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
#99: The holidays aren't fun for everyone, which is why those behaviours might be on the rise!
The festive season can be a fun time for us as teachers, and our students—but not for everyone. While many of us are busy planning celebrations and gifts, some of our students face unique challenges. For them, the holiday season might bring stress, instability, or hardship. In this episode, I offer a compassionate reminder about the reality some of our students face and how we, as educators, can make a difference in their experience.
IN THIS EPISODE, I DISCUSS:
- The reality of the holiday season for some students – why it’s not a joyful time for everyone.
- The impact of the holidays on student behaviour – understanding increased reactivity, withdrawal, and emotional dysregulation.
- Practical steps to support students during this season – strategies for consistency, connection, and fostering felt-safety in your classroom.
The holidays can highlight the disparity in experiences among students, and for some, your classroom might be the only consistent, safe space they know. By recognising this and doubling down on your routines, expectations, and community-building, you can offer them much-needed stability.
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
exhale because you are nearly at the end of the year and this month here on the Unteachables podcast, I have been talking about some of the challenges that the end of the year may bring, but mainly like some really actionable strategies and activities that you can use to overcome those challenges in a strategic and savvy way that just helps everybody get to the finish line with ease, in one piece, without too much frustration. So fingers crossed that you've been able to listen to those episodes and apply some of those strategies. If you're still in that end of year chaos, if things haven't started to wind down for you, please go back and listen to those episodes the gratitude episode and the one about the games because they have some really great things that you can use. As we are end the party One actually lost. Three episodes are great for the end of the year. But listen to those if you're still really struggling and you feel like you definitely haven't wound down yet and the behaviors are really challenging. Today's behavior bite is more of just a reminder.
Speaker 1:The holidays are super exciting for most of us. A lot of our students are going to be talking about what they want to get for Christmas, how they're going to be celebrating like the family things they do, the foods that they love, maybe the trips they're going to go on. For others definitely not. Some students are thriving, even if it doesn't seem like it, in the security and safety of your four classroom walls. For some students, the holidays mean that they won't have a consistent, positive adult figure, maybe not a consistent meal or a place of refuge from fighting, from mental illness or whatever else is going on in their lives that we have no comprehension of, no understanding of. And it's not our fault, but I mean, we're not told a lot of stuff. Some of this stuff is on a need to know basis, especially the really hard stuff for the students that are going through. So with teachers it's kind of like a need to know basis depending on where you teach. So we actually don't know what's going on for them. So as the holidays approach, you might see this big increase in challenging, reactive, defiant or withdrawn behaviors because their fight, flight or freeze response is likely activated far more often. Their window of tolerance is likely much smaller. Their ability to regulate their emotions because of these things is compromised, because they're feeling anxious and there's so much uncertainty around what the holidays will bring for them. I just think about my students in COVID time and you know there was so much concern around their mental health and wellbeing and their physical wellbeing and all of those things. The holidays are like that, just on a smaller scale, because we know that we're going to touch base with them, whether it be in a couple of weeks or, you know, here in the Southern hemisphere we're going into the summer holidays, so it's a little bit longer, but it's a period of time that can be marked with a lot of anxiety and uncertainty for our students.
Speaker 1:So what to do with this bite? Where to take it? First off, it's just important for us to recognize that this might be the case for some of your students, and increasing this awareness is always going to help you remain calm in dealing with some of this stuff. It, you know, it helps their emotional intelligence, it helps with our own regulation when we say don't take it personally. This is the kind of stuff that we talk about. The second is just to keep fostering that felt safety in your class to mitigate some of these challenges and support that student. To regulate this just means doubling down on things that are consistent throughout the year and things you've done all year. So keep your classroom routines and expectations as consistent as possible to help them feel grounded and continue to know what to expect, and do things that foster the relationships in the class that celebrate the community.
Speaker 1:You know, last episode I did speak about the gratitude questions. That's a great way to do it. Then, the week before that, I spoke about the games you can use Again, this's a great way to do it. Then, the week before that, I spoke about the games you can use Again, this is a great way to do it. Anything that helps that student feel connected, feel present and act as a reminder that when they leave the classroom they still have their community there. Like that school community is safety for them, even if they're running out of the room, even if they're telling you to F off, like. What you need to understand is that students will do that stuff, but they still will feel safer at school than the alternative, which is going home.
Speaker 1:So it's something to be mindful of and I'm not saying that in like a blanket way that every single student who exhibits these behaviors feels unsafe at home, or I don't mean to say that. I'm just saying we don't understand what's going on when they leave the school most of the time. So it is really important for us just to be mindful of that when we're winding down the year, because sometimes, just in a nutshell, the holidays aren't great for everybody, and the holidays are pretty crappy for some. Some might be experiencing domestic violence at home. Some might, you know, be living below the poverty line and not know if they're going to have a meal on their table on Christmas day. Some might have a sibling who's incredibly unwell. Some might have, you know, a parent with incredibly difficult mental health challenges. We just don't know what our students are dealing with. So just be mindful of that.
Speaker 1:I'm not saying that you can't do holiday activities. I'm not saying that you can't do the things that are really exciting leading up to the holidays. Students are going to naturally be talking about what they're doing in the holidays anyway. So what I like to do is look within what we can control in that space to make every student feel a little bit more included, a little bit happier, and that is by focusing on the things that I've spoken about, like you know, increasing the amount of gratitude or the games or the classroom celebrations that we can, you know, have like. Can we do some shout outs, can we do some class memories Like what can we do to make it special at the end of the year without relying on the projection into the holidays? That might be really heavy and challenging for some. Okay, that's all for this bite. We are nearly there. So I am sending you solidarity and coffee and sleep and all of the things, and wishing you all the best for the week ahead. I will see you next Tuesday. Bye for now, wonderful teachers.
