Back to school?! Whaaaaaaat?!
If your first thought seeing this episode pop up was “Claire, I am still sipping margaritas and pretending I’ve never even heard of a seating plan,” I get it. 😅
But if you are gearing up for the next school year or term, this episode’s for you.
I’m giving you a front seat to my no-BS, non-negotiables for the first week back.
Not the Pinterest fluff. Not the cheesy icebreaker where you have to use an adjective that starts with your name (I can feel the eye-rolls already). I’m talking about real, actionable, upper-primary and secondary-friendly stuff that actually builds buy-in, community, and clear expectations from the jump.
This is the stuff that’ll have your students heading home thinking:
"Okay. I know where I sit. I know where I stand. And I think this year might actually be pretty good.”
Let’s roll the tape.
What you’ll learn:
- Why I don’t start the year with expectations (and what I do instead)
- The underrated power of seating plans (nope, not in a controlling way!)
- My go-to “getting to know you” activities that actually work for older students
- The structure I follow across my first 3 lessons—exactly what I teach, when, and why
- How I sneak SEL, regulation, and wellbeing into the mix without it feeling like another PD script
- What makes student expectations actually stick (hint: it’s about buy-in, not behaviour charts)
Have a question, comment, or just want to say hello? Drop us a text!
👉 JOIN THE $1 KICKSTART! Click for more info and to jump in!
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
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
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 oldbehavior nerd on a mission to
demystify and simplify thatlittle thing called classroom
management.
The way we've all been taughtto manage behavior and classroom
manage has left us playingcrowd control, which is not
(00:22):
something I subscribe to,because we're not bouncers,
we're teachers.
So listen in as I walk youthrough the game, changing
strategies and I mean the thingsthat we can actually do in
action in our classrooms thatwill allow you to lean into your
beautiful values as acompassionate educator and feel
empowered to run your room witha little more calm and, dare I
(00:43):
say it, a lot less chaos.
I will see you in the episode.
Hello teacher friend, welcomeback to the Unteachables podcast
.
It is wonderful to have youhere with me.
Thank you for tuning in again.
I want to start by apologizingprofusely in advance.
If this episode has popped upon your feed and you're like
(01:05):
back to school, what the hell.
Or maybe you haven't even putthis episode on, but it was like
playing in the next, the nextpodcast, and uh yeah, not ideal
If you are actually not goingback to school and you're trying
to enjoy your summer and it'slike a shock to the system, like
when you walk into a shoppingcenter and you've just started
summer holidays and you walk inand you've got that big old back
(01:25):
to school display with lunchboxes and books and pens and all
of the stationery and you justwant to crawl into a hole.
She's like I've just started mysummer.
Can you please leave me alone.
So if you are thinking that Iam sorry, you can pause this.
You can come back to it whenthe time is right.
My Aussies and Kiwis I know thatwe're in the middle of the
school year, obviously, but Ihave a lot of you out there who
(01:47):
are in the Northern hemisphere,so I try my very best to support
all of you, depending on theseasons.
Yeah, I try to spread myselfacross that.
So anyway, without further ado,I'm going to be talking about
going back to school and Iwanted to kind of give you my
non BS negotiables, non BSnegotiables, the non, no BS
(02:11):
non-negotiables for the firstweek back, because there's so
much out there that you couldfind Like you could pause this
episode and you could Googleright now first week back of
school and you could get somepretty good advice or you could
get some pretty rubbish advice,and the problem with the kind of
stuff you might find onPinterest or Google or on
ChatGPT is that it's notnecessarily aligned with our
(02:33):
approach or it might be quiteoutdated or just stuff that's
quite cheesy, overdone anddoesn't really get to the heart
of what we actually need to bedoing to lay the foundations for
a really strong start.
It's usually quite performative, usually quite I don't know
like tick a box, like hey, let'sthrow a ball around and say one
thing about each other.
That stuff isn't obviously likebreaking the ice and doing all
(02:54):
that stuff.
Great An expectations lesson,great.
But we really need to bethinking about how we can
approach those first days back.
So your students go home.
They're like you know what'sgoing to be a good year, I know
where things are, you know, Iknow where I stand, I know
what's going on and you know Ithink my teacher's going to help
me out.
Like you know, that is the goal.
You want them to be going homeand having a really good
(03:15):
foundation of understandingaround you, around what they'll
be doing.
You know, building communitydoesn't take a day, it doesn't
take a week, but it's, you know,a really good start anyway.
So, and also, the stuff that youmight find on Google is not
going to necessarily beappropriate for upper, primary
and secondary kids.
Um, because, my gosh, the eyerolls.
(03:36):
You don't want the eye rollshappening the second you get
back to school with these kidsbecause you want the buy-in, you
want that, like you know,community, you want a bit of fun
, you want a bit of novelty.
And, gosh, if you start withsomething like hey, my name's
Claire, use your first, you knowfirst name and come up with an
adjective to describe yourself,then they're going to be like,
(03:57):
oh, the audible groans aroundthe room.
Anyway, so I will be doing thatwas a very long intro to that,
so I'm just going to be.
I've just dealt with a lot ofgroans from my school students
not wanting to do things in thepast and trying to, like you
know, bring a bit of energy backinto that first week, anyway.
So I'm going to be doing a veryquick overview of the things
that I now focus on in thatfirst day or week back A week
(04:20):
for me, by the way, it's notfive days, I'm thinking in like
three 75 minute lessons in aweek with each class.
So the first three days back,really, if you're primary.
But yeah, just what I do inthat first week with my
secondary classes.
So day one let's step.
By the way, thank you so muchfor one of my behavior club has
asked this question.
They're like you know, I've gotso many things here in the club
(04:40):
that like are so exciting andso great for the first week back
, but where does it all fit in,like when do I do what?
When do I talk about certainthings?
And then you know, when do Iintroduce, like social,
emotional learning stuff?
So, um, if you're listening,props to you for asking that
question, because that didinspire this episode of the
podcast.
Okay, so day one I do not startwith expectations.
(05:01):
On day one, I actually startwith a seating plan.
I guess it's not in a punitiveway, it's not in like a boring
way.
It's just that I need to knownames because names are powerful
, names are important to peopleand, as secondary teachers, my
gosh and with my brain the waythat it is with names, like it
just leaves my head the secondit enters we can use all of the
(05:22):
help that we can get.
So I genuinely need a seatingplan to be able to know
everybody's names.
And then I do some getting toknow you activities and I'm not
talking like boring, let's sitaround and let's come up with
some magic tips to describeourselves.
I'll get them into theirseating plans.
By the way, I usually do thisby popping on like a post-it
(05:42):
note on everyone's desk.
I usually do it alphabeticalbecause you know it's just
easier that way and the kids arekind of used to stand, like you
know, sitting in alphabeticalorder and they'd be doing that
whole schooling.
But I put a post-it note oneach desk with their names and I
project I just have like areally basic kind of you know
(06:03):
model of my classroom up on theboard and I just put their names
on that model map.
Just their tables, um, I justproject a table thing up on the
board where, um, I write theirnames where they're sitting.
So this is really clear wherethey're sitting.
There's no you know um, ummingand ahhing.
You know they come in, they sitdown, sweet, um.
(06:23):
I then do some getting to knowyou activities, and here are
some of the ones that Iabsolutely love.
One of the ones I do all of thetime with my especially, like
the older students, because Ifind it really hard to engage
them in certain other things.
I do a playlist activity andthat is always something that I
do because it always engages thestudents.
It's always something they'rereally proud to share in, really
(06:45):
excited to share about, andthen that forms something that
we do for the rest of the yearas well.
So for the playlist activity, Ijust get them to write their
favorite song or a song thatrepresents them or a song that's
meaningful to them, on apost-it note and I pop it in.
And they get them to pop it ina box.
They can hashtag their name onit, they can write their name on
it, they can do whatever theywant with that.
(07:05):
Um, depends on what yourstudents are like.
But then I either take them awayquietly and don't share them in
the moment and what I'll do isI'll collate, kind of like a, a
class playlist, and then I willuse that playlist you know in
most lessons to and I'll justlabel the playlist like you know
, year 10, english or whateverif you've got multiple classes,
(07:28):
but I'll label that.
I will use it for transition,so I might choose one of those
songs each week to be thetransition song, or I might
choose one of those songs to bethe entry song for when they're
coming in and sitting down andunpacking and, you know, getting
started on their starteractivity.
I might use that same song forlike an exit routine, for when
they're cleaning up, or I mightuse it to non-verbally signal
(07:50):
times to pack up or clean up.
You can use it in whatever wayyou want, but those songs are
such a great way for us to use.
You know, the personality ofour kids and the identity of our
kids, Like music is soimportant to so many of us and
that way we can kind of bring inthe personality of our young
people and it's just such abeautiful way to build a
(08:13):
community.
And you can even go as far aslike hey, like the transition
song today or the song that wehad today, guess whose it was?
Like, can anyone guess?
Can anyone remember?
Maybe they don't even rememberthat it's theirs, but please do
look over them first and justcheck that they're safe for work
, because I have had situationsbefore where I'm like, no, that
can't go on.
I'll have to go back to thestudent and say, hey, can you
(08:34):
please choose one?
That is a little bit moreappropriate.
So that's a playlist activitywhich I love.
You can go around the room andget them to explain their song
and why it's important to them,if you want.
But yeah, it's up to you howyou use it, but I just love that
as a kind of ongoing communitything.
The next one that I love isNever have I Ever, and that is
it's just.
(08:54):
You know, it's just a bit offun, like even recently I went
to a conference and they didlike a Never have I Ever thing,
like a teacher version, and itwas like four questions.
But I was looking around theroom, I'm like I was gauging it,
cause, you know, teachers werelike hard to hard to impress
when it comes to things like ohGod, here we go again, getting
to know you stuff.
Um, I think we're, yeah, we'rehard, we're hard to impress, uh
(09:18):
anyway.
So I was looking around theroom like, oh, this is
interesting.
Let me just like see howeveryone responds to this,
because obviously I use neverhave I ever so much in my own
practice with my, like you know,tough teen crowds and everyone
was really getting into it,everyone was loving it and I'm
like, okay, like that justproves that.
I think you know it is a bit offun.
(09:39):
Obviously, keep it nice andclassroom safe.
So the kinds of things that Imight do chuck out.
There are things like neverhave I ever left my lunch in my
bag until it went moldy.
Never have I ever worn myclothes inside out all day
accidentally.
Never have I ever tried toquietly open a bag of chips
during class.
Never have I ever cut my ownhair.
You get the point.
Just make it appropriate forthe age group that you are
(10:01):
teaching.
The next one that I love isspeed greetings, and what I do
is I just have, like you know,two students, like two circles,
concentric circles.
You know an inner circle andouter circle.
One stays put, the otherrotates around.
I'm sure you've done somethinglike that in the past, and I
have little cards with questionson them and each pair just has
(10:23):
30 to 60 seconds to answer aquestion Questions that I put
out.
There are things like you know,if you had $500 to spend today,
what would you buy?
What's your perfectthree-course meal?
What's something that kids knowmore about than adults, which I
think is a really interestingone?
What do you think the bestthing about being your age is
(10:43):
right now.
If you had to save a few thingsin a fire, what would they be?
Just things like that that getstudents talking, but it's not
something that has a lot ofsocial risk, which is the
problem.
With a lot of icebreakers wethink, oh my God, we only have
one day to build this community,so we have to get students to
like know each other and bevulnerable, and when there's too
much social risk, students justopt out and all you get are
(11:07):
answers like oh, my favoritething is shoes.
You know like you won't get adepth of response anyway, so you
might as well do something alittle bit fun where naturally,
things are starting to kind ofcome out and you know they're
having a bit of a laugh, they'reforming bonds and all the rest
of it, but in a way that'ssupernatural and normal and
(11:27):
doesn't feel like it's beingforced.
The goal really is to open upopportunities for authentic
discussions and a few laughs andjust you know, I think of it as
breaking the ice, but then overthe year we're warming that ice
into a nice cup of tea.
That is our community anyway.
So getting to know youractivities done day two, so
that's day one.
I want day one to be like I'mtrying so getting to know your
(11:47):
activities Done.
Day two so that's day one.
I want day one to be like I'mtrying to get to know your names
.
I try to make a little bit of atask for myself and I'm going
to get to know everyone's nameby the end and I'll kind of go
around the room and I'll saythings and as they're leaving
the room I'll try to, like youknow, get their names and I'll
(12:08):
apologize profusely if I don'tget it and I will really like
just prep them and say, hey,like I'm really.
I've really struggled withnames and I've got not only your
names to learn, I've got like150 other names to learn.
So please give me a break, butknow that I'm trying really,
really hard.
So that is the goal for thefirst day getting to know their
names and then doing somethingthat's just fun, low stakes and
opening up opportunities forthose authentic discussions, a
few laughs, all the rest of it.
(12:28):
Day two is where I'll do myexpectation setting.
It's not just like me settingout a bunch of rules, it is more
of a set of collaborative kindof classroom norms and I run
this like I would, a properlesson which is like concept
driven and focused on buy-in,because that way we're going to
(12:50):
have a better chance at gettingstudents on board with what
those expectations are, ratherthan them switching off and
going oh here we go again.
It's just what I can't do, whatI should be doing.
I hear this every year Like wewant it to actually connect with
them and mean something forthem.
So the concept, for example,expectations.
Do they know what expectationsare?
(13:10):
Do they know where they are inthe real world?
Do they have expectationsoutside of the classroom?
Of course they do.
It's about connecting them withthat idea.
What expectations do they havein sports or at home?
And the whole idea of this isfor students to go okay,
expectations aren't justsomething that you expect of us,
(13:31):
you know.
It's not something that justthe school expects of me.
It is something that makes theworld function and makes life
function, and it's how we engagewith our communities and with
everything that we do.
So you know I play football andthe expectation is that I'm a
team player and that I share andthat I'm playing.
(13:52):
You know, in I'm not a footballplayer, I'm not a team player
in terms of like going andplaying in a team sport.
So I've never done that before,but you get what I mean.
So what is expected of me by mycoach at home?
What's expected of me, like,when I come home from school?
What's expected of me?
What's expected of me aroundbedtime, around dinnertime,
(14:16):
around getting up for school?
Like, what do I need to do?
What is expected of me?
And then you can dig deeperinto that and say, okay, well,
if those expectations weren'tthere, how would my football
team run?
How would my home run?
You know, how would I if theyhave jobs outside of school?
Like what would happen to myjob if no one expected anything
(14:37):
of me or if I didn't expectanything of myself?
Because it's not just aboutexternally what people expect of
us.
It's like, what values do Ihold?
Like, what do I expect of otherpeople?
Like, what do I expect of myparents, parents, of my brother,
of my friends and all the restof it?
So, starting with expectationsas a concept, number one allows
(14:57):
us to see if students actuallyknow what expectations are and
teach them what expectations are, because it might just be
something they're like okay,like I kind of get it, but I've
never really dug into the whatand the why, depending on their
age and their ability levels andall the rest of it.
So that that's the first thingreally getting them to have a
clear understanding ofexpectations before we go into
(15:18):
the lesson, which is important.
And then having the buy-in ofoh okay, it's not something
that's just forced upon me atschool because you guys suck, it
is something that actually isvery important for my world and
everybody's worlds.
So once I go and dig into theconcept of expectations and I do
that through, like you know,where do we see them in the real
(15:39):
world?
What would happen if we didn'thave these expectations in place
?
I then go to the modeling ofexpectation setting.
So I start with me.
What do you expect of me?
You know, like, say, you expectme to turn up on time.
You expect me to treateverybody with fairness.
You expect me to treateverybody with fairness.
You expect me to be prepared,All of those things that a
(15:59):
teacher, you know it's our jobto do.
What is important for us?
To embed ways for students toauthentically contribute to that
discussion, and that's where wecan try to teach them that in
this part and model it for themin this part.
So if you want to use post-itnotes or digital boards or
whatever works for you like, gothrough them, vote on them, get
(16:20):
students to propose theseexpectations, to talk about them
, to even challenge them if theywant to like no, I don't agree
with that and tell them.
You know okay why, and they canexplain that to you.
The point of this is for us tovulnerably show students that
expectations aren't justsomething that is for them.
Again, it's reinforcing thatconcept that expectations are
(16:41):
just something that in the realworld we have to do.
So that's where we model it.
So model sharing, model, youknow, maybe voting or
challenging or just having thatlist up there.
And once you've got a list ofreally nice expectations, you
might even say, like, can I addsome that I haven't seen up here
, you know, and really have itas this beautiful collaborative
(17:03):
process and try to get the kidsto share, who maybe you know are
sitting up the back, they'renot saying anything.
You don't have to do thatverbally, like, get them to
write something on a post-itnote and really make a point of
them sharing what they shouldexpect of you, because again,
it's about the buy-in.
When you get to the next part,which is the structure of the
student expectations, thenthey're going to be more willing
(17:25):
to share.
So you've done the student andthe teacher expectations.
You've modeled it.
Now you just go through thatexact same structure with your
students.
So what should the expectationsbe of them?
They can use post-it notes,they can use a digital board,
they can use whatever works foryou in your context to go
through and say what theirexpectations should be.
(17:46):
You can vote on them, you candiscuss them, you can have a
lovely list there.
I also like doing an activitywhere I have like a Venn diagram
and I write down in the middleof the Venn the expectations
that are just that, you know,have popped up for both of us,
for teacher and student, and itjust shows us that their
expectations that we just haveof each other as human beings,
(18:07):
like fairness and kindness andeffort and showing up you know
all of those things.
So I like doing the Venndiagram part like part of the
lesson as well.
I think it's really helpful.
Okay, that's expectations Daythree.
So that's day two.
Day one you know, breaking theice, remembering that it's not
about, like you know, going toohard on it.
It's about opening up thoseopportunities for authentic
(18:30):
connection, discussion, a bit ofa laugh.
You want them going homethinking, okay, this year is
going to be good.
Day two that's where you doyour expectation, setting really
coming at it from you know, aplace of collaboration and
buy-in, and modeling that forthem and getting them to
understand like the valuesbehind it and why it's important
.
And then day three so let'sjust say we're on a weekly
(18:52):
schedule of three lessons a week.
On day three I will startteaching things.
I'm going to start to introducedaily routines, but I'm going
to be doing that through thelens of still building that
community.
So, for example, I do a like myentry routine will always have
a starter activity.
I might introduce that starteractivity to students but instead
(19:12):
of having one that's driven bythe curriculum, I might do a.
Do now that is, a chit chatquestion or a beat the clock
question, and then explain afterwe've had that laugh and we've
had a bit of a.
You know we've done a funactivity as a starter.
I will then explain how everytime we come into the lesson I'm
going to have a starter up onthe board in the same place that
(19:34):
they're going to do.
Then I will scatter in somebrain breaks, then I will finish
off the lesson with a communitybuilder.
But they're the kind of thingsthat I do every single lesson.
I'm going to do an entryroutine, I'm going to do a
transition routine.
I'll be doing all of thosethings but I'm going to be
really strategic in this thirdlesson of explicitly introducing
(19:55):
them, not in a way thatoverwhelms them, like not too
much, but, you know, just reallynaturally starting to weave
these things in.
So I'm still continuing tobuild the community.
I will still start to do somelearning in that lesson, like
I'll introduce the subject forthe term, but I will still kind
of sandwich in the teaching ofroutines through that lens of
(20:18):
community building.
Remember that communitybuilding is no one and done.
We want to break the ice butthen we're going to be warming
that tea throughout the wholeterm.
And this is how we do it.
We start to scatter things inlike that.
So the do.
Now it won't be a usually acommunity builder.
Usually that would be reallyrelevant to the lesson, same as
the exit routine.
But those little snippets ofbrain breaks I will scatter them
(20:41):
through and I will explain tothem explicitly in that third
lesson, that this is what I do.
You know, sometimes we need toget up and move, sometimes we
need to, you know, use ourbrains differently to have a bit
of a break so we can then getback to the writing.
So I'll explicitly explain allof those routines that I will be
using throughout the year andteaching it, modeling it, and
(21:03):
day three is such a great timefor me to do that.
And then the final part of thatquestion for my behavior club
was like how do I start the yearstrong?
But then also, how do I andwhen do I bring in things like
SEL lessons and regulationresources and all of those
things that are really important?
But like, when do you actuallyintroduce those?
I introduce those throughoutthe year and I do so in a way
(21:25):
that's really natural and kindof responding to the needs in
the room or when I see anopportunity arise.
So if there has been, you know,a student with specific
behaviors, I'll be introducingthose concepts, maybe one-to-one
.
If I noticed that it's like abig thing in the class that
there's a lot of dysregulation,I might pause and I might start
teaching my flipping your lidlesson, and I'll do that
(21:46):
throughout the term, you know inlittle parts.
Or I might introduce aregulation resource once a week,
or I might start to do somejournaling in the morning.
Like you know, if I've gotthree lessons a week, I might do
every lesson that week.
I might just do a starter ofgratitude or mindfulness or
something like that and start toexplicitly explain what's
(22:07):
happening in our brains and youknow what's happening in the
stress response.
So it's more of a natural kindof weaving in, of teaching those
skills when, and you know, ifthat arises, and really
responding to the needs of myclass, because one class might
be fine with their regulation,they might, you know.
I mean, if you listened to mylast episode, you'll know that
(22:30):
that is not necessarily the casewith a lot of classes.
Most, you know most classeswill have one in three students
that are experiencingsignificant symptoms of
depression or anxiety, which iswhy this stuff is so important
for us to be weaving in when wecan.
Even if it is just like a threeminute breathing exercise at
the start of one lesson a week,you know, even something like
(22:52):
that can make a bit of an impact.
But some, so some classes mightneed more in terms of their
regulation, or I mightprioritize that, whereas another
class might be reallystruggling with their mindset,
like they have a really fixedmindset and I'm really getting a
lot of pushback when it comesto actually putting the effort
in and I might have to do thelesson on growth mindset or, you
know, have a bit of like afocus on that.
(23:14):
So I'll put like a display upon the wall and I'll start to
talk about the quotes up on thewall.
It really is dependent uponwhat's going on in your class.
So if you are in the behaviorclub and you're wondering when
to kind of sprinkle these thingsin, just come and let me know
in the community and I can pointyou in the direction of the
exact resources that you can getstarted with.
So you're not kind of throwingspaghetti at the wall and seeing
(23:36):
what sticks, you're actuallybeing targeted in the resources
that you can use and you knowwhen you should use them.
So please make sure you'reusing that resource.
But yeah, I'm just going toleave it there because there is
a lot that I've covered.
If you want that all done foryou.
By the way, if you want all ofthe icebreakers and the
expectations lesson, I've evenadded in a um, an escape room,
(24:00):
which is a lot of fun for thatfirst day back because it
introduces values and, uh, in away that's, like you know,
really collaborative and fun.
Then I'll pop the link to myback to school mega bundle so
you can go into the holidays orcome back to school feeling so
much more relaxed because youdon't have to do all of that
yourself.
It's taken me weeks and weeksand weeks to put that together
(24:20):
and I'm making it better all ofthe time.
So if you want to grab the backto school mega bundle, I'll pop
that link in the show notes foryou.
But of course, if you're abehavior clubber, that is
already in the community for youin your resource section.
Just pop in.
It'll be under back to schoolresources and you can download
that and just crack on with it.
Anyway, I hope you have alovely, lovely school year.
(24:45):
If you've gotten to the end ofthis podcast episode, it means
that you are going back toschool, or maybe you're just
interested in how I approachthings, but if you are going
back to school, I am sending youso much love for the year ahead
.
I am so excited for what thisschool year will bring and how I
can support you in any way thatI possibly can.
(25:05):
And yeah, until next time.
Big love and bye for now.
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 oldbehavior nerd on a mission to
demystify and simplify thatlittle thing called classroom
management.
The way we've all been taughtto manage behavior and classroom
manage has left us playingcrowd control, which is not
(00:22):
something I subscribe to,because we're not bouncers,
we're teachers.
So listen in as I walk youthrough the game, changing
strategies and I mean the thingsthat we can actually do in
action in our classrooms thatwill allow you to lean into your
beautiful values as acompassionate educator and feel
empowered to run your room witha little more calm and, dare I
(00:43):
say it, a lot less chaos.
I will see you in the episode.
Hello teacher friend, welcomeback to the Unteachables podcast
.
It is wonderful to have youhere with me.
Thank you for tuning in again.
I want to start by apologizingprofusely in advance.
If this episode has popped upon your feed and you're like
(01:05):
back to school, what the hell.
Or maybe you haven't even putthis episode on, but it was like
playing in the next, the nextpodcast, and uh yeah, not ideal
If you are actually not goingback to school and you're trying
to enjoy your summer and it'slike a shock to the system, like
when you walk into a shoppingcenter and you've just started
summer holidays and you walk inand you've got that big old back
(01:25):
to school display with lunchboxes and books and pens and all
of the stationery and you justwant to crawl into a hole.
She's like I've just started mysummer.
Can you please leave me alone.
So if you are thinking that Iam sorry, you can pause this.
You can come back to it whenthe time is right.
My Aussies and Kiwis I know thatwe're in the middle of the
school year, obviously, but Ihave a lot of you out there who
(01:47):
are in the Northern hemisphere,so I try my very best to support
all of you, depending on theseasons.
Yeah, I try to spread myselfacross that.
So anyway, without further ado,I'm going to be talking about
going back to school and Iwanted to kind of give you my
non BS negotiables, non BSnegotiables, the non, no BS
(02:11):
non-negotiables for the firstweek back, because there's so
much out there that you couldfind Like you could pause this
episode and you could Googleright now first week back of
school and you could get somepretty good advice or you could
get some pretty rubbish advice,and the problem with the kind of
stuff you might find onPinterest or Google or on
ChatGPT is that it's notnecessarily aligned with our
(02:33):
approach or it might be quiteoutdated or just stuff that's
quite cheesy, overdone anddoesn't really get to the heart
of what we actually need to bedoing to lay the foundations for
a really strong start.
It's usually quite performative, usually quite I don't know
like tick a box, like hey, let'sthrow a ball around and say one
thing about each other.
That stuff isn't obviously likebreaking the ice and doing all
(02:54):
that stuff.
Great An expectations lesson,great.
But we really need to bethinking about how we can
approach those first days back.
So your students go home.
They're like you know what'sgoing to be a good year, I know
where things are, you know, Iknow where I stand, I know
what's going on and you know Ithink my teacher's going to help
me out.
Like you know, that is the goal.
You want them to be going homeand having a really good
(03:15):
foundation of understandingaround you, around what they'll
be doing.
You know, building communitydoesn't take a day, it doesn't
take a week, but it's, you know,a really good start anyway.
So, and also, the stuff that youmight find on Google is not
going to necessarily beappropriate for upper, primary
and secondary kids.
Um, because, my gosh, the eyerolls.
(03:36):
You don't want the eye rollshappening the second you get
back to school with these kidsbecause you want the buy-in, you
want that, like you know,community, you want a bit of fun
, you want a bit of novelty.
And, gosh, if you start withsomething like hey, my name's
Claire, use your first, you knowfirst name and come up with an
adjective to describe yourself,then they're going to be like,
(03:57):
oh, the audible groans aroundthe room.
Anyway, so I will be doing thatwas a very long intro to that,
so I'm just going to be.
I've just dealt with a lot ofgroans from my school students
not wanting to do things in thepast and trying to, like you
know, bring a bit of energy backinto that first week, anyway.
So I'm going to be doing a veryquick overview of the things
that I now focus on in thatfirst day or week back A week
(04:20):
for me, by the way, it's notfive days, I'm thinking in like
three 75 minute lessons in aweek with each class.
So the first three days back,really, if you're primary.
But yeah, just what I do inthat first week with my
secondary classes.
So day one let's step.
By the way, thank you so muchfor one of my behavior club has
asked this question.
They're like you know, I've gotso many things here in the club
(04:40):
that like are so exciting andso great for the first week back
, but where does it all fit in,like when do I do what?
When do I talk about certainthings?
And then you know, when do Iintroduce, like social,
emotional learning stuff?
So, um, if you're listening,props to you for asking that
question, because that didinspire this episode of the
podcast.
Okay, so day one I do not startwith expectations.
(05:01):
On day one, I actually startwith a seating plan.
I guess it's not in a punitiveway, it's not in like a boring
way.
It's just that I need to knownames because names are powerful
, names are important to peopleand, as secondary teachers, my
gosh and with my brain the waythat it is with names, like it
just leaves my head the secondit enters we can use all of the
(05:22):
help that we can get.
So I genuinely need a seatingplan to be able to know
everybody's names.
And then I do some getting toknow you activities and I'm not
talking like boring, let's sitaround and let's come up with
some magic tips to describeourselves.
I'll get them into theirseating plans.
By the way, I usually do thisby popping on like a post-it
(05:42):
note on everyone's desk.
I usually do it alphabeticalbecause you know it's just
easier that way and the kids arekind of used to stand, like you
know, sitting in alphabeticalorder and they'd be doing that
whole schooling.
But I put a post-it note oneach desk with their names and I
project I just have like areally basic kind of you know
(06:03):
model of my classroom up on theboard and I just put their names
on that model map.
Just their tables, um, I justproject a table thing up on the
board where, um, I write theirnames where they're sitting.
So this is really clear wherethey're sitting.
There's no you know um, ummingand ahhing.
You know they come in, they sitdown, sweet, um.
(06:23):
I then do some getting to knowyou activities, and here are
some of the ones that Iabsolutely love.
One of the ones I do all of thetime with my especially, like
the older students, because Ifind it really hard to engage
them in certain other things.
I do a playlist activity andthat is always something that I
do because it always engages thestudents.
It's always something they'rereally proud to share in, really
(06:45):
excited to share about, andthen that forms something that
we do for the rest of the yearas well.
So for the playlist activity, Ijust get them to write their
favorite song or a song thatrepresents them or a song that's
meaningful to them, on apost-it note and I pop it in.
And they get them to pop it ina box.
They can hashtag their name onit, they can write their name on
it, they can do whatever theywant with that.
(07:05):
Um, depends on what yourstudents are like.
But then I either take them awayquietly and don't share them in
the moment and what I'll do isI'll collate, kind of like a, a
class playlist, and then I willuse that playlist you know in
most lessons to and I'll justlabel the playlist like you know
, year 10, english or whateverif you've got multiple classes,
(07:28):
but I'll label that.
I will use it for transition,so I might choose one of those
songs each week to be thetransition song, or I might
choose one of those songs to bethe entry song for when they're
coming in and sitting down andunpacking and, you know, getting
started on their starteractivity.
I might use that same song forlike an exit routine, for when
they're cleaning up, or I mightuse it to non-verbally signal
(07:50):
times to pack up or clean up.
You can use it in whatever wayyou want, but those songs are
such a great way for us to use.
You know, the personality ofour kids and the identity of our
kids, Like music is soimportant to so many of us and
that way we can kind of bring inthe personality of our young
people and it's just such abeautiful way to build a
(08:13):
community.
And you can even go as far aslike hey, like the transition
song today or the song that wehad today, guess whose it was?
Like, can anyone guess?
Can anyone remember?
Maybe they don't even rememberthat it's theirs, but please do
look over them first and justcheck that they're safe for work
, because I have had situationsbefore where I'm like, no, that
can't go on.
I'll have to go back to thestudent and say, hey, can you
(08:34):
please choose one?
That is a little bit moreappropriate.
So that's a playlist activitywhich I love.
You can go around the room andget them to explain their song
and why it's important to them,if you want.
But yeah, it's up to you howyou use it, but I just love that
as a kind of ongoing communitything.
The next one that I love isNever have I Ever, and that is
it's just.
(08:54):
You know, it's just a bit offun, like even recently I went
to a conference and they didlike a Never have I Ever thing,
like a teacher version, and itwas like four questions.
But I was looking around theroom, I'm like I was gauging it,
cause, you know, teachers werelike hard to hard to impress
when it comes to things like ohGod, here we go again, getting
to know you stuff.
Um, I think we're, yeah, we'rehard, we're hard to impress, uh
(09:18):
anyway.
So I was looking around theroom like, oh, this is
interesting.
Let me just like see howeveryone responds to this,
because obviously I use neverhave I ever so much in my own
practice with my, like you know,tough teen crowds and everyone
was really getting into it,everyone was loving it and I'm
like, okay, like that justproves that.
I think you know it is a bit offun.
(09:39):
Obviously, keep it nice andclassroom safe.
So the kinds of things that Imight do chuck out.
There are things like neverhave I ever left my lunch in my
bag until it went moldy.
Never have I ever worn myclothes inside out all day
accidentally.
Never have I ever tried toquietly open a bag of chips
during class.
Never have I ever cut my ownhair.
You get the point.
Just make it appropriate forthe age group that you are
(10:01):
teaching.
The next one that I love isspeed greetings, and what I do
is I just have, like you know,two students, like two circles,
concentric circles.
You know an inner circle andouter circle.
One stays put, the otherrotates around.
I'm sure you've done somethinglike that in the past, and I
have little cards with questionson them and each pair just has
(10:23):
30 to 60 seconds to answer aquestion Questions that I put
out.
There are things like you know,if you had $500 to spend today,
what would you buy?
What's your perfectthree-course meal?
What's something that kids knowmore about than adults, which I
think is a really interestingone?
What do you think the bestthing about being your age is
(10:43):
right now.
If you had to save a few thingsin a fire, what would they be?
Just things like that that getstudents talking, but it's not
something that has a lot ofsocial risk, which is the
problem.
With a lot of icebreakers wethink, oh my God, we only have
one day to build this community,so we have to get students to
like know each other and bevulnerable, and when there's too
much social risk, students justopt out and all you get are
(11:07):
answers like oh, my favoritething is shoes.
You know like you won't get adepth of response anyway, so you
might as well do something alittle bit fun where naturally,
things are starting to kind ofcome out and you know they're
having a bit of a laugh, they'reforming bonds and all the rest
of it, but in a way that'ssupernatural and normal and
(11:27):
doesn't feel like it's beingforced.
The goal really is to open upopportunities for authentic
discussions and a few laughs andjust you know, I think of it as
breaking the ice, but then overthe year we're warming that ice
into a nice cup of tea.
That is our community anyway.
So getting to know youractivities done day two, so
that's day one.
I want day one to be like I'mtrying so getting to know your
(11:47):
activities Done.
Day two so that's day one.
I want day one to be like I'mtrying to get to know your names
.
I try to make a little bit of atask for myself and I'm going
to get to know everyone's nameby the end and I'll kind of go
around the room and I'll saythings and as they're leaving
the room I'll try to, like youknow, get their names and I'll
(12:08):
apologize profusely if I don'tget it and I will really like
just prep them and say, hey,like I'm really.
I've really struggled withnames and I've got not only your
names to learn, I've got like150 other names to learn.
So please give me a break, butknow that I'm trying really,
really hard.
So that is the goal for thefirst day getting to know their
names and then doing somethingthat's just fun, low stakes and
opening up opportunities forthose authentic discussions, a
few laughs, all the rest of it.
(12:28):
Day two is where I'll do myexpectation setting.
It's not just like me settingout a bunch of rules, it is more
of a set of collaborative kindof classroom norms and I run
this like I would, a properlesson which is like concept
driven and focused on buy-in,because that way we're going to
(12:50):
have a better chance at gettingstudents on board with what
those expectations are, ratherthan them switching off and
going oh here we go again.
It's just what I can't do, whatI should be doing.
I hear this every year Like wewant it to actually connect with
them and mean something forthem.
So the concept, for example,expectations.
Do they know what expectationsare?
(13:10):
Do they know where they are inthe real world?
Do they have expectationsoutside of the classroom?
Of course they do.
It's about connecting them withthat idea.
What expectations do they havein sports or at home?
And the whole idea of this isfor students to go okay,
expectations aren't justsomething that you expect of us,
(13:31):
you know.
It's not something that justthe school expects of me.
It is something that makes theworld function and makes life
function, and it's how we engagewith our communities and with
everything that we do.
So you know I play football andthe expectation is that I'm a
team player and that I share andthat I'm playing.
(13:52):
You know, in I'm not a footballplayer, I'm not a team player
in terms of like going andplaying in a team sport.
So I've never done that before,but you get what I mean.
So what is expected of me by mycoach at home?
What's expected of me, like,when I come home from school?
What's expected of me?
What's expected of me aroundbedtime, around dinnertime,
(14:16):
around getting up for school?
Like, what do I need to do?
What is expected of me?
And then you can dig deeperinto that and say, okay, well,
if those expectations weren'tthere, how would my football
team run?
How would my home run?
You know, how would I if theyhave jobs outside of school?
Like what would happen to myjob if no one expected anything
(14:37):
of me or if I didn't expectanything of myself?
Because it's not just aboutexternally what people expect of
us.
It's like, what values do Ihold?
Like, what do I expect of otherpeople?
Like, what do I expect of myparents, parents, of my brother,
of my friends and all the restof it?
So, starting with expectationsas a concept, number one allows
(14:57):
us to see if students actuallyknow what expectations are and
teach them what expectations are, because it might just be
something they're like okay,like I kind of get it, but I've
never really dug into the whatand the why, depending on their
age and their ability levels andall the rest of it.
So that that's the first thingreally getting them to have a
clear understanding ofexpectations before we go into
(15:18):
the lesson, which is important.
And then having the buy-in ofoh okay, it's not something
that's just forced upon me atschool because you guys suck, it
is something that actually isvery important for my world and
everybody's worlds.
So once I go and dig into theconcept of expectations and I do
that through, like you know,where do we see them in the real
(15:39):
world?
What would happen if we didn'thave these expectations in place
?
I then go to the modeling ofexpectation setting.
So I start with me.
What do you expect of me?
You know, like, say, you expectme to turn up on time.
You expect me to treateverybody with fairness.
You expect me to treateverybody with fairness.
You expect me to be prepared,All of those things that a
(15:59):
teacher, you know it's our jobto do.
What is important for us?
To embed ways for students toauthentically contribute to that
discussion, and that's where wecan try to teach them that in
this part and model it for themin this part.
So if you want to use post-itnotes or digital boards or
whatever works for you like, gothrough them, vote on them, get
(16:20):
students to propose theseexpectations, to talk about them
, to even challenge them if theywant to like no, I don't agree
with that and tell them.
You know okay why, and they canexplain that to you.
The point of this is for us tovulnerably show students that
expectations aren't justsomething that is for them.
Again, it's reinforcing thatconcept that expectations are
(16:41):
just something that in the realworld we have to do.
So that's where we model it.
So model sharing, model, youknow, maybe voting or
challenging or just having thatlist up there.
And once you've got a list ofreally nice expectations, you
might even say, like, can I addsome that I haven't seen up here
, you know, and really have itas this beautiful collaborative
(17:03):
process and try to get the kidsto share, who maybe you know are
sitting up the back, they'renot saying anything.
You don't have to do thatverbally, like, get them to
write something on a post-itnote and really make a point of
them sharing what they shouldexpect of you, because again,
it's about the buy-in.
When you get to the next part,which is the structure of the
student expectations, thenthey're going to be more willing
(17:25):
to share.
So you've done the student andthe teacher expectations.
You've modeled it.
Now you just go through thatexact same structure with your
students.
So what should the expectationsbe of them?
They can use post-it notes,they can use a digital board,
they can use whatever works foryou in your context to go
through and say what theirexpectations should be.
(17:46):
You can vote on them, you candiscuss them, you can have a
lovely list there.
I also like doing an activitywhere I have like a Venn diagram
and I write down in the middleof the Venn the expectations
that are just that, you know,have popped up for both of us,
for teacher and student, and itjust shows us that their
expectations that we just haveof each other as human beings,
(18:07):
like fairness and kindness andeffort and showing up you know
all of those things.
So I like doing the Venndiagram part like part of the
lesson as well.
I think it's really helpful.
Okay, that's expectations Daythree.
So that's day two.
Day one you know, breaking theice, remembering that it's not
about, like you know, going toohard on it.
It's about opening up thoseopportunities for authentic
(18:30):
connection, discussion, a bit ofa laugh.
You want them going homethinking, okay, this year is
going to be good.
Day two that's where you doyour expectation, setting really
coming at it from you know, aplace of collaboration and
buy-in, and modeling that forthem and getting them to
understand like the valuesbehind it and why it's important
.
And then day three so let'sjust say we're on a weekly
(18:52):
schedule of three lessons a week.
On day three I will startteaching things.
I'm going to start to introducedaily routines, but I'm going
to be doing that through thelens of still building that
community.
So, for example, I do a like myentry routine will always have
a starter activity.
I might introduce that starteractivity to students but instead
(19:12):
of having one that's driven bythe curriculum, I might do a.
Do now that is, a chit chatquestion or a beat the clock
question, and then explain afterwe've had that laugh and we've
had a bit of a.
You know we've done a funactivity as a starter.
I will then explain how everytime we come into the lesson I'm
going to have a starter up onthe board in the same place that
(19:34):
they're going to do.
Then I will scatter in somebrain breaks, then I will finish
off the lesson with a communitybuilder.
But they're the kind of thingsthat I do every single lesson.
I'm going to do an entryroutine, I'm going to do a
transition routine.
I'll be doing all of thosethings but I'm going to be
really strategic in this thirdlesson of explicitly introducing
(19:55):
them, not in a way thatoverwhelms them, like not too
much, but, you know, just reallynaturally starting to weave
these things in.
So I'm still continuing tobuild the community.
I will still start to do somelearning in that lesson, like
I'll introduce the subject forthe term, but I will still kind
of sandwich in the teaching ofroutines through that lens of
(20:18):
community building.
Remember that communitybuilding is no one and done.
We want to break the ice butthen we're going to be warming
that tea throughout the wholeterm.
And this is how we do it.
We start to scatter things inlike that.
So the do.
Now it won't be a usually acommunity builder.
Usually that would be reallyrelevant to the lesson, same as
the exit routine.
But those little snippets ofbrain breaks I will scatter them
(20:41):
through and I will explain tothem explicitly in that third
lesson, that this is what I do.
You know, sometimes we need toget up and move, sometimes we
need to, you know, use ourbrains differently to have a bit
of a break so we can then getback to the writing.
So I'll explicitly explain allof those routines that I will be
using throughout the year andteaching it, modeling it, and
(21:03):
day three is such a great timefor me to do that.
And then the final part of thatquestion for my behavior club
was like how do I start the yearstrong?
But then also, how do I andwhen do I bring in things like
SEL lessons and regulationresources and all of those
things that are really important?
But like, when do you actuallyintroduce those?
I introduce those throughoutthe year and I do so in a way
(21:25):
that's really natural and kindof responding to the needs in
the room or when I see anopportunity arise.
So if there has been, you know,a student with specific
behaviors, I'll be introducingthose concepts, maybe one-to-one
.
If I noticed that it's like abig thing in the class that
there's a lot of dysregulation,I might pause and I might start
teaching my flipping your lidlesson, and I'll do that
(21:46):
throughout the term, you know inlittle parts.
Or I might introduce aregulation resource once a week,
or I might start to do somejournaling in the morning.
Like you know, if I've gotthree lessons a week, I might do
every lesson that week.
I might just do a starter ofgratitude or mindfulness or
something like that and start toexplicitly explain what's
(22:07):
happening in our brains and youknow what's happening in the
stress response.
So it's more of a natural kindof weaving in, of teaching those
skills when, and you know, ifthat arises, and really
responding to the needs of myclass, because one class might
be fine with their regulation,they might, you know.
I mean, if you listened to mylast episode, you'll know that
(22:30):
that is not necessarily the casewith a lot of classes.
Most, you know most classeswill have one in three students
that are experiencingsignificant symptoms of
depression or anxiety, which iswhy this stuff is so important
for us to be weaving in when wecan.
Even if it is just like a threeminute breathing exercise at
the start of one lesson a week,you know, even something like
(22:52):
that can make a bit of an impact.
But some, so some classes mightneed more in terms of their
regulation, or I mightprioritize that, whereas another
class might be reallystruggling with their mindset,
like they have a really fixedmindset and I'm really getting a
lot of pushback when it comesto actually putting the effort
in and I might have to do thelesson on growth mindset or, you
know, have a bit of like afocus on that.
(23:14):
So I'll put like a display upon the wall and I'll start to
talk about the quotes up on thewall.
It really is dependent uponwhat's going on in your class.
So if you are in the behaviorclub and you're wondering when
to kind of sprinkle these thingsin, just come and let me know
in the community and I can pointyou in the direction of the
exact resources that you can getstarted with.
So you're not kind of throwingspaghetti at the wall and seeing
(23:36):
what sticks, you're actuallybeing targeted in the resources
that you can use and you knowwhen you should use them.
So please make sure you'reusing that resource.
But yeah, I'm just going toleave it there because there is
a lot that I've covered.
If you want that all done foryou.
By the way, if you want all ofthe icebreakers and the
expectations lesson, I've evenadded in a um, an escape room,
(24:00):
which is a lot of fun for thatfirst day back because it
introduces values and, uh, in away that's, like you know,
really collaborative and fun.
Then I'll pop the link to myback to school mega bundle so
you can go into the holidays orcome back to school feeling so
much more relaxed because youdon't have to do all of that
yourself.
It's taken me weeks and weeksand weeks to put that together
(24:20):
and I'm making it better all ofthe time.
So if you want to grab the backto school mega bundle, I'll pop
that link in the show notes foryou.
But of course, if you're abehavior clubber, that is
already in the community for youin your resource section.
Just pop in.
It'll be under back to schoolresources and you can download
that and just crack on with it.
Anyway, I hope you have alovely, lovely school year.
(24:45):
If you've gotten to the end ofthis podcast episode, it means
that you are going back toschool, or maybe you're just
interested in how I approachthings, but if you are going
back to school, I am sending youso much love for the year ahead
.
I am so excited for what thisschool year will bring and how I
can support you in any way thatI possibly can.
(25:05):
And yeah, until next time.
Big love and bye for now.
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