills in real classrooms and navigating ups and downs, I’ve become a confident, capable teacher ready to reach every student—even those with the most challenging behaviors. My journey inspired me to support teachers like you in mastering effective classroom strategies that promote compassion, confidence, and calm.
On The Unteachables Podcast, we’ll dive into simple, actionable strategies that you can use to handle classroom disruptions, boost student engagement, and create a positive learning environment.
You'll hear from renowned experts such as:
Bobby Morgan of the Liberation Lab
Marie Gentles, behavior expert behind BBC's 'Don't Exclude Me' and author of 'Gentles Guidance'
Robyn Gobbel, author of 'Raising Kids with Big Baffling Behaviours'
Dr. Lori Desautels, assistant professor and published author
And many more behaviour experts and mentors.
Angela Watson from the Truth for Teachers Podcast.
Whether you’re an early career teacher, a seasoned educator, or a teaching assistant navigating classroom challenges, this podcast is here to help you feel happier, empowered, and ready to make an impact with every student.
Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode packed with classroom tips and inspiring conversations that make a real difference!
The Unteachables Podcast
#91: BEHAVIOUR BITE: Let the visuals do the talking to avoid confrontation, change the tone, and increase buy-in!
Do you often find yourself reminding the same students about the same expectations? It’s draining, and it can start to feel personal, leading to unnecessary confrontations.
Here’s a simple shift that can transform this dynamic:
Make it about the visual. NOT about you!
Instead of verbally repeating instructions, point to a visual cue on the wall, like a poster of class expectations or a checklist. This shifts the focus from “you vs. me” to a shared goal that everyone can see.
In this episode, we look at simple visuals—like classroom norms posters, voice level charts, and “Steps for Success” checklists—that can transform your classroom dynamic. With just a quick gesture, you’re reinforcing standards without confrontation, helping students take more responsibility and saving your energy.
Have a question, comment, or just want to say hello? Drop us a text!
Resources and links:
- Take the "What's Your Teacher Type" Quiz
- 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
- Browse all resources on TPT
- Free guide: 'Chats that Create Change'
Connect with me:
- Follow on Instagram @the.unteachables
- Check out my website
Welcome to Behaviour Bites. One quick tip per week that you can put into action immediately to help you crush your classroom management. This is your host, Claire English, and this is your Bite of the Week. Hello, welcome to your Behaviour Bite of the Week. And your Behaviour Bite this week is let the visual do the talking, not you. And this is for you.
Speaker 1:If you feel like you're constantly reminding your students the same students of the same things reminding, re-explaining, repeating instructions or expectations day after day, it can be exhausting, but over time it can start to feel personal, to both you and to the student. And as soon as it feels personal, as soon as students feel like maybe they're being picked on or whatever it might be, you might find yourself being caught in a cycle of confrontation and disconnection that will never get you the results you're hoping for with your classroom management. So here is a simple shift that can make a huge difference when it comes to redirecting behaviors. Depersonalize your requests by using a visual. When you redirect behavior by non-verbally pointing to a visual cue on the wall, like a poster that represents the class expectation or a visual checklist of steps, it takes that you versus me dynamic out of the equation completely Suddenly. It's not about you telling them what to do. It's about reinforcing the external expectation that everyone can see and that everyone follows. And this approach it changes the whole tone. A visual on the wall becomes a shared, neutral, reference point. It's not about one student feeling singled out. It's not about them feeling like they're disappointing you or disrupting the class or being picked on or anything that might get their back up about it. Instead, it's helping them realign with clear, visible expectations that everyone is responsible for following. And this is why it's so powerful. When a request feels less personal, students are more open to receiving it. Think about when you've been given feedback in the past that you're not exactly happy to be receiving. You might get defensive, you might feel called out. So students are less likely to feel defensive, less likely to feel called out personally, because the visual shifts the focus from you're doing this wrong to here's what we're all aiming for, and because visuals work as gentle, non-verbal nudges, you're not draining your energy repeating the reminders and you're helping to build student independence by getting them to reflect and get back on track by themselves. So next time you're about to give that same reminder, try a visual with a quick gesture towards a visual. You're saying this is a standard I know you can meet it and over time, students start to internalize these external cues and that's when you see real growth, more independence, more responsibility and a calmer, more respectful classroom environment for everybody. And if you don't have a visual for it, but you're constantly talking about the same thing, think about creating one.
Speaker 1:Here are some examples of visuals that you can use in your classroom. Well, the first and most obvious one that I always use is literally pointing to the board if they're supposed to be reading something. Another one could be a classroom norm poster. It could be something that says like stay in your seat or raise your hand before speaking, or whatever your classroom norms are. It could be a voice level chart, so you have a representation of the different voice levels expected for different tasks, with a little pointer that says we're at this part of the lesson. It could be a steps for success visual. So you know it serves as like a self-check guide, like steps like get materials, start your work, check your work, or anything like that, to help students get back on track If they're, you know, struggling with certain things.
Speaker 1:It could be a hand signals poster. I know a lot of teachers out there use hand signals to indicate different questions or different requests. It could be a timer up on the board to signify how much time remains for each activity. So if students are struggling and you can see that they're looking at the wall and kind of like looking around and twiddling their thumbs, you could meet their gaze and you could point up to the board where the timer is and that is a non-verbal signal for them to get started. It could be a learning map for the lesson. When you use a learning map, it can be a great way for students to get back on track just by pointing to the part of the lesson or the resource they're using. It could be a what to do if poster, like a you know three before me or whatever you use in that way, something that you know if students finish early or get stuck or need help or whatever works for you. Your context is your context. You know your students. Whatever is going to work for you and your young people. Have a think about what will make your life much easier when it comes to talking to students about their behavior or addressing behavior.
Speaker 1:So your action step for this week is just take note of what expectations and instructions you seem to be constantly needing to repeat. Are there any visual cues you could use to? You know? Communicate that to students instead of having to repeat those constantly. Just take note of that and maybe just start to create one. Teach the students explicitly and start to use it.
Speaker 1:That was this week's behavior bite, one small, quick behavior win to help you make consistent change to run your room confidently and calmly. It's all about controlling what we can control, and this is one of them. I look forward to seeing you next time. This behavior bite was brought to you by the behavior club, my wonderful membership for teachers, where every single month, I'm releasing training around a focus area, quality resources to lighten the load in every sense of the word, a brilliant community that I'm in daily answering questions and giving personalized support, and just so much more. So consider this my personal invite to come on in, take a look around, and I absolutely can't wait to see you there. Help you feel confident, help you feel capable and just crush classroom management. Head to the-unteachablescom forward, slash TBC or find the link in the show notes. Me and my behavior clubbers are popping on a cuppa and pulling up a seat as we speak.
