August 12, 2025 • 18 mins
Join the Kickstart: https://www.the-unteachables.com/kickstart
If your lessons feel like a sprint uphill from the very first bell... kids trickling in, backpacks still on, everyone chatting while you’re already repeating yourself, then friend, you don’t have an entry routine problem. You have an entry routine opportunity.
This is part two of the Behaviour Club Kickstart, and today we’re talking entry routines! Specifically, the simple but mighty tool: Learning Maps.
Think of Learning Maps like Google Maps for your lesson: they show students exactly where they’re headed, how they’ll get there, and why it matters. And the magic? They’re not just a “best practice” teaching tool, they’re also low-level behaviour kryptonite.
I’ll walk you through:
- Why a shaky start sets the tone for a chaotic lesson (and how to fix it)
- How Learning Maps calm student anxiety and cut down disruption
- What to include so they actually work in the real world—not just on paper
- How to use them as part of your entry routine without adding extra work to your plate
It’s never just about the behaviour, it’s every dang thing we do in our classroom!
What you’ll learn in this episode:
- Why entry routines are your first (and best) line of defence against disruption
- The three superpowers of Learning Maps for behaviour and engagement
- Exactly what to include in a Learning Map so it’s clear, consistent, and student-friendly
- How to embed Learning Maps into every lesson, no matter your schedule or classroom setup
- Ways to keep students returning to the Learning Map throughout the lesson to boost clarity and buy-in
Have a question, comment, or just want to say hello? Drop us a text!
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 Unteachablespodcast.
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 and
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 teachers, and welcome.
Welcome back to the Unteachablespodcast and welcome back to
session two of the BehaviourClub Kickstart.
If you didn't listen to lastweek's episode, please go back
and do that.
It was about presence and thatis just the foundation for
(01:07):
everything that we bring throughthe kickstart.
So please go back and listen tothat first.
But if you need a littlereminder about what the
kickstart is, it is just likefive really short actionable
sessions where you are going tolearn one quick, simple and
powerful strategy for everysingle part of your lesson.
It will help you to reducedisruption and to increase
predictability and just buildbeautiful, calm and confident
(01:32):
teaching habits and routinesthat just start shaping your
proactive, incredible,compassionate, everything
classroom management approachAll of the things that we talk
about here is just going to be alittle bridge to help you to
really start to implement thosethings.
So it really is just smallshifts done, every single lesson
for huge impact.
(01:52):
If you would like to officiallyjoin us for the kickstart
because obviously here there'sonly so much that you can learn
through a podcast you can comeand join the proper kickstart
where you will get thepresentations.
You'll get um, you know meactually talking through things.
There's um, like visualsthat'll be really easy for you
to then apply the kind of thingsthat we're teaching.
(02:14):
You'll also get all of theresources that are attached to
those lessons.
Then please come and join usover at the dash unteachablescom
forward slash kickstart,because you'll be able to get
the resources and just watcheverything through in more depth
.
So if you want to do thekickstart, come and join us,
make the time, come and join me.
(02:34):
It's 10 minute sessions, likethat's why I've done quick five
days, 10 minutes each, theattached resources.
I just want you to go.
Oh my gosh, yes, this workactually works and I can make
incredible changes and I'm notstuck and there are things that
I can do.
So come and commit to that.
So it's $1.
So come and do it, it's $1, andyou can't even get a quarter of
(02:57):
a coffee for that.
So it would just be so fabulousto be able to support you
inside of the kickstart, anyway.
So last week was presence andtoday the second focus is on
entry.
So the way I've structured thekickstart is to kind of bring
you through a bit of a journeyof being in the classroom and
the things that we can controlto be able to reduce disruptions
(03:18):
and low-level behaviors.
And an entry routine ishonestly like if you don't have
a solid entry routine, it can beso flipping hard to then
continue the rest of the lessonin a way that is calm and
productive and something thatyou feel in control of Not in
control of your students, ofcourse, but you feeling in
control of that space.
I remember when I did not havean entry routine and I wasn't
(03:43):
sure, like how to establish asolid entry routine, and I had
so many challenges.
I just feel like it was just anuphill battle from before those
kids even got to my room.
There was the lack of urgencyfor some of them to get started.
So I felt like from the get-go,I was just nagging.
They had their backpack stillon, or they were really slowly
(04:04):
unpacking, or they were justchit-chatting to each other and
I was just nagging.
They had their backpack stillon, or they were really slowly
unpacking, or they were justchit-chatting to each other and
I was standing up the front andtrying to get them to listen and
engage, or, you know, getinvolved in the starter activity
or whatever I had going on atthat moment.
I just felt like it was aconstant slog at the start.
Then I always had students liketrickling in.
If I finally got things to apoint where they were kind of
engaging in things, I then hadstudents trickling in late, so
(04:27):
I'd have to repeat myself.
I'd had students, you know,asking what are we doing today,
mears?
What are we doing today?
What are we doing today whenI'm still waiting for them to
settle?
Or, oh, what are we doing today?
Why can't we get started Like Ijust felt so frazzled from the
get-go and just on the back footof the lesson because I didn't
(04:47):
have a solid entry routine tofollow.
It was just chaos.
And if that is at all relatable, if you've got students who
have a lack of urgency, ifthere's just a lot of chit chat,
if you feel like from the verybeginning of the lesson things
just aren't falling into place,then you need a good old entry
routine, and the stuff that I'mtalking about here is basic
(05:10):
stuff, but implementing it inthe classroom can feel like a
totally different beastaltogether.
I remember when someone taughtme about all this stuff and I
was like, yeah, okay, I do that.
But then I was like actually,no, I don't.
I went into the classroom andI'm like I don't do that and it
takes a little bit of reflection.
But as I'm going through thisstuff, just have a think about
your own entry routine, what'shappening in your classroom at
(05:34):
the very start of the lesson,and come into this session with
a little bit of an open mindabout what you can change in
that first five minutes.
There are lots of things when itcomes to an entry routine and
if you're in the behavior club.
I've got a whole trainingcalled the first five that you
can go and watch and there's allthe resources there.
(05:56):
But I, for the purposes of thekickstart remember 10 minutes,
really quick sessions I wantedto pick out one actionable tool
that you can use to start tocraft an entry routine that is a
little bit calmer, and that isthe one that I've chosen is
Learning Maps and I've spokenabout Learning Maps on the
podcast before, I think, becauseit's one of those things that I
(06:18):
like to nerd out on, becauseit's something that's seemingly
so simple, but these simplevisual tools that they might
just show students like whatthey're learning and you know
how they'll get there, but it isthe consistency and the clarity
that just is such a superpowerfor low level disruption.
So, yes, it is a brilliantteaching and learning tool and
(06:40):
it is best practice and it helpsus communicate to our students
the why and get all of thosewonderful things happening in
terms of the learning but thefelt safety that it can give to
our students just by having thatthere as an entry routine.
It is brilliant.
They reduce anxiety becausewhen students know what's
happening in the routine, it isbrilliant.
They reduce anxiety becausewhen students know what's
happening in the lesson, itreduces their stress response.
(07:01):
It actually, you know,increases their window of
tolerance.
And for the students who havethe biggest behaviors, the ones
that challenge us the most withtheir behaviors, the ones that
you know feel like they're infight, flight or freeze, it's
brilliant for them becausethey're increasing their window
of tolerance.
They know what to expect fromyou.
They know that when they gointo Miss English's lesson
(07:23):
there's a map to their learningon the board and they're going
to be able to tick that off, orthere's something that's there
consistently.
They know that in half anhour's time they're going to be
doing a group activity, so theydon't have to be wondering
what's coming up.
The second reason why they area bit of classroom management
magic is that they reinforceexpectations.
(07:43):
Everything we are doing in theclassroom, moment to moment,
minute to minute, we arecommunicating our expectations.
We're communicating ourexpectations through what we say
.
We're communicating it throughthe things that we provide for
our students, the way that we'recommunicating non-verbally,
every single thing that we do inthe classroom, is communicating
an expectation to our students.
(08:03):
So when we clearly demonstratewhat we're expecting students to
achieve that lesson and showingthem how we're going to support
them to get there.
Our students then go okay,that's what's happening in this
lesson.
They've, you know, mrs clearlyoutlined it there for me and
that's what she's expecting fromme.
You know there's ticker boxnext to it.
(08:27):
I'm going to be expected to dothis.
It is communicating theexpectations that our students
come in and they're going to beengaging in the lesson and they
know that I've got it sorted.
You know like I'm holding themin that space, but they're just
so powerful so they reinforceexpectations, they're reducing
that anxiety and they're justincreasing felt safety for our
students.
So embedding learning maps intoevery single lesson will just
make students feel increasinglymore calm about what they're
(08:48):
going to be walking into.
Then that's going to in turnreduce disruptive, unsettled and
disengaged behaviors.
And it really is just such abeautiful, magical tool, so
simple, and it also justreinforces the fact that the
classroom management staff andthe teaching and learning staff
is inextricably linked.
(09:09):
You cannot separate that out,which is why traditional
classroom management, you know,pees me off a little bit,
because we separate them.
We're like, okay, there'sbehaviors happening.
How about we deal with thebehavior, when it's never just
about that behavior, is it.
It is, by the way, my husbandnow he edits my podcast and have
(09:30):
you ever watched a movie?
And they say the title of themovie?
And we're like, oh.
Every time we're like, oh, theysaid the title of the movie in
the dialogue.
Every time I mention it's neverjust about the behavior, like
you know.
He said, oh, my God, I'm goingto delete this out.
No, I'm not deleting this out.
He's like, oh, you said thename of the book, oh, but I do
say it a lot, it's never justabout the behavior.
Classroom management really isabout everything that we do in
(09:54):
the classroom.
So anyway, yes, never justabout the behavior, james, you
can say it.
I said the name of the title,anyway.
So a learning map.
What is it really?
What do we use it for?
You know how do we present it?
So they, as I said before, it'sjust the steps or the content,
everything chunked down for thelesson what they're doing, why
(10:15):
they're doing it, so whatthey'll be learning, the outcome
and then how they'll get there,the steps, the structure, the
content.
You can use learning maps for asingle lesson or a unit of work
or a full term or year.
You know, I've seen beautifuldisplays up on classroom walls
that have the whole term'slearning or the whole year's
learning and you know, studentslike add bits of their work
(10:36):
along the way, or it's just likea really beautiful visual map
to what they've done.
But I'm talking about more asingle lesson learning map and
for that lesson to lessonlearning map, this is what you
can include and what you canmake sure you've got there just
so you can tick the box on.
You know, a really qualitylearning map that is reducing
the stress response andincreasing felt safety and doing
(10:56):
all of those things we spokeabout.
When we're talking about why itis a bit of classroom management
magic, the first thing that youneed to make sure of is that
the outcomes are really clearand Students should be able to
see exactly how they can besuccessful that lesson.
There's nothing ambiguous,there's nothing overwhelming.
It is like really clear Sweet,I know what I'm doing this
lesson.
I know how I'm going to getthere.
The second thing is always inthe same place.
(11:18):
So whether you've got itprojected or written on the
board or printed, consistencyreally is key with this.
If you're moving between rooms,I like having them printed on
slips.
You know, as a secondaryteacher.
I'm not always in the sameclassroom or you know, things
change in the drop of a hat andI've got to move, and having
printed slips is just such agame changer.
I always just have like asingle page document and I even
(11:41):
just plan my lessons straightinto a learning map.
So I'm not doubling my work up.
I'm actually doing somethingthat's going to be super
supportive of the students andit really helps me to plan
because I'm really like laserfocused on what I want students
to achieve and what I need themto do that lesson.
The third thing is, by the way,if you need to project it one
(12:03):
day, write on the board theother day, print it one day,
that's also fine.
The consistency really is ifyou can like do the same thing
every lesson, that's likefantastic.
But if you need to chop andchange that, that's also okay,
as long as they know that everysingle lesson they're going to
have something there.
The third thing is make sureyou're using a student-friendly
language.
So strip out any jargon.
(12:24):
If a student can't explain theoutcome to a mate, it just needs
a bit of a reworking.
So if they can't go, oh yeah,this lesson I'm learning this,
then we need to change that alittle bit and the outline
should sit next to the outcomes.
It needs to visually showstudents that everything is
connected and everything they'redoing is helping them to
successfully work towards anoutcome.
(12:46):
And that is where we can helpto increase participation and
increase engagement, becausewe've got the buy-in.
Then we need to increase thebuy-in by showing students hey,
this is what you're doing andthis is why you're doing it.
And the last thing I'll say onsuccessfully using a learning
map is actually use them, sotalk through them.
It should not be somethingthat's just superfluous and
(13:09):
sitting on the board.
I am not a fan of doinganything that is just there to
tick a box.
I see a lot of teachers talkingabout the fact that they are
made to write a learningobjective on the board.
But it's just there, you know.
It's there in case someonewalks in and it shouldn't be
that way.
And I remember seeing a post acouple of weeks ago and it was
talking about that exact thing.
(13:30):
And one teacher's like show methe evidence that a learning
objective actually works andI'll start putting it on my
board.
Well, the evidence is there.
John Hattie in Visible Learning.
He did an extensive amount ofresearch into what is effective
teaching and learning and whateffectively moves the needle
with students of you know allbackgrounds, every single
(13:52):
classroom, and he did this huge,huge study and you know a
learning map students knowingwhat they're going to be
learning.
Having that clarity is just so,so powerful.
I understand why teachers go.
Why the hell do I have to havea learning objective on my board
is just because someone sittingin an office tells me that I
have to have it on my board.
If you're doing it for thatreason, then it's not going to
(14:14):
be impactful.
So the last step of us using alearning map, that's going to
actually be an entry routinethat settles the class, that
helps with low level behaviors,that helps students engage with
their learning.
It is talking through them andusing it and making sure that
students know what they're doingthat lesson using that learning
map, and you know what are wegoing to be ticking off, what
(14:35):
are we going to be doingActually using it?
If you're doing an activity inthe second part of the lesson,
going back to that learning map,hey, what outcome have we met?
Like?
Have a look at your learningmap.
What have we achieved?
Have you met that outcome.
Can you tick that off?
Brilliant, see, by doing thatactivity you have now achieved
this outcome.
Ticking it off, you don't haveto say outcome.
(15:00):
You can say whatever goal,objective, whatever language you
like to use, but keeping ongoing back to that objective, I
like to use the objective tostructure my exit task.
So on the way out of the lessonI'll say hey everybody, on the
way out, I need you to answer methis question and I'll base it
like you know format formulate aquestion based on the outcome
and I'll say you need to answerthat on the way out so you can
show me that you have met thatoutcome.
Super clear, super concise.
(15:21):
Students are like yep, noworries, or I'll get them to
write on a post-it note orthey'll verbally say it to me.
But having that outcome thereand constantly going back to
that learning map, students willthen go okay, it's clear, it's
purposeful, she knows what she'sdoing, she knows what she wants
me to be doing.
There's a purpose for this.
They're not just doing the work, they're understanding why
(15:43):
they're doing it.
And that is when the magichappens and that is why it's so
powerful for classroommanagement as well.
You get the buy-in, you'regetting the clarity and you're
getting students engaging in adifferent way.
So I could talk about learningmaps for a very long time, but
I'm going to cut it off there,because if you are in the
kickstart, you will be able togo through that session, but
(16:03):
you'll also get a learning maptemplate that you can edit on
Canva and a slide version so youcan always have that there and
fill it in for the lesson.
It just reduces your mentalload.
Those resources alone are worthcoming in and doing the
kickstart for.
I'm telling you that much.
So if you haven't yet, ifyou're not one of the at the
time of recording this, thekickstart's been open for about
(16:26):
five days and I have 450 of youincredible teachers in there
going through the Kickstart.
So if you're not one of them,you need to come in and do this
work, because five shortsessions, five huge, huge, huge
shifts that is not another thingto add to your plate, because
everything that I'm teaching youjust like the learning maps.
(16:48):
Another thing to add to yourplate, because everything that
I'm teaching you just like thelearning maps giving you a
template.
Take it onto Canva, you know,pop your own stuff in there.
I've given you a slide you canopen in Google slides, plan your
lessons straight onto that,project it up.
Your students will see it there.
It is powerful stuff and itwill hopefully help you with
your planning.
It'll help you create lessonsthat that pedagogy already
(17:10):
embedded into it.
You know that's.
I don't want us to be constantlythinking what are we doing
about behavior?
Classroom management reallyshould be something that we are
weaving into the everyday, andthat's why this kickstart is so
incredible, because it is juststuff that we do in the everyday
that can make huge change whenit comes to behavior.
(17:32):
Okay, I'm going to stop bangingon about the kickstart now.
Come and join us.
It's the-unteachablescomforward slash kickstart.
Come, jump in, but give that atry.
Try to embed that into an entryroutine.
Of course, it's not the wholepuzzle.
I can't teach you every littleentry routine in 10 minutes but
it is such an amazing place tostart and something that you can
(17:55):
embed straight away.
So I will see you next week.
For task.
We're going to be going throughhow to give a task that is
reducing the constant questionsof, hey, what are we doing?
What are we doing?
What are we doing Because youare going to be providing a task
that is super clear.
Um and yeah, it's just againlow level behavior magic.
(18:18):
I cannot wait to see you there.
Have a fantastic week, teacherfriend, and bye for now.
Oh, hi there, teachers.
Welcome to the Unteachablespodcast.
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 and
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 teachers, and welcome.
Welcome back to the Unteachablespodcast and welcome back to
session two of the BehaviourClub Kickstart.
If you didn't listen to lastweek's episode, please go back
and do that.
It was about presence and thatis just the foundation for
(01:07):
everything that we bring throughthe kickstart.
So please go back and listen tothat first.
But if you need a littlereminder about what the
kickstart is, it is just likefive really short actionable
sessions where you are going tolearn one quick, simple and
powerful strategy for everysingle part of your lesson.
It will help you to reducedisruption and to increase
predictability and just buildbeautiful, calm and confident
(01:32):
teaching habits and routinesthat just start shaping your
proactive, incredible,compassionate, everything
classroom management approachAll of the things that we talk
about here is just going to be alittle bridge to help you to
really start to implement thosethings.
So it really is just smallshifts done, every single lesson
for huge impact.
(01:52):
If you would like to officiallyjoin us for the kickstart
because obviously here there'sonly so much that you can learn
through a podcast you can comeand join the proper kickstart
where you will get thepresentations.
You'll get um, you know meactually talking through things.
There's um, like visualsthat'll be really easy for you
to then apply the kind of thingsthat we're teaching.
(02:14):
You'll also get all of theresources that are attached to
those lessons.
Then please come and join usover at the dash unteachablescom
forward slash kickstart,because you'll be able to get
the resources and just watcheverything through in more depth
.
So if you want to do thekickstart, come and join us,
make the time, come and join me.
(02:34):
It's 10 minute sessions, likethat's why I've done quick five
days, 10 minutes each, theattached resources.
I just want you to go.
Oh my gosh, yes, this workactually works and I can make
incredible changes and I'm notstuck and there are things that
I can do.
So come and commit to that.
So it's $1.
So come and do it, it's $1, andyou can't even get a quarter of
(02:57):
a coffee for that.
So it would just be so fabulousto be able to support you
inside of the kickstart, anyway.
So last week was presence andtoday the second focus is on
entry.
So the way I've structured thekickstart is to kind of bring
you through a bit of a journeyof being in the classroom and
the things that we can controlto be able to reduce disruptions
(03:18):
and low-level behaviors.
And an entry routine ishonestly like if you don't have
a solid entry routine, it can beso flipping hard to then
continue the rest of the lessonin a way that is calm and
productive and something thatyou feel in control of Not in
control of your students, ofcourse, but you feeling in
control of that space.
I remember when I did not havean entry routine and I wasn't
(03:43):
sure, like how to establish asolid entry routine, and I had
so many challenges.
I just feel like it was just anuphill battle from before those
kids even got to my room.
There was the lack of urgencyfor some of them to get started.
So I felt like from the get-go,I was just nagging.
They had their backpack stillon, or they were really slowly
(04:04):
unpacking, or they were justchit-chatting to each other and
I was just nagging.
They had their backpack stillon, or they were really slowly
unpacking, or they were justchit-chatting to each other and
I was standing up the front andtrying to get them to listen and
engage, or, you know, getinvolved in the starter activity
or whatever I had going on atthat moment.
I just felt like it was aconstant slog at the start.
Then I always had students liketrickling in.
If I finally got things to apoint where they were kind of
engaging in things, I then hadstudents trickling in late, so
(04:27):
I'd have to repeat myself.
I'd had students, you know,asking what are we doing today,
mears?
What are we doing today?
What are we doing today whenI'm still waiting for them to
settle?
Or, oh, what are we doing today?
Why can't we get started Like Ijust felt so frazzled from the
get-go and just on the back footof the lesson because I didn't
(04:47):
have a solid entry routine tofollow.
It was just chaos.
And if that is at all relatable, if you've got students who
have a lack of urgency, ifthere's just a lot of chit chat,
if you feel like from the verybeginning of the lesson things
just aren't falling into place,then you need a good old entry
routine, and the stuff that I'mtalking about here is basic
(05:10):
stuff, but implementing it inthe classroom can feel like a
totally different beastaltogether.
I remember when someone taughtme about all this stuff and I
was like, yeah, okay, I do that.
But then I was like actually,no, I don't.
I went into the classroom andI'm like I don't do that and it
takes a little bit of reflection.
But as I'm going through thisstuff, just have a think about
your own entry routine, what'shappening in your classroom at
(05:34):
the very start of the lesson,and come into this session with
a little bit of an open mindabout what you can change in
that first five minutes.
There are lots of things when itcomes to an entry routine and
if you're in the behavior club.
I've got a whole trainingcalled the first five that you
can go and watch and there's allthe resources there.
(05:56):
But I, for the purposes of thekickstart remember 10 minutes,
really quick sessions I wantedto pick out one actionable tool
that you can use to start tocraft an entry routine that is a
little bit calmer, and that isthe one that I've chosen is
Learning Maps and I've spokenabout Learning Maps on the
podcast before, I think, becauseit's one of those things that I
(06:18):
like to nerd out on, becauseit's something that's seemingly
so simple, but these simplevisual tools that they might
just show students like whatthey're learning and you know
how they'll get there, but it isthe consistency and the clarity
that just is such a superpowerfor low level disruption.
So, yes, it is a brilliantteaching and learning tool and
(06:40):
it is best practice and it helpsus communicate to our students
the why and get all of thosewonderful things happening in
terms of the learning but thefelt safety that it can give to
our students just by having thatthere as an entry routine.
It is brilliant.
They reduce anxiety becausewhen students know what's
happening in the routine, it isbrilliant.
They reduce anxiety becausewhen students know what's
happening in the lesson, itreduces their stress response.
(07:01):
It actually, you know,increases their window of
tolerance.
And for the students who havethe biggest behaviors, the ones
that challenge us the most withtheir behaviors, the ones that
you know feel like they're infight, flight or freeze, it's
brilliant for them becausethey're increasing their window
of tolerance.
They know what to expect fromyou.
They know that when they gointo Miss English's lesson
(07:23):
there's a map to their learningon the board and they're going
to be able to tick that off, orthere's something that's there
consistently.
They know that in half anhour's time they're going to be
doing a group activity, so theydon't have to be wondering
what's coming up.
The second reason why they area bit of classroom management
magic is that they reinforceexpectations.
(07:43):
Everything we are doing in theclassroom, moment to moment,
minute to minute, we arecommunicating our expectations.
We're communicating ourexpectations through what we say
.
We're communicating it throughthe things that we provide for
our students, the way that we'recommunicating non-verbally,
every single thing that we do inthe classroom, is communicating
an expectation to our students.
(08:03):
So when we clearly demonstratewhat we're expecting students to
achieve that lesson and showingthem how we're going to support
them to get there.
Our students then go okay,that's what's happening in this
lesson.
They've, you know, mrs clearlyoutlined it there for me and
that's what she's expecting fromme.
You know there's ticker boxnext to it.
(08:27):
I'm going to be expected to dothis.
It is communicating theexpectations that our students
come in and they're going to beengaging in the lesson and they
know that I've got it sorted.
You know like I'm holding themin that space, but they're just
so powerful so they reinforceexpectations, they're reducing
that anxiety and they're justincreasing felt safety for our
students.
So embedding learning maps intoevery single lesson will just
make students feel increasinglymore calm about what they're
(08:48):
going to be walking into.
Then that's going to in turnreduce disruptive, unsettled and
disengaged behaviors.
And it really is just such abeautiful, magical tool, so
simple, and it also justreinforces the fact that the
classroom management staff andthe teaching and learning staff
is inextricably linked.
(09:09):
You cannot separate that out,which is why traditional
classroom management, you know,pees me off a little bit,
because we separate them.
We're like, okay, there'sbehaviors happening.
How about we deal with thebehavior, when it's never just
about that behavior, is it.
It is, by the way, my husbandnow he edits my podcast and have
(09:30):
you ever watched a movie?
And they say the title of themovie?
And we're like, oh.
Every time we're like, oh, theysaid the title of the movie in
the dialogue.
Every time I mention it's neverjust about the behavior, like
you know.
He said, oh, my God, I'm goingto delete this out.
No, I'm not deleting this out.
He's like, oh, you said thename of the book, oh, but I do
say it a lot, it's never justabout the behavior.
Classroom management really isabout everything that we do in
(09:54):
the classroom.
So anyway, yes, never justabout the behavior, james, you
can say it.
I said the name of the title,anyway.
So a learning map.
What is it really?
What do we use it for?
You know how do we present it?
So they, as I said before, it'sjust the steps or the content,
everything chunked down for thelesson what they're doing, why
(10:15):
they're doing it, so whatthey'll be learning, the outcome
and then how they'll get there,the steps, the structure, the
content.
You can use learning maps for asingle lesson or a unit of work
or a full term or year.
You know, I've seen beautifuldisplays up on classroom walls
that have the whole term'slearning or the whole year's
learning and you know, studentslike add bits of their work
(10:36):
along the way, or it's just likea really beautiful visual map
to what they've done.
But I'm talking about more asingle lesson learning map and
for that lesson to lessonlearning map, this is what you
can include and what you canmake sure you've got there just
so you can tick the box on.
You know, a really qualitylearning map that is reducing
the stress response andincreasing felt safety and doing
(10:56):
all of those things we spokeabout.
When we're talking about why itis a bit of classroom management
magic, the first thing that youneed to make sure of is that
the outcomes are really clearand Students should be able to
see exactly how they can besuccessful that lesson.
There's nothing ambiguous,there's nothing overwhelming.
It is like really clear Sweet,I know what I'm doing this
lesson.
I know how I'm going to getthere.
The second thing is always inthe same place.
(11:18):
So whether you've got itprojected or written on the
board or printed, consistencyreally is key with this.
If you're moving between rooms,I like having them printed on
slips.
You know, as a secondaryteacher.
I'm not always in the sameclassroom or you know, things
change in the drop of a hat andI've got to move, and having
printed slips is just such agame changer.
I always just have like asingle page document and I even
(11:41):
just plan my lessons straightinto a learning map.
So I'm not doubling my work up.
I'm actually doing somethingthat's going to be super
supportive of the students andit really helps me to plan
because I'm really like laserfocused on what I want students
to achieve and what I need themto do that lesson.
The third thing is, by the way,if you need to project it one
(12:03):
day, write on the board theother day, print it one day,
that's also fine.
The consistency really is ifyou can like do the same thing
every lesson, that's likefantastic.
But if you need to chop andchange that, that's also okay,
as long as they know that everysingle lesson they're going to
have something there.
The third thing is make sureyou're using a student-friendly
language.
So strip out any jargon.
(12:24):
If a student can't explain theoutcome to a mate, it just needs
a bit of a reworking.
So if they can't go, oh yeah,this lesson I'm learning this,
then we need to change that alittle bit and the outline
should sit next to the outcomes.
It needs to visually showstudents that everything is
connected and everything they'redoing is helping them to
successfully work towards anoutcome.
(12:46):
And that is where we can helpto increase participation and
increase engagement, becausewe've got the buy-in.
Then we need to increase thebuy-in by showing students hey,
this is what you're doing andthis is why you're doing it.
And the last thing I'll say onsuccessfully using a learning
map is actually use them, sotalk through them.
It should not be somethingthat's just superfluous and
(13:09):
sitting on the board.
I am not a fan of doinganything that is just there to
tick a box.
I see a lot of teachers talkingabout the fact that they are
made to write a learningobjective on the board.
But it's just there, you know.
It's there in case someonewalks in and it shouldn't be
that way.
And I remember seeing a post acouple of weeks ago and it was
talking about that exact thing.
(13:30):
And one teacher's like show methe evidence that a learning
objective actually works andI'll start putting it on my
board.
Well, the evidence is there.
John Hattie in Visible Learning.
He did an extensive amount ofresearch into what is effective
teaching and learning and whateffectively moves the needle
with students of you know allbackgrounds, every single
(13:52):
classroom, and he did this huge,huge study and you know a
learning map students knowingwhat they're going to be
learning.
Having that clarity is just so,so powerful.
I understand why teachers go.
Why the hell do I have to havea learning objective on my board
is just because someone sittingin an office tells me that I
have to have it on my board.
If you're doing it for thatreason, then it's not going to
(14:14):
be impactful.
So the last step of us using alearning map, that's going to
actually be an entry routinethat settles the class, that
helps with low level behaviors,that helps students engage with
their learning.
It is talking through them andusing it and making sure that
students know what they're doingthat lesson using that learning
map, and you know what are wegoing to be ticking off, what
(14:35):
are we going to be doingActually using it?
If you're doing an activity inthe second part of the lesson,
going back to that learning map,hey, what outcome have we met?
Like?
Have a look at your learningmap.
What have we achieved?
Have you met that outcome.
Can you tick that off?
Brilliant, see, by doing thatactivity you have now achieved
this outcome.
Ticking it off, you don't haveto say outcome.
(15:00):
You can say whatever goal,objective, whatever language you
like to use, but keeping ongoing back to that objective, I
like to use the objective tostructure my exit task.
So on the way out of the lessonI'll say hey everybody, on the
way out, I need you to answer methis question and I'll base it
like you know format formulate aquestion based on the outcome
and I'll say you need to answerthat on the way out so you can
show me that you have met thatoutcome.
Super clear, super concise.
(15:21):
Students are like yep, noworries, or I'll get them to
write on a post-it note orthey'll verbally say it to me.
But having that outcome thereand constantly going back to
that learning map, students willthen go okay, it's clear, it's
purposeful, she knows what she'sdoing, she knows what she wants
me to be doing.
There's a purpose for this.
They're not just doing the work, they're understanding why
(15:43):
they're doing it.
And that is when the magichappens and that is why it's so
powerful for classroommanagement as well.
You get the buy-in, you'regetting the clarity and you're
getting students engaging in adifferent way.
So I could talk about learningmaps for a very long time, but
I'm going to cut it off there,because if you are in the
kickstart, you will be able togo through that session, but
(16:03):
you'll also get a learning maptemplate that you can edit on
Canva and a slide version so youcan always have that there and
fill it in for the lesson.
It just reduces your mentalload.
Those resources alone are worthcoming in and doing the
kickstart for.
I'm telling you that much.
So if you haven't yet, ifyou're not one of the at the
time of recording this, thekickstart's been open for about
(16:26):
five days and I have 450 of youincredible teachers in there
going through the Kickstart.
So if you're not one of them,you need to come in and do this
work, because five shortsessions, five huge, huge, huge
shifts that is not another thingto add to your plate, because
everything that I'm teaching youjust like the learning maps.
(16:48):
Another thing to add to yourplate, because everything that
I'm teaching you just like thelearning maps giving you a
template.
Take it onto Canva, you know,pop your own stuff in there.
I've given you a slide you canopen in Google slides, plan your
lessons straight onto that,project it up.
Your students will see it there.
It is powerful stuff and itwill hopefully help you with
your planning.
It'll help you create lessonsthat that pedagogy already
(17:10):
embedded into it.
You know that's.
I don't want us to be constantlythinking what are we doing
about behavior?
Classroom management reallyshould be something that we are
weaving into the everyday, andthat's why this kickstart is so
incredible, because it is juststuff that we do in the everyday
that can make huge change whenit comes to behavior.
(17:32):
Okay, I'm going to stop bangingon about the kickstart now.
Come and join us.
It's the-unteachablescomforward slash kickstart.
Come, jump in, but give that atry.
Try to embed that into an entryroutine.
Of course, it's not the wholepuzzle.
I can't teach you every littleentry routine in 10 minutes but
it is such an amazing place tostart and something that you can
(17:55):
embed straight away.
So I will see you next week.
For task.
We're going to be going throughhow to give a task that is
reducing the constant questionsof, hey, what are we doing?
What are we doing?
What are we doing Because youare going to be providing a task
that is super clear.
Um and yeah, it's just againlow level behavior magic.
(18:18):
I cannot wait to see you there.
Have a fantastic week, teacherfriend, and bye for now.
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