#162: How to Turn Your Teaching Into a Classroom Management Machine

What if the reason classroom management feels so bloody hard… is because you were never actually taught how to do it in a way that works and aligns with your values?

In this episode, I’m giving you a front seat to a live training I recently ran called Turn Your Teaching into a Classroom Management Machine — and honestly, it was too good not to bring onto the podcast.

If classroom management has ever left you feeling reactive, frazzled, hopeless, or like you’re stuck playing whack-a-mole with behaviours all lesson long… this one is for you. I’m walking you through the exact framework I use to help teachers stop focusing on what they can’t control and start leading with calm, clarity, and confidence around what they can.

I also share a really personal story from my first years in the classroom — including the student who completely changed the trajectory of my teaching life and became one of the biggest catalysts for the work I do today.

Inside this episode, we dig into what doesn’t work when it comes to behaviour, why punitive approaches leave us disconnected and disempowered, and what to do instead. I break down my Confident Classroom Pathway and give you practical, tiny-but-mighty shifts you can start using straight away.

So if you’ve ever thought:

• Why does this still feel so hard?
• How do I manage behaviour without turning into someone I’m not?
• What do I actually do in the moment when behaviour shows up?

…then let’s roll the tape.

What you’ll learn

• Why punitive, inherited classroom management keeps teachers stuck in reactive mode
• The real goal of classroom management (hint: it’s not controlling behaviour)
• How to focus on what you can control to reduce, de-escalate, and resolve behaviour
• The 4-part Confident Classroom Pathway: Ready, Reduce, Respond, Resolve
• Why understanding behaviour is empowering — even when it doesn’t excuse it
• The role your teaching presence plays in either calming or escalating a room
• How nonverbal mixed messages might be undermining your classroom management
• One simple question to ask yourself mid-lesson: Am I modelling what I want from my students?
• The difference between being the palm and being the fist when responding to behaviour
• A more effective way to address behaviour privately without locking horns
• Why restorative practice only works when it fits into a bigger classroom management machine
• How to stop lecturing students in behaviour conversations and start leading them instead
• The tiny language shifts that help students reflect, take accountability, and repair harm

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

Transcript

Welcome And Why Management Feels Broken

SPEAKER_01 0:01

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 guns that we're teachers. So listen in as I walk you through the game-changing strategies and I've seen the things that we can actually do in action in our classroom 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, lovely teachers, and welcome back to another episode of the Unteachables Podcast. And today I have decided to do something a little bit different. On the weekend, I ran my free live webinar, Turn Your Teaching into a Classroom Management Machine. If you were there, shout out to you. Thank you for joining me for that. If you weren't there, I decided that I would bring the recording of that, the audio recording, onto the podcast. This just gives you an opportunity to listen to the session because it really was incredible. So many amazing takeaways that you can bring into your week. So I know that it's going to be beneficial. And I mean, I'm a podcast girly. Like I rarely would sit there and watch something for a long period of time, but I will listen to podcasts like for hours. I will listen to podcasts as I'm cleaning, driving, like getting ready in the morning. Like I will be listening to podcasts all the time. So I felt like bringing that training onto the podcast will give the chance for more of you to be able to benefit from the learnings from that session. And there were so many wonderful ones that you can take away. So without further ado, here is the webinar Turn Your Teaching into a Classroom Management Machine. I hope you love it. So in this session, we are going to cover what doesn't work when it comes to classroom management and how we can change that. I'm going to be introducing you to my confident classroom pathway, and we're going to be digging into one aspect of each of these sections of my confident classroom pathway. Takeaways and next steps. My goal is to give you as much value as I can in this hour and for you to walk away into the week ahead feeling really empowered and clear when it comes to this big classroom management puzzle and to give you as much value as possible. But there are going to be some of the 50, 60 of you here live or those watching the replay that are going to be thinking, okay, like I really want to dig deep into this and I want to work with you on, you know, a deeper level and I want to become a leader in classroom management, which is why then I'm going to be inviting you in to work with me beyond this. Just wanted to make that clear before we get started. If you are one of those people that are like, yeah, like I'd love to kind of learn more, there is going to be an option at the end for that. There are going to be quick time for questions. Just keep them until the end. It's just one of me here. And I once I get stuck into a training, like I just like to get cracking. And if I start reading questions, my brain won't be able to cope with that. I'll be able, I'll be like pulled from pillar to post and I'll be like that teacher that's easily distracted and spends the whole lesson, you know, going off on tangents. So I will go over everything I need to go over, and then I'll stay on for a little bit longer. It will go for about an hour with all those bells and whistles. Um but then if I need to stay on for a little bit longer after to answer some more questions, then I will. So just be mindful. That's kind of the I try to stick to time as much as humanly possible. Your gift for attending today, I know how valuable your time is, especially on a weekend. And spending any amount of time willingly working on your professional development outside of work hours is so admirable. So I always like to make sure I give you a bit of a gift for attending any of these live sessions. So at the end, I'll be popping up my link to my expectations lesson for you to use as a bit of a classroom management base if you want to do like a reset mid-year, if you want to use this at the start of the school year, up to you. But that is going to be your gift for attending today. And I'll pop the link up at the end. I don't want to stop sharing the screen. I don't want any opportunities for the tech gods to see me unfavorably. So this comes with like an editable PowerPoint, a detailed lesson plan, resources, all the stuff that you need. So that's that. I'm Claire. Hello. Um, and if you are here, I think it's safe to say that you know at least a little bit about me, or you've seen my face, or you've seen a post, you've seen something of mine. But one of the most important things that I need you to know about my approach to classroom management is that when I started out, things looked really different. I came into teaching to be the teacher that I needed when I was at school to connect, to support my students, to be that compassionate touch point in their day. But then I stepped into the classroom, in my very first classroom in 2012, and immediately, like almost immediately, was inundated with behaviors in a way that was like it just completely disempowered me. I was like, what the hell is this job? And because of that, I started to approach behavior in a way that was really against the values that I had as a human being and as an educator. Um, against that strong why that I came into the profession, like really desperate to like hold on to those values and that why. But immediately I slipped into something that was completely different. I'd send students out of the room, I would scream at students, I would keep the whole class in for detentions, uh, and it felt awful. Like it just didn't feel nice. It felt like I was it was grinding against the person that I wanted to be. Um, it was horrible. And that lasted for quite a while. Uh, and one student I often think about and I feel like a really big pang of guilt over. I still see his face like in my head because I know that he needed a better version of me back then. Um and he really changed my teaching life. He he changed the way that I like he was a catalyst that kind of led to the work that I do today. I've had like many little catalysts along the way, but he was like a really big one for me. Let's call him Nathan. Uh Nathan was plonked into my already chaotic year eight class, and he came from a behavior setting, and I didn't give him a chance for a fresh start because my class was already chaotic, and he brought this other, you know, wave of chaos and dysregulation and challenging behaviors into a class that was already challenging and my nervous system was already wrecked, and I just saw him. I didn't see him as this human being. I saw him as this other kind of disruption when we had this meeting saying that Nathan was coming back into the class. I was like, no, like I just can't cope with this. I can't. Um so I treated him horribly. I really did. Like I was super reactive to his his behaviors. I gave him detentions. I actually didn't really try to connect with this student because I placed this like, you know, this understanding around him and like this context around him. And I didn't see him as this human being that was in my room until one day I was just so defeated. And I kept him in after the lesson, as I always did. Uh, it was very common for that to happen. And I just looked at him and I literally sighed. Like I just let out this big sigh. And then he looked at me and he sighed. And then I just realized in that moment, like we just looked at each other. And I just realized in that moment that we were these two human beings that were really struggling in different ways, him much more so than me. His clothes were grubby. Like it's like I finally kind of looked at this child as the whole child. His clothes were grubby, his hair was uncamped. He clearly had a lot of challenges in his life outside of the classroom. And he, like, I just chatted to him and I said, like, you know, how's school going? How's class going? And he just reflected back to me the exact way that I felt as a student. And I thought, oh crap, what have I done? Like, what have I become here? I was failing him. But what is very important that links into my classroom management approach now is I failed not because I wasn't empathetic, not because I wasn't compassionate, not because I didn't care, but because I was never taught the stuff that I'm about to teach you. I was never supported, I was never given the skills to actually let that compassionate, kind person come out in the classroom management leadership that I had in the room. So back then, in my first year of teaching, with like zero skills and zero knowledge, like even back then, like I had nothing, I had no base. But back then I said to myself, I am going to teach teachers classroom management. I'm going to like figure this out. I'm going to learn it. And I am going to make it my mission to do the work that I do today. And I'm so like proud of what the Unteachables has become because this has been in the work since I was in my first year of teaching, sitting there across from Nathan. I just became obsessed with figuring out how to show up as the teacher that I needed and that Nathan needed and that every other student needs. And also the rest of the class who don't want to deal with that disruption. They just want to get on with the learning. So, fast forward today, uh, 14 years after I first stepped in that classroom, year after year of like flailing and trial and error and things finally clicking, I have the absolute privilege of supporting you wonderful educators today. What's really important about that story is that the classroom management approach that I was using, it wasn't taught to me. No one sat me down and said, Hey Claire, you know what's great if you yell at your students, you know what's great if you send them out, if you give them detentions. I call this our inherited classroom management. It was just totally reactionary to the behavior in front of me. And it was based on things totally out of my control. That story just really shows us what doesn't work when it comes to classroom management. Because if that stuff worked, if being punitive worked, if me treating Nathan the way that I did worked, he wouldn't be sent to a behavior setting, it would have been fine. Uh, but it doesn't work. And why this does not work, it is unsustainable for us. It is disempowering. The feeling, and if you are listening to this and you had any connection to my story, if you have felt disempowered, helpless, hopeless, say me in the chat. Um, it'll also make sure that I know that uh everything's working as it should. It is so disconnecting. It is so power over. It leads to us, whack thank you, me, me, me. You can hear me and you're connecting with this, okay? And I'm sorry that you actually have experienced this as well, but it's this is why I do this work. Um, it leads to us whack-a molling all lesson. Like behaviors happen whack, whack, whack. Not physically whacking our students, obviously, but it just leads to us being stuck in this cycle of just feeling so horrible and disempowered and having to like squash the behaviors one after the other, one after the other, one after the other. And what this approach does is it completely ignores the rest of the puzzle of classroom management. So a little sip of my water. So, what do we do instead? What is excellent classroom management? Excellent classroom management is about controlling what we can control. All of the stuff that I spoke about in that story, I was trying to control behavior. I was trying to control Nathan. I was trying to control the environment, but those behaviors were out of my control. I wasn't focusing on the things that were in my control. And what we can't control, we can't control another human being. We can't control another human's behavior. We can only control our own behaviors and our own responses and the things that we do. But if we can't control behavior, and classroom management shouldn't focus on controlling behavior, what exactly are we trying to do here? Like, what do we actually do that is empowering? We are controlling what we can control, and luckily for us, we can control so much in our classrooms and feel so much more empowered and not feel like we're whack-a-molling all the time because we've got things that we can control. It all comes down to creating the right environment and responses to reduce, de-escalate, and resolve behavior, which involves literally everything that we do as teachers. When we start to put this puzzle together and see what we can control, it becomes so, so, so much more empowering because we realize that everything that we're doing either helps or hinders our classroom management efforts. And this is going to become clearer as we go through today's session because I'll give you some really tangible examples. But classroom management really is like this huge puzzle. Icebreaking, seating plans, greeting starters, the consequences, buy-in, our routines, all of those things that we hear and see. It's just it, and I felt the same way. It's like all of these things just floating around going, where does all of this fit? How can I make sure that I'm putting this in the right way to have a classroom that runs in the best way it can? We can't control everything. Obviously, behaviors are always gonna happen, but how can I put all of these pieces of the puzzle together to have a karma classroom space? And that is why the approach that I'm gonna be talking you through today is a bit of classroom management magic because it doesn't focus on just reacting to behavior or putting all of the onus on us to control behaviors. It really is putting those puzzle pieces together, controlling what we can control, and doing so in the best way we can. I'm gonna be taking you through it step by step. This is my classroom management pathway, my confident classroom pathway. The reason I developed this pathway was because of those puzzle pieces, because it was so confusing, because I teach everything in isolation, like I teach little bits and pieces, and it's like, well, where does all of this fit together? And that's why I put this pathway together. Because when it comes to classroom management, you can really think about it in four really like sequential steps. The first is to get ready to be able to do this, and that's filling our behavior backpack with a necessary understanding, like just the basics around what is happening when a student's behaving in a certain way. Not to understand the whole brain, not to understand neurobiology necessarily, not to understand all of the things, but just have a basic enough understanding for us to feel empowered. The second step is to reduce. This is where we do the things that we can control in our environment to mitigate most of the stuff that we're trying to react to and whack-a-mole or less in. The next one, behaviors will still happen, so we respond to them. That is the third step. So, what do we do when the behaviors still pop up after we've reduced them? Then the fourth step is that if the behavior was significant enough, if it needs more of a follow-up, we resolve the behavior. What do we do after the behavior? So I've really like kind of over the years boiled it down to putting the puzzle pieces into these steps. Behavior and classroom management is so nuanced. It is so like it differs from context to context, student to student. But if you follow this pathway, you'll have a far better understanding around what to do, when to do it, because you can never say, hey, this student does that, so do this. It's never that black and white, but this pathway allows you to make those decisions for yourself. Then it's about repeating hard wiring and living all of these things. The reason I call it my confident classroom pathway, because it sounded a bit cheesy. I'm like, what can I call this that really like sums up what it is? The reason I call it my confident classroom pathway is because no matter what behavior is going on, you can feel more confident that it's going to point you in the right direction. Everything you do in your practice then like logically fits together and becomes this integral part of your classroom management. You'll understand it, you'll be able to diagnose problems, you'll know how to lead change in behavior, you'll do so in a way that aligns with your values and you'll be mastering your craft and hardwiring best practice for life, which is why the teachers that work with me in my courses, like they go on to lead other staff members in classroom management because they can see how it all fits together. So, are you ready for some action? Gonna have another sip of my water. Okay. Just a quick expectations check though. I am going to be giving you some really tangible tools, but I can't teach you all of it in an hour. Like I just can't. It does require far more than what I can provide in the hour session. So obviously at the end, I'll be talking to you more about the classroom management lab. Um, I'll be doing as much as possible to hand you some skills. You'll go out into your week feeling more confident and having some things to try out. If you do need to leave early, if you're not able to stay and you're like, oh, but I really I do want to check it out. Um, I'll be posting the link up on Instagram and stuff. But it's just the unteachables.com forward slash CM Lab. It's not going to be for everyone. It's just going to be for those of you who are like, yeah, I really want to take that next step. Okay, just wanted to have that expectations check because one hour, imagine if we could learn everything in one hour. Like that would be, yeah, that would be something else. So you might not be able to control behavior, but you can control the following things. I'll be going into one little aspect of each of these uh parts of the roadmap. Stop one, ready, your behavior backpack. We can't control behavior, but we can control our understanding of it. That doesn't excuse the behavior. It doesn't mean that we just say, oh, it's okay, no worries. But being able to understand and explain what's going on is for us. It's so empowering. And then it helps us to then put the pieces together when it comes to the rest of the roadmap. So when it comes to behavior, like what's going on? Like you think about the iceberg, are they trying to meet their needs? Do they have an insecure attachment or an attachment disorder, like disorganized attachment? Is it a lack of skill, not will? Like, do they actually just not have the skills to behave in the way that we're expecting in the moment? Is their stress response activated? Like, is their nervous system firing? Is their guard dog the one that's in charge? And are they just developmentally appropriate behaviors? If you teach younger students, then it might just be that they're developmentally appropriate behaviors. Even teens, teens' brains are literally rewiring. That is the time in their life that is second only developmentally to the ages of like one to three years old. Um, the teenage brain is under this process of like, you know, creating new neurosynapses and getting rid of the ones that it doesn't need, and it's this huge process. Why it's important to understand these things. You will never feel autonomous and empowered in your classroom management without understanding behavior. I am not a fan of just thinking about theory. I think that there's a lot of theory out there. I think that like people are doing incredible work when it comes to thinking about trauma-informed practices. And I think that the theory isn't lacking in schools. It's like what you do after that and what you do with that. But it is important to understand those basics, which is why I do like one module on the behavior backpack, just filling out backpacks so when behaviors happen, we can get stuff out when we need it, right? When we learn things like choice theory, like attachment theory, like the neuroscience behind the behavior, you can get curious, you can understand the approach that you're using, you can make the right decisions and help other people make the right decisions as well. And you can know the next steps. That's why it's so important and why it's so empowering. But that behavior happens, right? Whatever the reason beneath it, that behavior happens. We can't control it. Nobody is a string, a puppet on a string, which is the analogy that I love to use because no one is controlling me and my behaviors. Like I would love to be able to say sometimes, they made me do it, like they made me yell or. But no one is a puppet on a string. We can only control ourselves. So let's start digging into the things that we can control. We can understand, we can control our understanding of behavior, we can't control the behavior, but we can control these things. Stop two. We've put our behavior backpack on. Now we're going into the classroom, and we're going to be trying to reduce as much of the behavior as possible before it pops up so we can feel a little bit calmer and more confident going into the classroom, knowing that we're not having to whack-a mole or lesson. The most crucial classroom management happens at this stage, the most empowering, the most incredible classroom management magic. If you follow me and kind of look at my work, you'll know that I use the term classroom management magic a lot because these are the things that really work to support classroom management. These are the foundations. Before there are any behaviors to manage, the goal for this stop of the roadmap is to mitigate the underlying factors that contribute to challenging behaviors manifesting. We can control a lot here, which is so empowering. And when I started to learn these things, I felt a lot less like I was, I needed to quit. Like in that first couple of years, I'm like, maybe I just need to leave. Like I just don't know how to put these pieces together. And when I started to dig into the things that were supporting me to reduce the behavior, things changed. What we can and should control to reduce challenging behaviors ourselves. We can control our teaching presence. We can control our own regulation. We can control our practice, so our routines, our lesson design, our lesson delivery, differentiation. We can control our expectations, our boundaries, and our rapport. Each one of these is a submodule in the reduce section. So I don't want to just put these, I don't want this to look like buzzwords, and I don't want this to feel overwhelming. These are very actionable things that we can do. And this is also not about blaming you for the behavior. This is about us taking control of what we can to have the most incredible teaching practice that we can that supports every single student in the room. I can't dig into all of these, obviously, but I'm going to dig into your teaching presence because this one takeaway alone, people have said to me that it's changed everything for them. So if you go into the classroom and you practice this tomorrow or Monday, whenever, I don't know, if you're calling in from the US, it's not you're, I think you're Saturday. But if you go in on Monday and you try to focus on this really intentionally, you will see changes. So what does a strong teacher look like? Like what is a strong teaching persona, a strong teaching presence? It's not a look over the glasses, it's not being feared, it's not trying to be the popular teacher, it's not being extroverted and high energy. It's not those particular things because we can't control if we're like popular. You know, I'm not a popular teacher. Like I'm pretty, I play up my dog factor, actually. Instead, we need to craft a strong teaching persona through things like our nonverbal communication, our energy, our consistency, and our regulation. Those are the things that we can control. No matter whether or not we're a loud teacher, it doesn't matter if we're a quieter teacher. It doesn't matter what like we bring personality-wise, we can do these things. Why this is a crucial cog in our classroom management machine, I call it a machine because everything works together. Every single second, we are sending out messages around what we expect to our students every single second. The way we're talking, the way we're moving, how we're responding to students. We're sending messages that we're not actually saying with our words. And one of the biggest mistakes that we make in our teaching and our classroom management is sending nonverbal mixed messaging. I want you to have a think about some of the ones. If you see one, by the way, that you recognize immediately, like, oh my gosh, like I do that, pop it in the chat. No shame, no judgment. I did all of these at one point in my teaching career. You're wanting students to be calm, but you're pacing around quickly. You know, you're trying to get students settled, but maybe you're rushing up to the board to put like lines on the board for lunch. Or, you know, you just have like this frantic kind of energy and you're pacing, even though you're wanting the opposite for your students. And that's very normal because our nervous systems are firing when we're not in control of the space. Maybe you're wanting students to listen to your teacher-led instruction, but you're saying, like, hey, pass what, take one, pass one along, or you're giving students a sheet for something when you're actually still in the part of the lesson where you're wanting them to look up at the board. And instead of looking at you and listening to you, they're now looking at the sheet in front of them. But you're you're sending messages to them that this is something that you need to look at rather than looking at the board to me. Waiting for silence, but then giving up too early and teaching over the noise. The second we start to teach over the chatter, we are sending messages to students that what we're talking about doesn't matter and what we're saying isn't that important. Something I would do every single lesson because we are frantic and we are trying desperately to get through the content. And we're like, okay, well, Johnny bloody doesn't want to listen anyway. So I don't care about Johnny. Let's just get on with the learning. But the second we speak over Johnny, then Johnny's learning that it doesn't matter, you know? Um, yeah, a really, really common one. I can see the chat going. Yes, waiting for silence is it is so hard. Uh, and that's why I've got like a full roadmap on how to use these nonverbals to wait for like to get whole class attention. It is so hard. All of these things are hard, by the way. Uh, none of if this was easy, then we wouldn't have any problems. Uh, okay. Talking loudly when we're expecting students to be quiet. This one here is, I see it a lot when we're doing like exam duties and stuff. Um, teachers kind of like talking loudly or like pacing up and down the lines, like the rows of students doing exams, or when, you know, where, yeah, it's just something really common that I see in my observations. Uh, wanting calm, but feeling and acting the opposite, because even when we are like shoulders up, like tense, feeling a certain way, we're not regulated and we're not then co-regulating with our class. Uh, and just teaching over the chatter. I think that's kind of the same as waiting for silence, but then giving up. But the second we teach over the chatter, it's just tough. Like I'm sure everyone has walked past a classroom where the whole class is just having their own discussion, and then the teacher's like, just going on about history or something like that. No. Each one of these parts of the roadmap that I kind of give you a nugget about, I'm gonna give you a tiny but mighty takeaway to take away for Monday morning. Ask yourself in the moment, am I modeling what I want from my students? Ask yourself that. Just keep reflecting on that. If I want calm and if I want regulation, am I doing that? Am I calm? Take a deep breath, drop your shoulders. If I want stillness, am I being still? If I want quiet, am I dropping my volume? Am I using nonverbals instead of my verbals? Am I constantly repeating instructions rather than allowing students to kind of come into that quiet space? If the answer is no to any of those, just gently adjust your sales without judgment, without anything, just try to adjust your sales, try to embody what you want from your students and see if that even begins to change things, just that one little nugget. And if ever in doubt, I tell myself these, I have a lot of um like grounding phrases that I use when it comes to behavior and classroom management that I actually have on repeat in my brain. And they really help me, especially when I'm going through things in my own life. So when I was pregnant, I was I was really horrible at classroom management. Like all of a sudden I became a newbie again and I was really dysregulated, I was really protective. I was working in a school at the time where um a lot of volatility, a lot of violence. It was a specific SEMH setting, a social, emotional, and mental health needs school for all boys, central London, lots of gang affiliation, lots of violence. Um it was really challenging. And so when I was pregnant, I was very protective. I was a horrible teacher because I just couldn't, I couldn't cope with um my own, I couldn't regulate. And I was so like, yeah, I just turned into a teacher that just all of a sudden didn't know. So I kept going back to these grounding phrases, and this helped a lot. Everything I want, I need to model. I need to mirror what my message is right now and what I am saying I must show. So choose one of those phrases and go back to it on Monday morning. Let's just say you've nailed reduce. Let's say that you have, just say you take the course and you've done all of these wonderful things and you are mitigating behavior through your routines and your teaching presence and your differentiation and all of these things, the clarity that you're doing with your tasking, and it's great. But of course, behaviors are always going to happen. It is a deeply human thing. It is inevitable. And when it does, when things pop up, we need to respond to said behavior. Every choice we make in our classroom has the potential to connect or disconnect, escalate or de-escalate. The goal is to effectively de-escalate and address behaviors that arise during the lesson. That's the goal. There are things that we will need to do after the lesson for certain behaviors. We will need to follow up on certain things. But when we are in the thick of our lesson, ultimately we need to get back to teaching. We can't spend all lesson doing all of these things with behaviors when you've got 30 kids in a room, or however many you've got. And if our main goal is de-escalation, there is one huge barrier that we have to overcome, and that is ourselves. I use this remain calm gif all the time. It's my favorite thing. Ourselves, because the day-to-day life of a teacher doesn't exactly scream like, hey, like, let's stay regulated and calm. So to give ourselves the best chance of responding and not reacting, we need to take a breath, take a pause and get curious. So that curiosity piece is why the backpack is important because we have that backpack on when we have that knowledge and we can pull it out when we need to. So take a pause, take a breath and just get curious. What's going on? And that is always the first step of anything that I do. Because if you can't do that, if we're reacting immediately to the behaviors, we're going to be escalating things and actually ruining our chances of being able to just get back to teaching. So the five Ps behavior response roadmap. If you've read my book, I would talk about that in my book. Um, but every single step is strategic in de-escalating challenging behaviors through effective nonverbals. Nonverbals are just the bread and butter of what we need to do in the classroom because if we're trying to constantly chase our tails with behavior, we're always going to flail and fail. So pause. First step of the roadmap all the time is to do old mate here. Uh pause, pace, the way we walk, the pace of which we move towards responding to that behavior, the proximity we use. So are we standing over students? Are we kneeling next to students? Like, what way are we positioning our non, like our bodies nonverbally in order to de-escalate that behavior rather than escalate it? Privately addressing students. So instead of yelling out the room like, James, not appropriate, like, you know, get back to get back to the lesson or whatever we're gonna say, actually saying it privately because the second we yell over at students, by the way, everything is contextual. Like I'm not a black and white girl. I will always say there are situations where I've got a really great relationship, and I'll be like, come on, mate, like get back. You know, there's always gonna be nuances to it, but this is just the roadmap that we can kind of ground us in how to respond to these behaviors in a way that de-escalates. So privately addressing the students so we're not escalating their nervous system so they don't just say f off and run out of the room. And then plan and pursue. That is when we have to think about a plan for resolving that after the lesson when we have the capacity and the time to do that. I can't go over every single part of this roadmap, obviously. Um, it's something that I have a whole module on, but I am going to give you one thing that underpins this whole roadmap that will help you embody it in on Monday morning. Like when you go into the classroom, how you can embody the kind of like the philosophy of this roadmap, this is the crucial reframe that really underpins the whole thing. Every single time you approach behavior in the classroom, try to be the palm and not the fist. And I'll explain what I mean by that. This is what classroom management can look like, and often it does. If we're being punitive, if we're using the classroom management that I did when I was approaching Nathan in my first year of teaching, it's butting heads, it's fist against fist, it is defiance against defiance, it is us power over, and it's always going to push against that. And I use this analogy because I saw the most brilliant um like demonstration of this once. And I actually I wish that I remember where I saw it. It was just at my first school, I think. So there were two people that were brought up to the stage and they said, okay, put your fist out. And you put your fist out. One person, the goal was to keep their fist in the same place and push as hard as they could against the other person's fist. The other person's goal was to move the fist in the way that they wanted, to manipulate it in different ways to control the other person's fist. When they did this demonstration, they were fist-to-fist, this person was pushing against this one, this person was trying to push and move it around, it was almost impossible to do that. So to say this is a student, they're pushing with their fist, they're defiant, they don't want to, you know, engage in the lesson, they're getting really escalated. If we come along and we're trying to uh maneuver that behavior, if we're trying to change that behavior, if we're trying to guide their behavior with a fist as well, through those punitive ways of managing behavior, it is going to be very hard to get them to shift those behaviors. Then the person up the front, I just wish I could remember it. Maybe I was gonna say it was me. No, I don't know. Uh, instead, this is what you want it to look like. So in that demonstration, they're like, okay, student, keep your hand as a fist. And I want you to do the exact same thing. Don't move your fist. Like keep it in the same place. Keep pushing that fist in the same way. But now instead of using your fist, the person who was there as a teacher, I want you to open it as a flat palm. And now, with that palm, I want you to do the same thing and move that fist in a different direction. With an open palm, with that student with their fist out, the palm was able to move that fist wherever they wanted it to go, up, down, sideways. And it was just such a beautiful analogy of how when it comes to classroom management, power over coming in with that fist, coming in hard, obviously, for the purposes of not getting sued, we're not actually putting our fist out for students, right? Um, but it's just a really beautiful way to see how taking an approach with the palm is going to be always a better option when it comes to managing behavior. I'll give you an example. Imagine a student has their phone out, and I think today there are less issues in some schools because I know some teacher and some schools have, you know, got them ruled out completely. But let's just say it's an example, a student has their um phone out. Being the fist would look like this. Hey, put your phone away. Standing over them. I'm waiting. I've got my hand out, put it in my hand, like I'm taking it off you. You're not supposed to have your phone out. I'm not leaving until you put that phone away. You are locking horns. That student is now needing to save face. That student's like, hey, I'm giving you my phone in front of my peers. Like, I'm not doing that. You are in an unwinnable battle that is gonna get no buy-in. You're not gonna be able to foster that rapport, like you're gonna fracture the relationship you've got. And it's actually gonna stop you from getting back to the goal of getting back to teaching. Like this part of the roadmap, my goal for you is to be able to respond to behavior, get back to teaching. Respond to behavior, get back to teaching as quickly and as easily as possible. Because I think that's what's missing in classroom management. Don't look horned. Sometimes the student will just hand over their phone, by the way, but if they're dysregulated, you're going to be doing yourself an injustice by trying to go in with that fist. Instead, being the palm might look like, and this is like thinking about all of our nonverbals, like the way that we're approaching this student, not standing over looking down, you know, coming to the side. You're going over to that student, James, you know we don't have our phone out in class. You've got two options. Pop it in your bag, or at the start of every lesson, you'll have to hand it to me. I'm going to be back in two minutes and see what you've decided, and you walk away. What you've done in that situation, you're being the palm because you've reinforced your expectations. You've given students a window to do that. If that student is dysregulated or if they're trying to save face, they maybe will sit on that phone for 30 extra seconds just to feel like they're in control. Because if their nervous system is firing, control is a big thing. Uh, and they might then put it away. And if they don't put it away, you've got a clear next step. The class know you've got a clear next step. The class know that you're not, you know, just letting them do what they want to do. You've confidently kind of set a boundary. In this scenario, that situation takes 10, 20 seconds and you return to teaching. You've got more buy-in, you preserve the rapport, and you've got a much better chance of getting the student to put their phone away. And if they don't, then you've got a path to follow and you can follow up. So just remember every single time we approach challenging behavior, we do have an option. We do have a choice. It's to be the fist and to disconnect and escalate and potentially not be able to get back to teaching, or to connect and de-escalate. Those are the options. And if you start thinking about behavior in that way in the moment, it helps us so much more to be able to approach things in a way that's going to work. Every single step in that roadmap, so pause, pace, proximity, privately address and plan and pursue is designed for us to control what we can control, to address behavior, to de-escalate behavior, to move students towards a more positive outcome, to be the palm, to connect and to remain calm. So for your next lesson, just think: are you speaking to students privately or publicly? Like just thinking about a couple of little tweaks that you can make. Is your body language threatening or non-threatening? Like how are you standing when you're talking to students? How are you using like direct gaze and really demanding something from them in that moment if they're already escalated? Just think about how that might be impacting the, you know, your ability to be able to reduce those escalations. And are things escalating or de-escalating when you address them? Just get curious. Like you won't know every single thing. I didn't know every single thing. Just think, like when I'm approaching this student, are things getting better or worse? Like, are we becoming closer or further apart? And when you start getting curious about your own responses and the way things are working in your classroom, then you can really change things for yourself. I think the most beautiful trait in any human being is to be able to go, what am I bringing to the table here? Like, what's happening? And I do it all the time with my toddler because my toddler, like three years old is the toughest age I have experienced so far. And my gosh, like I bring some stuff to that table too, and I know that I need to work on that. But just that knowing and that awareness is helpful. Just to go, okay, there are things I can control here. So the journey so far, you've mitigated some behaviors, you've addressed others, but there's still one more cog in this classroom management machine, and that is to resolve behavior if that behavior needs a resolution. So the literal meaning of the term to discipline is to teach. True disciples are learners. One of my favorite quotes by Lorraine Fox. The goals for the resolution is true discipline, so education, accountability, connection, repair, and buy-in. If we don't have buy-in to these conversations and to this resolution, it's not going to work. Just remember, we can't control anybody but ourselves. And that includes forcing reflection, forcing accountability, forcing an apology, forcing empathy. This process really is about facilitating the things that we need to facilitate in the most strategic and skilled way that we can. What is beautiful about this roadmap is that at the moment, you probably see restorative practice as something that you have no time for because the behaviors are so frequent that you're like, how could I possibly have conversations with every single student that shows a behavior that I need to resolve when you're working on the level of mitigation and when you're responding to behaviors in a way that de-escalate, you won't get to this stage with most students. This is for the most extreme behaviors that you will deal with in your classroom because you've already stopped whack-a-molling. So that's what I really wanted to make sure you knew about this roadmap because I hate, like I'm a big fan of restorative practice, right? But I hate when restorative practice is taught in schools in isolation because then teachers think that they have to spend hours upon hours of time that does not exist having these conversations when it fits into the machine. It fits into the cog, like it's a cog in the machine. And if we don't have the other bits moving, then it's impossible. So transformative talks is like my version of restorative discussions, but in a way that's more teacher-friendly and is a bit quicker, can be done in a way that um kind of approaches the behaviors that are a bit smaller in the classroom in a really quick way. It's just more teacher-friendly because if you have ever done restorative justice training, these discussions are not made for teachers originally. So that's why they're so long-winded. Um, sometimes you will have to have a longer discussion. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that if you follow this process, then you can do things in a quicker way when you need to. So the goals are to address your concerns, reinforce expectations and boundaries, try to get to the real conflict, the heart of what is going on underneath that iceberg, make a plan and try to teach them the skills to support real change. And that could be something as simple as okay, like you're struggling with the work. Like I'll put, I'll put some sentence starters on your sheet next time. Like it could be something really, really simple like that. Um, meaningfully resolve the challenges and restore that relationship and deliver that real logical consequence. The process, if you've read my book, you'll see that this is one of the visuals from there. Um, step one, telling our stories, getting curious, and checking in. Step two, explore and acknowledge the harm. And step three, a plan for restoration and change. So, no matter what you're doing with these restorative discussions, you can just follow this simple process. So just say if a student, um, and it can be really quick, right? Obviously, it can be more drawn out, but it can be really quick. So just say that student, maybe there's a student in your class and they've ripped up their book and they've Chuck the papers around. And they don't usually have that kind of you know behavior that they exhibit. It might be a simple discussion at the end of the lesson going, Hey Jennifer, do you mind like just hanging back for a sec? What was going on? Like that's not usually how you know things go in the lesson. Like, what was going on for you at the time? They explain, I had a fight with my friend and they were in the class and I could hear them saying things. Have a chat about it, exploring knowledge of the harm. Okay, so like what do you think I need to talk to you about? Like, how did you respond to that? And the plan for restoration and change can be as simple as like, okay, like we can have a bit of a chat about that while we're having a chat. Do you mind just picking up that? Um, like, what do you think might need to happen? Oh, I need to pick up the papers that I ripped up everywhere. It can be really quick. It doesn't have to be long and drawn out. This process just allows you to focus on the important parts of the discussion. So get curious, check in with them, think about what harm was done, whether it's to the self, to others, trying to think about how to repair that, and then making a plan for future. Like if you just tick those three boxes, obviously that's a very oversimplified version of it. I do give you templates and micro scripts and cheat sheets and like plenty of real world scenarios because I don't want you to walk away also going like, what the hell? Like, how am I supposed to do that with like I can't do it in an hour session? Um, but you can start today, and a tiny shift that you can make with your discussions is to stop lecturing. And I fell into the pattern of lecturing all of the time. One powerful shift, stop lecturing, start leading. And this means getting really good at asking the right questions that guide students to reflect and take accountability and be open and willing to work on things or make some changes or repair that in some way. And here's what I mean: really simple shift. Like you're you might not say this, but your your behavior was crap this lesson. Like instead, why might I need to talk to you? Like a really simple shift from like, this was your behavior, you need to say sorry, or this was your behavior, you need to make amends, to why am I talking to you right now? Like what I'm not spending, I'm not gonna waste your lunch, you know, or my lunch for just anything. Like, why do I want to spend this time with you? Another example is like, what you said wasn't appropriate, and I'm not gonna stand for that, which is something that, you know, you can't say that. Like, that was inappropriate. Guiding instead to do you understand why the things you said are serious? Like, can you explain that to me in your own words? Because instead of feeling like we're lecturing them and then their brains are just like switching off, nah, not gonna listen to this. We are then requiring them to reflect through the types of language that we're using. The next one, you're stopping the learning from happening in the room. I can't have that. Like, you know, you're not letting your peers learn. A guiding phrase instead would be when I have you calling out, when I have other students calling out, what might the impact of that be? Like, why might that be challenging? Like a really simple shift to the language that we're using. And the last example is you're gonna need to pick up that rubbish. Guiding might be, well, what might I need you to do now before we head out for a break? Again, just like and get putting it in there, putting the ball in their court to really take accountability and to make that change for themselves. There are times students won't know the answer, by the way, or they're still not able to reflect. And maybe it's because they're still dysregulated and they need a bit of time, or you know, they need a bit of a longer conversation. You can even you can say things like, can I give you a clue? Can I make a suggestion? Can I explain what was happening from my perspective? Um, but as much as possible, trying to guide them to come to those realizations for themselves. And that is so much more connecting than trying to lecture the behavior out of them. And if we approach resolutions with that kind of philosophy in mind, it's going to be more productive. Like that's the goal, isn't it? To get them to think about what's going on and reflect on, you know, what's under the iceberg, but then what they can do in future to try to like manage that better. Reflections for your next resolution. Here are just a few different things you kind of think about when you're going into resolutions. If you're giving students a consequence, does it make sense in resolving the harm? Like if they've ripped paper up, they're going to go pick the paper up. If they have had a conflict, are they going to have to repair that in some way? So does it make sense? Um, are you leading or are you lecturing? Do you feel as though your discussion led to any accountability? And it should do. So if you walk away from a conversation going, no, the student took no accountability, just have a think about how you can guide them towards that. Um and it is really hard. Like some students won't do that in one discussion. But again, come back to what you can control. You can't control that. All you can control is the language that you're using and how you're guiding students, not what they actually do with that. If this session has taught you one thing, let it be this. Classroom management isn't something that we do. It's not just trauma-informed practice, it's not just restorative practice, it's not just one model or one particular piece. It is everything that we do as teachers. It is a machine. We've got cogs that are moving, and everything has its place. And when we start, and it's not about the things we can't control, it's not about constantly responding to behavior. If you're thinking, like, okay, behave, like, what do I do about this behavior? We're missing the mark. We need to be thinking about it holistically. Also, please remember, and I really want you to hear this when I say, I'm no different than you. I do nothing different. I'm, I don't have any special skills or like powers in terms, I wasn't born this way. I didn't walk into the classroom going like, okay, sweet, I'm great at classroom management. I started with zero toolbox and I started messy, and I started with trial and error and making having stupid discussions that were awkward. I made mistakes and I was overwhelmed. And there were times where I felt so hopeless, and there were times I felt like I wasn't cut out for teaching. I am no different than you if you're feeling that way at all. I just had the right support, I had the right training, I've had the time and experience and the right experience, and I've been able to put all of that together. So please walk away feeling really empowered in the fact that if you just try some of the things that we discussed in this session, putting those little things in place, then you will see change. And over time, you can, you know, be teaching other teachers as well and supporting other teachers and giving teachers what you didn't have when you were in teacher training. But today, obviously, you've just skimmed the surface. Transforming practice takes a lot of work, it takes a lot of time, it takes a lot of support. And as I said at the beginning, this isn't going to be for every single 55 of you in the session. This is going to be for those of you who are really ready to go deeper in this. All of the things that we discussed today, all of those bits of the roadmap, if you want to go deeper into that, I have opened up my 2026 enrollment into my classroom management lab. This is my comprehensive, like really structured signature course. I have been working on this for the last four or five years to make it the best it could possibly be at communicating a bird's eye view of everything that you need to know to put these cogs in place. Um, and yeah, some of you who are desperate out there really wanting to start leading in the classroom, like this is something that you might consider. The curriculum, um, you know it, it's the confident classroom pathway. Actually, if there are any um previous classroom management lab people out there or my behavior clubbers or anyone, you can give me a shout out as well. Uh, it's the confident classroom pathway. This is what the curriculum is. I keep it really simple. I just dig into everything that we discussed today, broken down into four modules, bite-sized lessons, action steps, reflections, resources, everything you need. The nuts and bolts of it, it goes for eight weeks. You can go at your own pace as well. I've got classroom management lab students who have followed me into like new iterations of the course for four years and they've kept redoing the course. Um, I've got students who have done it over a year, two years. So it's, you know, you're busy, it's up to you how you do this. But eight weeks is I've found is like kind of the sweet spot over the five years that I've been running this. I've found eight weeks is like a good amount of time to like implement things and put that hour or two in a week. Um, they're content drip release. So if you join today, you'll have like one module per week. It is learn your way. So I've tried to make it really accessible. I'm a podcast girl, so I will listen to podcasts on my way to work. Like that is what I I don't listen. I don't, I wish I listened to more music. It's probably would probably make me feel a little bit better mentally, but I'm a podcast girl. So I've provided a podcast so you can actually do this on the go if you'd like to. There's video lessons, downloadable materials. My goal is to just get you to where you need to be, taking the path of the least resistance. And you also get access to the private community where you can come in, ask questions, we can brainstorm anything, you can apply things in your classroom, come back, Claire, it's not working, or it's worked, or what can I try next? Um, we can celebrate wins together. It's just a wonderful place for you to actually implement the things that you have learnt. But the actual purpose of all of these things is that you're not going to be standing there thinking, what the hell do I do next? Like, what do I try? You'll be able to like go into your school, you'll be, you know, grounded in what you're using, you're doing with behavior, you'll be clear, it is trauma-informed, is everything is holistic, it's human. And your everyday practice is going to naturally reduce challenging behaviors because you're using that machine, because your systems, your routines, your presence, they're all doing the heavy lifting. I'm going to just go through a couple of Q ⁇ As that um that past, like oh, oh, like people usually ask me about the lab, and I will answer those with uh hang on a second. Margie, I'm sorry that the um screen's looking a bit funny. I'm glad that for other people it's not funny. Um I'm just gonna pop the link in because I will forget.

SPEAKER_00 54:31

And then I'll go into some Q ⁇ A's.

Final Links, Replay, And Thanks

Closing Reminder And Sign Off

SPEAKER_01 54:40

Okay, so a couple of QAs because I want to make sure that if you okay, I'm good, I'm glad Margie. Um let me know if you have any other issues. Um These are really important QAs because I don't want you joining if you, I don't want you investing any money, I don't want you doing anything if you're not 100% certain. So is this just another theory laden course? I will answer these questions with past lab grad comments, like reviews, because I think that's more powerful than anything that I can say. Uh, this course is the practical strategies needed for classroom management. Claire understands real classroom issues and gives you the easy to use and realistic strategies. She gives the how and the why. Thank you, Helena. Uh also, if you join, I'll give you a few classroom management must-haves as a bonus. I will give you my 260 plus editable agenda slides. These are just things that add to that classroom management picture. Um, so this, for example, will make your entry routine an absolute breeze. Uh, my calm corner in a pocket cards. Uh, these are great because as a secondary teacher, I don't have space for a calm, like a calm corner. Um, and these make it really possible. So I wanted to make sure everybody in the lab had access to these. Really, really effective for on-the-go regulation. Um, my SEL lesson bundle, so help your students understand their behavior so they can make really empowered choices and make change. I mean, when I started to understand what was going on with my behavior, like when I understood my brain more, it's just it's life-changing to be able to do that. Um, it gets buy-in for your students, it gives you a common language and it's really proactive classroom management as at its finest. Um Georgina answered this question way more than I could, but I want to be really open and honest with you. It is an investment. Sometimes schools pay for this for you, which is wonderful. I've had many, many people have their schools pay. I've had other people just claim it on tax, depending on where you are in the world. It is an investment, but I have spent tens of thousands of dollars training to be a teacher only to get into the classroom with zero skills. So I wanted to frame this in a way that you're paying for that unit of university that should have existed anyway. I've spent four or five years now, as I said, crafting and refining this course to be the best and most impactful it can be. So your financial investment is something that is worthwhile. And Georgina is a testament to that. Mind you, this was three years ago, and the course has gotten so much better since then. Um, so Georgina, also you will get every single update to the course. Uh, this course was better than any behavior management training I received at university or during my teacher practices. Best money I've ever spent on training or any books I have read. So thank you for that, Georgina, for answering the question better than I could. Uh, the cost of enrolment, I wanted to be really clear so you don't have to click to the page if you're like, no, I really can't at this stage in my career, but I might be able to next year or the year after. Um, it's 347 USD. And I also have a three-monthly payment option as well. In the next 48 hours, I do have an early bird um sign up, so 20% off. Just use that, make sure you're using the code at checkout, because once you do complete checkout, if you haven't used the code, I can't go back and then apply that retrospectively. So make sure you're using the code EarlyBird2026. Um, but if you do make the investment right and you get in there and you're like, oh, Claire, it doesn't really mesh with me. The first module is up there now. So if you get in and you're like, doesn't mesh, not a this approach isn't for me, or for whatever other reason, I'll just give you your money back, right? I do respect your investment. Um, so if you get inside, realize it's not for you, 14 days, I'll give you money back. So um, and just saying I have in four years, five years, I have never received a single refund request. Not saying that you can't do that, but I'm just saying if you have watched this whole thing and you're like actually Claire, yeah, that this really aligns with me. Um, I'm really clear about what's inside and I'm really honest and open about what you're gonna get. So I'm hoping that that gives you enough clarity. But obviously that's there just to make sure that you know that your investment is respected and protected. Another QA. I'm an experienced teacher. Is this still for me? Uh Samantha said I completed this course after 10 years of working in education. Now I feel empowered, like I know better, can do better, and build a teacher presence I feel proud of and am confident in. So I've had teachers that have been teaching for 30 years go through the lab. So it is never too late, it's never too early. Speaking of too early, I'm a brand new teacher. Is this for me? Uh Briani said that was such a helpful and empowering course. As a graduate teacher who personally aligns with this approach, I found it so helpful to gain Claire's insights and reassurance. It's empowered me to look at behavior differently and I'm seeing results. And I really wanted to highlight Arielle's story because this was how I felt when I started to learn these things. Classroom management has always been the most difficult part of teaching for me. And I came very close to quitting last year because every day was such a struggle. A year later, I no longer think about quitting teaching. Thank you so much. Again, that was three years ago, and the course has gotten better since then. So, Ariel, if you're listening, if you're watching this, if I get to you through the grapevine, um come and do the updated course if you ever need a bit of a um, yeah, a bit of a reintroduction to things. Uh and your gift, you said until the end. So thank you so much. Uh you've spent your Sunday with me, which means the absolute world. Whether you come into the lab or I've just been able to support you in this small way, I am so grateful. Like you heard my story at the start when I was failing and failing and I just desperately needed something, even as a bit of validation that you know things could change. Um, I'm just so appreciative of your time. So I will post a link to the expectations lesson in the chat now. But a final reminder before I end this screen sharing and then pop the link up is that all you can control is what you can control. Please take that into the next week. And I think even just that takeaway alone is worth it. It's enough because yeah, we can really get bogged down in the things that we can't control. So please remember that. I will now. Unfortunately, I don't have like a helper that helps me to um post links up or anything. So I will just do that now. Hang on, let me just get a link.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:20

I'll pop both links up because I've got them just typed up on the screen here.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:31

So there's the link to the lab for those of you who would like to join me for that this year. I do it once per year. Um, and that is the expectations lesson. If you are downloading the expectations lesson, by the way, um, that's Zoe. Hello, my love. Uh Zoe is one of my behavior clubbers. She's kind of come on the journey with me a lot. Um yeah, uh with the expectations lesson. If you click on that, there are also other um options for starter activity. So make sure you're looking into that. Just make sure that that link works. Because I had a weird yeah, that link works. Let me know if you have trouble with that. Um, if you're watching the replay, uh so okay, I'll answer questions in a second. Um if you okay. Yeah, I'll answer questions in a second. Um yeah, if you're watching this replay and you can't click on the links for some reason, I had that happen last year, please just email me and I'll send you the link directly. Okay, I will answer some questions. Umisha, is the lab directed at teachers um of specific year levels? So I am a secondary teacher. The kind of teachers that I would say it would be most appropriate for are upper primary into secondary. The little littles, not as much. So if you are teaching probably from like grade five and up, I would say it's most appropriate. I have had teachers come into the behavior club and the classroom management lab that teach um that teach younger students, and they have been able to adapt it, but I feel most confident supporting you with those older students. Uh, anybody who got booted out and didn't get the links, I'll just post them here. Um, okay. Uh Kelly, you are so welcome. Thank you for that feedback. Uh, who else has a question? I'm just going up and seeing. The expectations lesson is elite. Yay, Chloe. I'm so glad you've used that and that's a um good resource for you. Jess, hi Claire. As a student still, my money is limited. Is your book an alternative to this course? If you are still at university, you're still in your teacher training and you don't have the funds right now to go all in on the classroom management lab, you can just continue to listen to my podcast. You can continue to follow me on Instagram and soak up all of the free support if you're not able to go deeper just yet. Um, and the book is is a good overview as well. So obviously it's not like the the depth that I was at, so but it's a good starting point. So definitely the book is a good option. If you would like to learn more. Uh, this was great. Carly, thank you so much. Uh Sasha, if we join the lab, do we have lifetime access or is it limited? You have lifetime access. And as I said, people who have joined the lab four years ago still get access to updated versions. I onboard them into anything updated. Um, so you will um yeah, you'll have access to that. Can I get CEUs for this course? That is different in different countries in terms of like what the name of those things are, so like credits or stuff like that. Um, so I'm not able to provide like specific country like accreditation, but I do provide you with a certificate for professional development. So, for example, if you're in Australia and you need to have um teacher-identified hours for your professional development, then this will count as that, and you'll get a certificate that says you've done like 25 hours of professional development. Chloe, her book is amazing. Thank you. And I'm writing my second one at the moment. I feel the same kind of like, I don't know, like heart palpitations about it being good or being really bad. Um, Stephanie, yay, you ordered your copy of my book. The title is is never just about the behavior. Yes. Uh okay. I am in the behavior club. Also, it's amazing, it's improved my practice 100%. Thank you, Emma. Emma, you're wonderful. Uh Melissa, same as Leslie. Behavior Club is amazing. I've been using Claire's methods for the last 12 um three years. Thank you, Melissa. That's so nice. Haley, and by the way, I'll talk about what the difference between the Behavior Club and the lab are as well, because people are talking about the Behavior Club. I don't want anyone to get confused between the two. Haley, I am interested as a grad student, but is the behavior club or lab appropriate or relevant for teachers of really young students that have limited language? It seems a fair chunk is based within restorative conversation, which can be challenging. Um, yeah, Haley, I wouldn't recommend it for students who are very young. Um I'm like, you know, you can probably adapt certain things. However, I want to make sure that every single person that comes into the lab and makes that investment, I know that I can support. And I like my integrity means a lot to me, like when it comes to that. So I wouldn't say that I would recommend it for teachers of very young students, early, early years or like young primary school. I would say confidently grade grade five and up. Um, the Behavior Club, I do have like a lot of teachers that teach younger students because of like the resources and that stuff. But um yeah, I wouldn't recommend that. I don't want you to pay the investment if you've got really young students. You're not 100% certain. Christy, um Kirsty, sorry, you can re-watch this. Yes. I will be sending out the replay after tomorrow's because I've got two sessions of this for whoever can join, and I'll be sending that out after tomorrow. Um okay, anything else? Does it fit with you? Yes. Uh yes. So it's a holistic approach, and it's based on like restorative practice, trauma-informed practice. It is um in terms of in terms of universal design, it is like all about how we can use scaffolds, routines, all of the things that we can implement in that reduce phase to reduce the behaviors, to make sure that every single student in the room is supported. So absolutely, like I am such a firm believer in universal design, in being trauma-informed, being restorative. And this kind of brings it together in a way that's actually approachable for teachers and actually supports teachers to make like do it, like do the thing instead of talking about it as like some kind of overarching concept. It's how do we actually make that happen in the classroom? So, for example, my differentiation um module inside of the classroom management lab teaches you how to create a lesson embedding differentiation so you don't have to be like creating different worksheets or you know, like it's all about how we can kind of reduce the workload for us as well while still doing that. Um, okay. How does this compare to the behavior club? Okay, I'll talk about that now. Leslie, I'm in the behavior club and Claire's work has saved my practice. My classroom has also become a lot more enjoyable for everyone. Music to my ears, Leslie. Thank you so much for that feedback. That's absolutely brilliant. How does this compare to the behavior club? So the Behavior Club and the Classroom Management Lab are both amazing, right? It just depends on what you're looking for currently. I've got people who do both. I've got classroom management lab graduates who have gone on to then join the behavior club to go more in depth on certain things, get that personalized, like ongoing support to get all of the resources, because my resource library is extensive inside of the behavior club. The classroom management lab is more of a sequential course from beginning to end. It is that overall roadmap. So instead of it being like bitsy, like, oh, I've got this problem, like what can I do? It is like this is the like the transformation for your practice. This is the groundwork that you need to do from start to finish. So I've made sure it's something that teachers can pick up and learn my whole classroom management approach. The behavior club's a bit different because when you come into the behavior club, it is that kind of ongoing support and responsive to certain things and the resources and that kind of stuff. So that's why classroom management lab students have then gone on to do the behavior club as well to get those resources and get the ongoing support. But if it's the first time that you're working with me, the classroom management lab is probably the best place to start, just because it is that start-to-finish sequential. Like I've really thought it out in terms of like the transformation, like what is going to be best one thing after the other. And it is meant to be a roadmap to be done in order. Um, so yeah, that is my recommendation if you're looking at both at the moment. Uh Stephanie. You are so great, so thankful to be here. I mean, that's nice to hear on a Sunday. Thank you. Uh okay, and I think that's all of the questions at the end. Let me just scroll back down and see. Um thank you for being so honest about whether this is appropriate for early childhood. This session is very helpful. I will never lead you astray. I'll never, I my obviously this is my job. Like I need to support my family. So I need to, I need to pay, um, I need to charge for the like my life's work, but I'll never ever take your money if it's not appropriate for you. So I'll always have a lot of integrity with that. Margie, it's already March and our school year ends in June. I feel I can use a strategy starting in the new year in September. Do you feel it's possible to reset? Yes, so late in the year, yes, yes, yes. Like if we start the course, is it too realistic to think we can reset? No, not at all. Like, absolutely not. You can reset any time of the year. I'm such a huge um advocate of this. And I actually do a couple of podcast episodes on that. So, no, not at all. You can absolutely um, absolutely press that reset button. You can go into just say, for example, you do the um the reduce module and you do the work on the um the teacher presence, like all of your nonverbals. My gosh. Like I remember doing that mid-year with my E10 class. It was walking all over me and they were horrific. Like it was so hard. And I did envoy, which then you know um that's what informed my module, like that lesson for the reduce module. It was like that, night and day. You it's never too late. Like it really isn't. And I say that really wholeheartedly. Best Saturday night, thank you. Oh my gosh. That means a lot. Um, Claire, what's your podcast? It's the Unteachables podcast. Would love to. We'll be offering these Zooms again. I've got another one tomorrow, Stephanie. So if your colleagues would like to come along to tomorrow's session, I'm doing one tomorrow. If that's not possible, then you can share the um the replay link when I send that out to them. And that replay will be available for like 10 days or something. Okay, I think that's everything. Oh, it's been a year, Margie. I'm so sorry to hear that. Like, I think anybody else listening and it's been a year, just like let us know. Uh, Erin, I'm in my 26th year of teaching at the secondary level in the US and had a challenging class. I have learned some helpful tips. I'm so glad to hear it, Erin. And if you have a really challenging class and you want to get on top of that, actually, the podcast this month, I've got um a lesson, uh lesson, an episode specifically about pressing the reset button if we're kind of challenging you've got those challenging classes. Uh, EAL, EAL children. These like strategies, they work for the whole class. Like the whole reason I did this course is because when you're approaching behavior in a holistic way, when you've got the routines, when you've got all of the things in place, you're approaching things nonverbally, when you are putting things in place restoratively, when you're we when you've got that machine working, it is holistic and it is for every single student in the room. So it's not just for the students who have tough behaviors, it's not just for the students who are going well, it's not just for the, you know, this is your this is your teaching practice. This is not for students, this is your teaching practice. This is to make sure you're equipped, going into every single classroom as a teacher, feeling confident in what you can control, and that's for every single student, um, if that helps. I hope that answers your question. And that was it, lovely teachers. I hope that you got something from that. I know that it does rely on visuals quite a lot. I love my slides. Um, but I do hope that you are able to get some great takeaways. And if you did listen to that and you are really keen to join the Classroom Management Lab for this year, you can head to thed unteachables.com forward slash CM Lab. And the doors are open for that until next Friday. So at the time of recording, the 20th of March 2026. So for those of you who listen to that and you're like, hell yes, that is definitely my next step. And I would love to feel supported and to be able to get on top of all of these challenging behaviors so I can get back to teaching. It would be absolutely wonderful to support you in big, incredible ways in 2026. And that is it. I hope that you have a lovely week ahead, and we will resume with the usual unteachable podcast content next week. Bye for now.