#35: Increasing Felt Safety (and Reducing Challenging Behaviours) Through Consistency and Predictability. A Deep Dive Into the Humble Seating Plan.

And if you found yourself you're listening with me , I'd say that you might know a bit about that as well , because being a teacher is friggin hard , and this podcast is dedicated to making you feel a hell of a lot less alone , whilst giving you the knowledge , support and strategies that you need to not just survive the chaos of being a teacher but truly thrive .

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This particular episode if you're listening in real time falls on the last week of the summer holidays . For me , that means that I'm coming back to work after maternity leave , so I'm feeling particularly like the Sunday

scaries are kind of trickling in for me and because of that , I wanted to just maybe say a few words of wisdom to myself . Really , but maybe someone out there will benefit from it as well , and this is relevant even if you're not on summer holidays , going back into school .

What I've been really thinking about today is that all of us we really do need to kind of fight for the boundaries and balance that we want , need and deserve in the job . Unfortunately , we do have to fight for that .

It's very easy for us to kind of not be taken for granted or all of that stuff , but it's very easy to fall into a trap of doing more , more , more . It trickles in for us .

We can get kind of caught out doing a little bit here and there on the weekend and that can then snowball into doing more and more and more , because we're holding up this kind of particular standard of work or capacity of work that we're only able to achieve by working on the weekend or working at night .

So it's really important for us to hold those boundaries , hold that balance , because for me , if I don't do that , that means the very little time that I'll get to spend with my baby I can't spend it with her . So I've never felt more passionate about the importance of balance for me and boundaries for me .

Going back to work full time , leaving Ava at home yeah , it's really something that's really kind of impacting me at the moment . So if there are any mums out there that completely understand that , then feel free to reach out and give me a pep talk . Anyway , enough of that , let's crack into the episodes .

If you haven't done so yet , I suggest going back and listening to last week's episode first . So last week's episode was called Co-Regulation Explained the Core of Calm and Effective Classroom Management .

I'm calling that episode a pillar episode because it kind of explains the core concepts that underpin the strategies that I'm going to be talking about in this episode and episodes to follow . So it's kind of like a prelude to this . So if you haven't yet , I suggest going back and listening to that .

If you're a pro at co-regulation and regulation and dysregulation , you have a really good handle on all of those concepts . Then listen on . That's fine . But a recap on what I spoke about in the last podcast A lot of the behaviours that we do see in our classroom are from dysregulation of some kind . Every single one of us has a stress response .

That stress response can get triggered . When that stress response gets triggered , our bodies flood us with cortisol , adrenaline all of the things that we need to be able to run away from that threat or to fight against that threat . A lot of that is happening in our classrooms with our students .

Some students are amazing at getting themselves back to a state of regulation very quickly . Or some students are really amazing at being able to not let things trigger them as much and they spend more time in a state of regulation .

Unfortunately , because this is a learnt skill , some students haven't learnt that skill through all of those touch points as children , through a secure attachment , through all of those things that wire the brain in a way that help us to learn to regulate . So that's a very like brief recap on that .

But if you don't understand a word I just said , please go and listen to that episode before Now . This episode is all about how we can work to increase the felt safety for our students , remembering that felt safety is different than physical safety .

When students feel safe in our environments then they can spend more time in connection mode , they can spend more time in a regulated state and , especially for those students who find it really challenging to stay regulated , it helps them to be more settled in class and for their behaviors that usually might be really challenging to reduce because we're reducing that

stress response for them . So felt safety is incredibly important . Fostering an environment of felt safety is how we can mitigate some of the behaviors that are because of dysregulation , and I want to talk about predictability and consistency . So remember from last episode , the brain has a wise owl , the prefrontal cortex and then the guard dog .

And I want to extend that metaphor because , think about it , how does a guard dog know who to attack or what to attack ? A guard dog attacks the threats , and the threats are the things that are unfamiliar . So an unfamiliar person it might bark out the window at a delivery driver .

It might bark at someone coming down the driveway who is unfamiliar to that dog . And the same thing happens with the amygdala . Things that are unfamiliar will trigger the stress response more in our students .

So what the goal is in our classrooms is to increase the felt safety , to make more friends for that guard dog , as many friends as humanly possible , because when we reduce that unpredictability we make things more familiar for students to walk into .

And we can do this in a multitude of ways , but this episode I just wanted to dive into one thing very quickly that we can do to increase the felt safety in our classroom . It's something that all of us at some point I'm sure have done or I've thought about doing , and it is the humble seating plan .

I will go into other strategies in the coming episodes , but I just wanted to start here because it's something that's so simple , it's something that everyone can understand and it's something that people are probably already doing in their classrooms and teachers often think about seating plans as something that's more reactive to behaviors or as something to separate the

chronic chit-chatters or be strategic with where certain students sit . So you're mitigating some of the behaviors in that way .

When we set a seating plan , obviously we're really strategically in where we play students and it can feel like a bit of a jigsaw puzzle and of course that is what seating plans are for and you might be strategic in how you place certain students with particular needs and all the rest of it .

So at the very basic level of what seating plans are , of course that's what they are for Mitigating things proactively , kind of strategically putting students in certain places and just thinking about how we can move students around to kind of create an environment that's a little bit more productive .

But one way that seating plans work they're magic to support with proactive classroom management is actually in how they increase their predictability and consistency in the room .

So , even if you take away all of the things that I just said about why seating plans work in a variety of different contexts , which is being able to choose where students who are a little bit chattier might sit why it actually works in mitigating the behaviors is because it helps with that felt safety . Imagine for a second that students walk into the room .

Right , what does a seating plan do for that student and yourself as the teacher ? What it does do it reduces all of those niggling , low level behaviors of like , oh , comes it over here , the uncertain shuffle . Maybe it reduces the anxiety of you're in my seat .

Maybe that student who feels like they're not wanted next to other people , don't have a lot of friends , are kind of struggling socially . They might feel really anxious about choosing a seat to sit in because they get shuffled from one place to the other . There's a lot of social dynamics at play there .

All of that kind of stuff can happen when you go into a classroom where you don't have a set seating plan . Now , I'm not saying that every single room that doesn't have a seating plan is one that has a lot of behavior issues , a lot of low level behaviors that happen .

What I'm saying is that if you do have these kinds of behaviors that happen , then a seating plan is going to be amazing to help to reduce those behaviors . And it's not just the practical things like oh , comes it over here , and that kind of hubbub when you get into the classroom of them need to sit down .

It is the importance of students knowing that when they walk into your classroom they will know where they're sitting . They can crack on with the learning . They don't have to think about it . They don't have to worry about where they're going to sit . They don't have to worry about whether or not that person wants them next to them or not .

They can get in there . They can rely on the fact that there's a set space for them . They can settle into the lesson and they don't have to worry about the social dynamics . All of those things can be really challenging for students . They might be friends one day . The next day they might not be . There's a whole bunch of things at play .

So you being able to set a seating plan , have

that consistency , have that level of predictability , that is going to help immensely for those students who really do need that kind of protective barrier around them of that predictable seating plan . When you do have a seating plan , students can just get in , they can get sat down and they can just get on with it .

So works on two levels , reducing that stress response in the brain for some students who may struggle , and it also nonverbally reinforces your expectations through their consistency and clarity . When you've got a seating plan and you're asking them to come in , you're asking them to get settled , you're asking them to get sat down .

In their seating plan , your expectations are being reinforced of them coming in and cracking on with the learning . So let me go over how to do it and I don't want it to sound really condescending me sitting here saying let me teach you how to set a seating plan because it is quite simple by nature .

But I wanted to go like every single thing that I talk about . When it comes to classroom management , the things that we talk about are incredibly nuanced and one little thing can actually start to move the needle with behavior .

So I wanted to go over the things that I think could be a little bit enlightening for people or could just reinforce what you're already doing . One thing that you don't want seating plans to be is a punishment for students .

So what I do is I set it proactively at the start of the year , which is why I'm doing this episode before you go back after summer holidays . I set it proactively at the start of the year and the way that I frame it isn't in a punitive way , it isn't like a drag for students . I just say this is a way to help me , to help you .

I want to get to know your names , or I want to work out the class , I want to see what works for us . I just say anything to make sure that they know that it's not a punishment , it's just come on . Everybody Like I just really want to make sure that I'm on top of this and it's going to help me help you .

I don't need to know anything more than that . Really , the way that you set it can make a big difference , because what you don't want it to be is a chaotic free-for-all . I've had lessons before .

I've set a seating plan and then students are kind of like smilling about at the front , standing everywhere , they're hitting each other with books and it's just like kind of a bunch of chaos . So the way that I do it is . I just get students to stand outside while I'm there monitoring them .

I've got the seating plan like projected up onto the board , so it's visual up there . I've got a copy of the seating plan that's visual in my hand . I've got post-it notes on the desks with their names and as students cut to me , I'm sending them in one by one to sit in their seats . If they don't remember where I pointed , they can look up at the board .

So I'm kind of trying to mitigate every possibility of them just getting confused , not knowing where to sit , and then I'm going to have to manage three things at once . So just mitigating all of those things by having it up on the board I've got it in my hand . I've got post-it notes on the desk .

They can crack on and sit down where they need to sit down .

So in terms of like the practicalities of setting a seating plan , that's how I make sure it's done and then I just have that seating plan up on the wall somewhere wherever I can put it , and they know every lesson that it's there in case they forget or I forget , because of course I'll forget where they're sitting most of the time At the start of the year .

If I don't know the students , I'll just do alphabetical order and I genuinely do set a seating plan so I can remember their names . As a secondary teacher , I have what ?

300 students at any given time , so it's a really great strategy to get to get to know their names as well , which , again , is a strategy that is so crucial because names mean a lot to people and when you know a student's name , that's , you know , that's really crucial kind of relationship building stuff .

So , of course , that's another reason why a seating plan is really , really important for me , particularly as someone that has a terrible memory for names . So just say you need to re-jig the seating plan , and it can come across as quite punitive . What you want to do is just tell them the lesson before to prepare them .

Again , it's about increasing the felt safety in the class because of predictability and consistency .

What you don't want to do is have students rock up at the side of a lesson and they're like , in terms of predictability , they are expecting to go in and sit down and get into their seats and start learning , and then they get there and instead of that happening , you're stood there wanting to redo the seating plan to stop that from happening , because then

you're going to have all those moans and grunts from students . You're going to have people , you know , fighting against that and pushing against that , and it's because they're expecting one thing and you've just hit them with something else .

So if I am going to re-jig a seating plan in the middle of the year or set a seating plan in the middle of the year , what I do is I prepare them the lesson before . I'll explain to them why I'm changing it up . I'm going to be really transparent with them .

I'll say everybody I'm just going to say it right now things aren't working the way they are in this class at the moment . I really need to do something here to make a change , because you're not learning as productively as you could be and every single one of you deserves to be learning in the best way that you possibly can in this classroom .

So what I'm going to be doing is I'm going to be just redoing the seating plan , just putting you in a different place , seeing if that kind of changes things up and shakes things up , because I want to make sure that we're all in the best place to learn .

So next lesson , when you come to class , what I'm going to ask you to do is just like we did at the start of the year wait outside . I'm going to be putting you in your new seating plan again . It's not because you're in trouble .

I just really want to make sure that we're doing the best in this class as we possibly can , and that means that I really need to shake things up and do something different .

You don't have to say it like that , but that's how I might say it , depending on the class , depending on the particular situation , whatever way you do it , just preparing them for what is to come . They've come to class and do it exactly the same as you did before . Make it really clear so it's not a free for all , projected up on the board .

Have post notes on the desk , and they've been , one by one , know where they're going to be sitting , just so you're all over it and you know exactly where they'll be and they know exactly where they're going as well . Yes , of course you can move them around during the lesson after they've been in their seating plans , but make this their base .

The whole point is just to make that seating plan something familiar , so a familiar friend for their amygdala , their guard dogs , and just increasing that felt safety so they walk into your lesson knowing exactly what the environment is going to be like and what to expect . This is just one of many things you can do to increase that felt safety in the room .

And as you start to increase that felt safety , I promise that you're going to be able to see a decrease in behaviors that are a manifestation of that stress response .

And , as I said , I just wanted to start with a sitting plan because not only is it something that does increase the predictability and the consistency so it's working on that level of felt safety but it's also working on that level of reinforcing your expectations , of breaking up those dynamics , of doing a bunch of things that are going to be able to proactively

start to manage those lower level behaviors in the classroom so you can just crack on with teaching really like that's what the bread and butter of this is . So I hope that's helpful .

I'm going to touch on more of these strategies in the coming episodes , strategies that I really hope are going to set you up for a lot of success in the coming year and if you're smack bang in the center of the year , I know that those of you in the Southern Hemisphere are in term three at the moment . That's fine .

You can start this in the final week of school if you wanted to . You are the person who is leading that classroom . You are the conductor of the energy in that room . You're steering that ship . You don't have to . You haven't missed the boat at all . So at any point you can go back and you can set a sitting plan .

At any point , you can change things up , change your pedagogy , change your routines . It's never too late to do that . I look forward to sharing some more strategies with you and until then , I hope you have a wonderful week ahead , if it's your last week before the summer holidays , and I hope you have a really relaxing , a wonderful one .

Remember what I said , even if you aren't in the middle of your summer holidays , going into a new academic year , please remember what I said about boundaries . No one is going to hold your boundaries like you are . No one cares about your boundaries like you do . You have to fight for them . You have to fight for the things that really matter in your world .

You're a teacher be . You're also a human . You're also a partner , a mother , a friend , a family member , a dog , mum , a cat , mum or dad , whatever you are right , you are more than just a teacher , so you need to make sure you hold space for all of the things in your life that really mattered to you . Okay , everyone , that's it from me .

As I say every episode , if you got something from it , if you enjoyed this , it means the world to me . If you just dropped me a review , on whatever platform you're listening to this on , it helps me just reach more teachers , and that's my mission . I want to be able to support as many teachers as I can through this platform . And , yeah , that's it .

So have a lovely week and I'll see you next time . Have a wonderful day , luke .