The Unteachables Podcast

#147: Why your classroom transitions are chaotic (and how to fix them)

• Claire English • Season 7 • Episode 147

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The messy middle of a lesson can make or break your classroom calm.

You’ve nailed your entry routines. Your exits are solid. But those in-between moments, like shifting from group work to silent writing, that’s where chaos sneaks in.

If transitions have ever left you saying:

“I had them… and then I lost them.”

This one’s for you.

In this episode, I walk you through my three essential “Ps” for smooth transitions, plus five of my favourite practical tools to bring novelty, structure and just the right amount of fun into those mid-lesson wobbles.

Whether your students are bouncing off the walls or just dilly-dallying, you’ll walk away from this one with new tricks (and a taco) up your sleeve.

What you’ll learn:

  • Why group work isn’t the problem — it’s the gap between tasks
  • My 3-part “P” framework to diagnose & fix messy transitions
  • How to boost structure and student buy-in (without nagging!)
  • Easy, repeatable tools for transitions that students actually respond to
  • Fun little things like the “Tardy Taco” and “Fast Track Fajita” that build community while managing chaos

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

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SPEAKER_00:

Oh, hi there, teachers. Welcome to the Unteachables Podcast. I'm your host, Claire English, and I am just a fellow teacher, a toddler mama, and a big old behaviour nerd on a mission to demystify and simplify that little thing called classroom management. The way we've all been taught to manage behaviour and classroom manage has left us playing crowd control, which is not something I subscribe to because we're not bouncers, we're teachers. So listen in as I walk you through the game-changing strategies, and I mean the things that we can actually do in action in our classrooms that will allow you to lean into your beautiful values as a compassionate educator and feel empowered to run your room with a little more calm, and dare I say it, a lot less chaos. I will see you in the episode. Hello and welcome back to the Unteachables Podcast. It is so nice to have you here again. Today I am talking about smooth transitions because I talk a lot about the start of the lesson and the end of the lesson and routines and structures, but I don't think I've done a lot of work with you on like the messy middle and thinking about those times in the lesson where things can really go awry and things can become a little bit challenging. Uh, because for years, like I mean for years, I avoided group work, and of course I did some group work, but and with certain classes I did more group work than others. But I knew that it was valuable, I knew it was important, but I was terrified of the transition periods because I knew I'd lose them. And if I had them settled, if I had them engaged, I actually was like fright, frightened of moving them out of that space and having to then transition them back into individual work. And I just didn't want to do it. I was just tired. I didn't want to do it, I didn't want to have to bother with it. I was, I just was not confident at all in being able to successfully transition students in and out of those different energetic spaces of going from individual work where they're more engaged and settled and don't mean engaged, you know what I mean? Like settled and and working kind of like hyper-focused on like what they're doing. I didn't want to then go to a situation where they were chatting and laughing and then have to come back into that space where they were engaged in their own thing. Uh, I just found it really, really hard and I didn't understand the idea of upregulation, down regulation. I didn't know like strategies in order to like successfully transition them from one to the other. But the group work wasn't the problem. It was just that structure temporarily dissolves within those transitions. And if we're not really clear, if we don't have certain strategies that we can use in that gap, and we if we can't close that gap, it becomes much harder to manage. And that's where behaviors can escalate. And we see those like that increase in low-level behaviors, or we see an increase in you know, students walking in out of the room or not being able to resettle. So closing the gap, being really explicit, um, and making transition something that is just as structured as an entry routine or an exit routine, just as clear, just as predictable. It is doable and it is doable to make them a lot, lot, lot easier. Uh, so I have a few tools that I'd like to share with you, a few, um, a few ideas around transitions. If you are one of my behavior clubbers, by the way, this month's training is all about smooth transitions. So I suggest if you aren't driving or running or doing something where you have to listen to a podcast, I suggest you press pause on this and you go and instead watch the training on smooth transitions. If you're thinking, like, oh my gosh, yes, I really need support with this, my transitions are messy and I find it hard to get their attention back, or I'm constantly waiting for students to settle, and I, you know, like it's just really tough. If you're thinking that and you think that this would be a really great training session for you to work through, I suggest you press pause and you go and instead watch it inside of the club because I also hand over, as well as like going deeper into everything, of course, and giving like tangible examples and being really visual, I also give you some tools, like and and like I don't know, I'll talk about them as we go through. But I I hand over some strategies and some um resources as well. So, but back into the room, back into the podcast, and I will start with what I have created as the criteria for a smooth transition. So if one of these three things is missing, a transition could possibly be messy. If it doesn't have all three and you're having no problems with the transitions, then it possibly is that you've got a class of students who are more compliant, uh, easier to kind of manage. But for student, like for classes that are a little bit tougher, go back to this criteria and see what might be missing and try to tighten something up. So the first crit first, like there are three P's. I feel like everything I do is a P for some reason, but there are three Ps for a smooth transition. The first is prepare. In prepare, students should know what's about to happen and what it should look like. So before the transition begins, really just pre-framing what's about to happen, what success looks like, and how students are going to move into the next space of that lesson. So, for example, all right team, like in a moment, you're gonna be moving from your group discussion to working independently on your reflection questions. One, when I say go, you'll pack up your group notes. Two, head back to your desks. Three, get your reflection sheet out and start question one. I've popped the timer up for 60 seconds and let's go. So that is the first thing preparing. You are clarifying what the goal is, you've given like a bit of a limit with the timer, you've been super clear with the expectations. Students know how to be successful with that transition. The second P is predictability. Predictability is just all about students knowing that they're going to be supported to meet those expectations every single time. It's not about like rigid like sameness in your um routines and your transitions because the strategies that I'm going to talk through are all different. You can do different things, you can get some novelty, you can get some fun happening. Um, like things will be different, but it's like an unspoken kind of non-verbal promise that you are going to always have the tools to succeed. And here is the the here is the tool to succeed. So this is about giving them what they need during that transition that they need to like meet the expectation. So you're shifting from a group discussion to silent writing, you cue the transition up with a visual slide on the board with let's say a countdown timer. But some days you might use a different song, some days you might use a different strategy that I'll be talking through soon. But what this does, it reduces your verbal load because you've been able to provide them with some visuals. It's increasing the felt safety that your students feel in the class so they know that they're going to expect from you what they what you expect from them. And it's really just embedding that consistency. And the third P is pace, like actually giving them a time, like to be able to transition in. So, for example, it could be like a 45-second timer, it could be a song, and when they get to the end of the song, then they have to be sitting down. Just something where they have clarity around okay, when this is done, you need to be sitting down. Because a big mistake I made for many years was going, everybody sitting down, come on, I'm waiting. Like, why aren't we sitting down yet? I'm still waiting. Everybody kind of like move to your desks, stop dilly-daddling. I didn't say that, but you know, so it's it's this just gives it that boundary and that ultimate clarity around, okay, I know what to do, I know I need to be back at this time, gives it that urgency, and students then know what they need to be doing and how long they have to do it. This is particularly good if you feel like your transitions are dragging out with a lot of those verbal corrections, as I said. Like I said, sit down, hurry, please, everybody's sitting. So those three P's of a smooth transition are just a great framework for us to be going, okay, what's missing here? It feels really chaotic. Am I missing a little bit of that preparation? Am I not like prepping them and saying, like, these are the exact steps to take? Am I not like increasing the predictability of the fact that like these are the kinds of things that are in our transition routine? Like I know that there's going to be a slide up on the board, or I know there's going to be music. I'm familiar with these things. And have you got like a timer, some something to pace it out? Are you clear around how much time they have to follow your instructions, or is it dragging out a little bit? So have a think about those things if your transitions feel a little bit messy. But as well as those three criteria for a smooth transition, I also use specific tools and strategies in order to increase a little bit of the novelty, a little bit of the buy-in, or just increase the clarity and predictability and those unspoken expectations that I have during transitions now. I just like to have these up my sleeve for all the time, like just whenever I need them. I will go through a few of these tools, but remember if you're in the behaviour club, please pop in to like watch this because there's some explicit examples along with the resources you need. But I'll just talk through a few of them really quickly. The first thing that I just can't live without is transition slides. I just have a bank of transition slides that I pop up on the boards, like I have them on in one specific um spread spreadsheet, one specific um presentation, and I just go to the slide that corresponds with the transition that I want. So if they are going into group work, I'll have like groups up on there and like what the group roles are, or I'll have specific actions that students need to take in the group, or if we're transitioning back to individual work, I'll have three steps. So I don't have to constantly be reinventing the wheel. I've just got like a series of slides there. I think I've got like 10 or 15 that I can like pull out at the drop of a hat, um, and then I can just project them up, that's done, and students know that when I've got one of those slides up, that that's what they need to be doing. Uh, I have included those slides inside of the club this month. Um, so you can go in, you can edit them, you can use them as is, but they're there to help you with these smooth transitions. What they are, it just replaces your voice during those high pressure, kind of like messy transition moments to make them a hell of a lot smoother. Another strategy that I use that I am absolutely obsessed with are character cards. You know, I love a little bit of like a fun novel way of presenting anything that I do with students, especially when it comes to like classroom management and reinforcing expectations. But character cards are a lighthearted way to bring a little bit of novelty, humor, and accountability to transitions without any nagging or tension. And the novelty of these, it's just such a huge boost for like dopamine-seeking brains, so like the teenage brain in general. Um, but it's just such a great way to reinforce expectations, to, you know, have a smooth transition, but also do so in a way that is not just preserving rapport, but it's also boosting rapport at the same time. And if you can like boost rapport at the same time as you're reinforcing expectations, that is just golden. So the things that I use for my character cards, I use something called the tardy taco. So during a transition, whoever's last to be ready receives the tardy taco card and it travels during the lesson to whoever, like, you know, is last to get back from transitions or like whenever I call out, like, okay, the tardy taco cards up for grabs. And if you're the student left with that tardy taco card at the end of the lesson, then you have to be the last to leave the lesson. And it's just a bit of fun. This is I really, really, really want to reinforce this fact that I would not do this in a class or with students who I did not have a good rapport with or that didn't understand the tardy taco. It is not a punishment. It is just a bit of a laugh. It's just a way to kind of boost the novelty and the fun in transitions. It's a way to kind of foster a really fun community in your lesson, but it's not about a punitive punishment of like, okay, you're staying back after class now. It's just, oh, you got the two's got the tardy taco. Oh, James, you know, like stick back. Oh, no, back to the line, like at the back, at the back. Um, so it's just a bit of fun, right? And then I have the fast track for heater. I know, you don't have to tell me. I'm just such a nerd when it comes to this kind of stuff. But the fast truck for heater, I use it at this in the same way that I use a tardy taco. The far- I don't only do this once, by the way, per lesson. I wouldn't like take the fast truck for heater necessarily off someone. In fact, you could have like three fast track for heaters if you wanted to, and the fast truck for heaters can be whenever you want to hand them out, really. And then those students get to leave the lesson first at the end of the lesson, or something else you decide, something funny. Again, it's not about extrinsic rewards. This is just about boosting community through something that is a bit of fun. And I think it's really important. The way that you deliver these, the way you explain them is going to be very important. Um, so if you don't have that relationship or rapport with your students, if you feel a little bit like uncomfortable building that rapport, like I probably wouldn't use these cards unless you're really confident in being able to play them up in the way that they need to be played up in order to not be punitive or just taken in the wrong way. But I love, love, love doing this. I think it's just a lot of fun and it's a bit of a laugh. Uh, and kids really get into it as well. Oh, you're the Tidy Taco. Ooh, like I just, yeah, it is a bit of fun. Um, so you can make your own if you want. Please don't steal my idea of the Tidy Taco and the Fast Truck for Heater, but you can create your own characters if you want. Um, and if you're in the Behaviour Club, of course, those cards, the Tidy Taco and the Fast Track for Heater, are there for you. Um, I'm not sure if I'm going to be popping them up for like to buy anywhere, but um, watch this space. If I do decide to pop them up, like I don't offer all of the resources in the behaviour club. I don't actually have for sale. I usually just create them for my behavior clubbers. Um I put them up when people ask for them, but I will pop the link in the show notes if I do decide to make them available to the general public. Okay, so that is tool number two. Tool number three that I use is a bit more serious, and it's group selection slips. They are just printable slips that make group work feel really fair, fast, and functional. They just remove some of the barriers to group transitions, which is like what am I supposed to be doing? Um, I like to just give slips to each group, and I have a list of group roles like manager, timekeeper, recorder, speaker. And then when students get into their groups, they choose someone, they like designate someone to be in those roles. That's where I also have my um my slide up with the group roles up there just to say like who does what, and you can change these roles up, you can make them more specific to your particular context. But I love this because it gives everybody a purpose in that group. What I don't like happening when I'm transitioning into groups is some students sitting there on their phones or looking at the floor or looking at the wall, and other students being really involved in that activity. So this helps to combat that and get everybody involved. So that's another transition tool that I use. The next one is something I call sneaky typos, and it's like a little game where I type instructions live on the board instead of talking. So I might say, like I'll pull up a um Word document, I'll project that onto the board, and I'll just start typing. I'll say, okay, everybody packing up back to your desks. Well done. And I'll count down like nine and then I'll delete the nine, eight, I'll delete the eight, so I'll count down. What I do is I embeds a deliberate mistake, and if somebody catches that mistake every time I do it, then I'll give them the card. I'll give them the fast track for heater card. However, you don't always have to do sneaky typos. I love doing the typing instructions on the board because students are naturally um curious about what is going to be said next. I might pop something like funny up as they read, I might pop something silly up or personal up or just something that will grab their attention. And then I always do the countdown. So like 10 and then students are watching up, nine, and then they watch, and then by the time it gets to zero, then I'd expect all of them to be in their seats. But this one was an absolute miracle for me when I was pregnant because I could just sit at my desk, like feeling really, really bad. And not I couldn't walk by the end of my pregnancy, but I was sitting at the desk and I would just type and like I wouldn't have to use my voice, and I was bloody exhausted. I couldn't stand up for too long. I was aching all over, and this transition strategy was like a miracle for me during that time. So definitely give it a go. It is such a great strategy for easy, smooth transitions. Um, I'm gonna just share one more. I'm just scrolling through my strategies. I'm gonna just share my playlist one. So I've shared this before that at the start of the school year, one of the ways that I build community is I get students to um suggest one track for a class playlist and I add that playlist to a Spotify playlist, and then I use that throughout the year for different reasons. I might use it for like on a Friday when we're working, I might choose one song as they're entering the room, but for transitions, I will choose just say one per week and I'll do the same song every day that week, or I'll do the same song every day. And when they hear the last part of that song come on, then they have until the end of that song to be sitting down and be listening and be like following instructions for the next part of the transition. Um, what I love about this is it adds so much novelty, it builds rapport, and it really like anchors those transitions in something that is based in community. What I also love doing is adding a little bit of novelty by just saying, okay, if you can guess, so if you get back to your desk, you have a post note on your desk, if you can write the name of the person whose track this is first and guess it correctly, then you get the fast track for heater, or you get whatever, or you just get like bragging rights. Again, it's just increasing the novelty, it's helping you to get students transitioning from one place to the next without having to nag or create like a, you know, like pushing it uphill. You don't want to be constantly feeling like everything's a drag or everything is difficult. The path of least resistance is just my motto in teaching. It's like, let's do what we can do in the easiest way possible with the most buying as possible, so students just actually want to do the thing rather than feeling like I'm constantly having to force them to do the thing. So lean into those uh transition strategies. Let me know how they go if you do give them a go. And yeah, just keep the magic happening in your classroom. I hope that it was super helpful, especially because we are in November and things might be getting a little bit more tricky every single day. So I'm sending you all my love and I hope you have a brilliant week. I shall see you back on the podcast next week. Bye for now.

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Claire English

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