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A Wisconsin area teacher was just fired this month for using corporate punishment to punish students that were acting out in class. I'm not saying that I agree with her, but I am saying that I get it. I've been there. I've been in some classrooms where students were acting out and I had no idea what to do and probably made some of the wrong decisions myself. But in this episode, I'm gonna help you realize what she did so that you can learn what not to do and what you should do instead to actually manage the classroom in a way that works. That's all happening on this episode of the podcast. Impact begins now. New teacher Big Impact. It's not about a strategy, it's about the system. And the system for strategy framework teaches us that there are three main drivers of new teacher retention. One is it's how leaders see them, two is how teachers see themselves, and three is how the school feels to be a part of. And in this episode, we're gonna dive into driver number two, which is how teachers see themselves. Because I want you to see yourself is possible and you are capable. Absolutely. But the issue is the teacher that I opened up about, the teacher in Wisconsin, um, she didn't see herself as capable in that moment, right? Because she made a decision that was not quite the best. I'll dive more into the story in just a little bit. But today's goal is to help you understand that you've got what it takes. And one of the things that I am a firm believer is is in that competence, the evidence of competence is what fuels your confidence. And when you know that you are doing things right and doing things well, that's what helps teachers stick around. So, what are some of the right things to do, especially as it pertains to classroom management? Well, first things first, let's dive into the story. So uh she was in Wisconsin, she was punished for I'm reading the article right here earlier this month. Is when the students were disrupting the class, she had them doing physical exercises, so prolonged wall sits as well as repeated arm circles, and of course, the students didn't like that. Now, I I know myself growing up, that's not foreign for sports teams to use physical punishment as a way of you know getting you back in line. So, yeah, I've done plenty of wall sits myself, arm circles until my arms get tired, absolutely. But uh obviously the school board looked at this and they voted that this was not something that should be happening in classrooms, there's another way. So that teacher was let go. But again, like I said at the top of the show, I understand, I get it. She's like, listen, they're being disruptive, they're acting out, and I don't know what else to do. So when that happens, when the teacher feels as if they're out of moves, then we have to get creative, we just have to start trying to do different things. Like I understand, I get it. But what if I could help you understand that there's a better way? I have a three-step framework that I use to help teachers manage the classroom, and when you understand these three steps, what it really allows you to do is manage the classroom in a way that doesn't pull you out of character, right? Doesn't pull uh make you think of something as if somebody else, but it is three-step framework that when you use it, you can actually help manage the classroom with efficacy. It's something that I had to learn when I was transitioning from that terrible teacher to a two-time teacher of the year. I used to think that I could just show up and and tell students what to do. And because I was a teacher and they were the student, they would just listen. And that really got to me and it really bothered me because I thought, listen, when I was a kid in school, let me know if this is anybody else. When I was a kid in school, I was a kid that followed directions. I was a student that did what I was supposed to do. I saw that there were some students that didn't follow directions. I thought that, you know, they were just a rotten apple, if you would. But when I actually became a teacher and now I'm giving you expectations or I'm giving you rules, I'm telling you what to do in the classroom, and students are not following along, I'm confused. Why is it that they're not listening? And let me know if that's you. Have you ever been in a situation where you feel like because I'm the moral authority in the classroom, it's when I say it, it should happen. Right? And one of the reasons why we don't have a strict system that we follow, like the one I'm about to share with you, is because sometimes, if I'm being honest, sometimes we believe that as the teacher of the classroom, I should just say it, they should just do it. These are the expectations, they should fall in line. When I give them a consequence, they should just accept it. True or false. That's what happens sometimes. But honestly, that's one of the reasons why we fall short. Because we believe that just because we're there, students are gonna listen. But I'm gonna show you how to actually make it make sense. All right, there's three steps in this framework, and these are the three pillars of classroom management. When you have these things, these three things solid and squared away, you're good to go. Teachers are burning out faster than ever. Confidence is dropping, imposter syndrome is rising, and too many classrooms feel like survival instead of transformation. But what if it doesn't have to be this way? Great teaching isn't magic, it's the method. And inside the Impact Playbook, you'll discover the six principles that thousands of teachers are already using to reignite their passion, engage their students, and build classrooms that thrive. This isn't just another book that collects dust on the shelf. It's a complete system that helps teachers step into their strengths, prevent burnout, and create learning that's fixed. If you're looking to see a drop in teacher turnover and a boost in student engagement, the principal is the right hand inside the book. So if you're a teacher ready to reclaim your confidence or a district leader ready to transform entire schools, click the link to get the Impact Playbook today. Because when teachers win, students win and entire communities win, and the world is changed forever. Alright, number one is clear expectations. Now, you may have heard this before, but let me break it down in a way that really makes it stick and really makes it make sense. When you have clear expectations, that means that students know what is expected of them. Having clear expectations is not listing rules on the wall. I always laugh about it when my family and I we go out to the pool and my children are four and seven at the time of recording this. And when we go out to the pool, there's always like a list of so many rules. No horse playing, no jumping, no diving, no, and my daughter, my son, they can't read. Well, sorry, they can, but my daughter definitely can. My son, he's on his way. But they're not taking the time to read all of the rules before they jump in the pool. So yeah, they're gonna run a little bit. Yeah, the the lifeguard is gonna blow the whistles, right? Just because the rules are posted doesn't mean that they're being adhered to. So when I say have clear expectations, I mean make sure that everybody in the class knows what the expectation is. That goes beyond posting it, especially in the younger grades, kindergarten and first grade. You think you think they're sitting there reading the wall of our expectations, right? But even as we get into high school, so posting it is not making sure that they completely understand and are in alignment with the expectations. What are those expectations? Have we have we practiced them? Have we rehearsed them? Can students say them on command? What are the expectations? I always like to suggest that there are three to five expectations, right? More than that, it gets a little messy. Less than that, you might not have a lot to hold on to. And expectations are framed in a positive way. So unlike the pool that has rules where it's just no running, no horseplaying, no diving, no, no, no, no, no. Expectations are framed in such a way that says, this is what we expect for how students show up in our classroom. Students, students are positive. Positive can be I'm positively communicating with other classrooms, positive can mean I have a positive mindset, positive means I don't use foul language. You see what I'm saying? Setting the expectation as an umbrella of this is what I expect students to do covers all the behaviors that fall underneath that umbrella. So that is something that I definitely want to encourage you to have. When you think about your expectations, how can I list it in a positive way and have gonna have three to five of them that every student in the classroom should be able to adhere to? So that's just number one, but that really is what sets us up for this second step of the framework. And the second part of the framework is consistent consequences. So one is clear expectations, two is consistent consequences. When I say consistent consequences, some people get a little bit icky because somebody says, Well, I don't want to be that teacher that's always punishing students. I've had teachers that said to me in the past, you know, I don't want to give my students consequences because I don't want to think, I don't want them to think that I'm being mean to them. Then I've heard some people on the other side of it that just give consequences, consequences, consequences, and they're saying the consequences don't work. Here's what I mean when I say that we have consistent consequences. I live in North Carolina and we just recently, where I live in Charlotte, started adopting more and more toll roads. Growing up in New York, I saw tolls all the time, crossing the Verizon Bridge and things like that. I was in Staten Island. But here in Charlotte, toll roads are relatively new. So our tolls, they may be 30 cents, they may be 90 cents, and a dollar fifty cents, something like that. Nothing crazy, but every now and then I get a letter in the mail that says, Hey, Mr. Williams, we noticed that you drove down a toll road, you now owe $9.14. And I'm like, ah, they got me, right? So much so that sometimes when I'm going on a road trip and I'm driving to the beach or something like that, which is about three hours away, I'll put in the GPS, avoid toll roads. Why? Because I don't want to get a bill in the mail that's nine dollars and fourteen cents. Now look at it in the grand scheme of life. $9.14, not a whole lot. Not there's a lot, there's a lot, there's not a lot I can do with $9.14. But it's just annoying enough for making me to choose to make me to choose a different route. And here's what I need you to understand when I say consistent consequences. Every time I drive down that toll road, I see the flash of my license plate. And I say, ah, they got me again. And I drive down that toll road, there's a flashing license plate. Ah, another 40 cents, they got me again. So much so that it got to the point where I said, I don't want to drive down that road anymore because it's just annoying enough to cause me to change my behavior. Consequences don't need to be damaging, they just need to be definite. Every time somebody falls short of the expectation, there's got to be a consequence that goes along with it. I'm not talking about just the times that the behaviors are getting on your nerves. I mean, anytime the behavior falls short of the expectation, a consequence should be associated with it. The sweet student in class and the student that is always getting on your nerves. Anytime, can I say it one more time? Am I getting on your nerves by saying this? Anytime somebody falls short of the expectation, there needs to be a consequence associated with it. Consequences don't need to be damaging, they just need to be definite. Just like that toll road, I know if I go down there, it's gonna charge me 30 cents. I could I would walk past 30 cents on the sidewalk. But if it comes to driving down that toll road, no, let me get off this exit because I don't want, I want the flash on my license plate. You see what I'm saying? It's not because it's damaging, it's because it's definite. And what happens sometimes, I know I made this mistake myself, what happens sometimes is we consequence students based off of our actions. Sorry, no, we consequence students based off of their actions. No, oh, get it right, Daryl. Pay attention. I'm trying to make sure that you're paying attention. No, I'm just joking. I just, it's an alliteration, it got messed up in my head. Here's the issue that I used to make. Sometimes I would consequence students based off of my anger instead of their actions. What I mean by that is the person that would annoy me the most, the person that would make me the most angry, the person that would frustrate me the most would get the biggest consequence. Even though there are multiple students falling short of the expectation. A better way to do it, stay consistent with the consequences. Consequence students based off of their actions, not just your anger. Who's falling short of the expectation? How do I assign a consequence with it? And when I say consequence, I don't mean that everything is an apparent conference or sent to the office. Sometimes a consequence is a warning. Sometimes a consequence is a look. Sometimes the consequence is a seat change. Sometimes the consequence is a loss of a point. You see what I'm saying? We can do this. If you would like more of my um consequence ladder, I'm gonna link in the description down below. Some uh a Google Drive full of resources that is I'm always updating, always changing. Just drop a comment that says, Hey, I would love that resource. I'll drop it right in there, you have access to it, okay? Now, those are the first two pillars of the consequence management system. And somebody's saying, I do a lot of consequences, or the students know what the expectations are. Okay, how about we look at pillar number three, which is desirable rewards? Because when you have clear expectations and consistent consequences, you also have got to have desirable rewards. If you would like for your school district to be empowered as well, you can click the link down below and our team will reach out to you. Desirable rewards does not mean that students just you have to spend a whole lot of money. Desirable rewards does not mean that every day is a pizza party. Desirable rewards does not mean that you've got to have full pieces of candy bar. Like I thought that's what I thought my first year teaching. I thought desirable rewards means that I've got to have the not the fun size skittles, I've got to have the big red pack, right? The king size, that's gonna get them going, right? That's gonna get them falling in line and expectation. That's not it. When I say desirable rewards, it just means that's something, something that the students are working towards. And for those that are in the camp of students shouldn't be rewarded for the things that they're supposed to do. I always bring up the example of a championship-winning team. When the team wins the Super Bowl, when a team wins the NBA championship, the MLB championship, the Stanley Cup, when a team wins, they get a trophy. Now, these grown men and women that are playing these professional sports, whether it's in the Olympics and they're getting trophies, they've worked their whole life for this. They wake up early, sometimes two a day, they go on diets, they're bleeding, sweating, throwing up. They dedicated their life to this. You think they did all that so they can get a little medal? No. They didn't do that to get a little medal. I googled it once, and the medal is not even worth that much. It's not the fact that they do it for the medal. But the organizers of the event and the organizers of the sport, the reason why they give the medal is because it's a public display that I see you, I see your effort, I see your tenacity, I see your grip, I see the work that you put in. It's just a medallion that symbolizes you put in the work and you deserve to be recognized for it. That's what a desirable reward does. I'm not saying that it has to be something that, hey, the students only listen because I'm gonna give them Takis at the end of the week. The students only listen so they can go to the book bus. The students only listen so they get. I'm not saying that. I'm saying desirable rewards communicate. I see you, I see your effort, I notice the work that you've been putting in, and I just want to celebrate you. That's what desirable rewards do. And what it does is it reinforces positive behavior. So for those students that are doing the right thing, and for those students who have fallen short of the expectations and got it back on track, that's an amazing way to celebrate them. So, one is to make sure that you have consistent, clear expectations, two is to make sure that you have consistent consequences, and three, is to make sure that you have desirable rewards. And when you have those three things, then classroom management becomes easier as long as. See, you thought I was done. You thought I was done, but I've got one last thing for you because those three pillars are grounded in one thing, and that one thing that those three pillars are grounded in is positive student relationships. None of those three things work if you don't have positive student relationships. When you build strong positive student relationships, then you share with them the clear expectations, you give them consistent consequences when they fall short of those expectations, and you match that with desirable rewards. You don't have to worry about implementing corporal punishment as tactics to get students to listen, students will fall in line. Again, in the description below, you can find more of my specific consequence ladder. Um, also like some specific rewards I would use in class. And if you want to know how to build deeper relationships, comment down below wherever you're watching this or wherever you're listening to let me know. Oh, I would love to know more about how to effectively build student relationships. I can do a whole series on that if that's something that you are interested in. But ultimately, today, I didn't want you to make the mistake of losing your cool and students acting out and you not knowing how to control them. You ground yourself in these three things. Classroom management becomes easier. But I always also have to say, leaders, I hope you're listening because remember, this is driver number two of the system before strategy framework. Teachers need to believe that they can. It's how they see themselves. Teachers, teachers don't stick around because they're told that they're doing a good job. Teachers stick around because there's evidence that they are growing. And what I'm doing right now as I'm speaking to the teachers' leaders is I'm modeling for you how we can communicate with teachers, how we can help give them the skills and strategies that they need in order so that they can see the evidence of competence which is gonna fuel their confidence and help them to stay in the classrooms. Now, teachers, again, I'm always talking to the teacher who is passionate about this work, who cares about making an impact through education, but maybe you're saying I'm struggling. Maybe you're saying I know that there's more for me. Maybe you're saying I'm getting burnt out. Okay? But I just want to help you understand and realize that you've got what it takes. I know it's a lot, I know it's hard, I know you want to throw the talent. I know you tried giving consequences in the past and it hasn't worked. I know you've littered the classroom with rewards and spent a whole lot of money out of your own pocket. Listen to me, I'm not saying any of that. What I'm saying is you're strong enough to be creative long enough to figure out a solution that's gonna work. Highly effective teachers are not the teachers that never struggle. They are the teachers who struggle long enough to see the success on the other side. I almost gave up after year one. I said, this isn't for me. Students would come into the classroom, they were doing the worm, they were doing all kinds of crazy stuff, they were slapping the wall. I I remember, I said, I'm not doing this anymore, I'm not cut out for this. I should have chosen a different career, a different profession. This isn't for me. But I always had the belief in myself that I can figure this out. And when you have the belief in yourself that you've got what it takes, that you can figure it out, then you will have the unwavering will to develop whatever skill is necessary. Classroom management was my biggest, my biggest pain point. I did not know how to manage the classroom at all. I thought I could just show up and smile and students were like me. That didn't work. But I had an unra an unwavering will that inevitably led to a building of a skill that allowed me to take to take over in the classroom, okay? You can do the same thing. You got what it takes. I don't know what the skill is for you. I don't know what you need to develop. I don't know if maybe it's class management, maybe student engagement, maybe it's differentiation. I don't know what the skill is, but I know that it's possible. And I know that you're capable. You've got this. Alright? As we land the plane, I always like to answer a question from a teacher. A teacher, wherever you leave a question, I'm gonna bring it up here. And this one was left on YouTube. You can leave it wherever you're listening to this podcast, wherever you're watching this, uh, or inside the school community or our impact community, which is our community of over a thousand members now, where we help support and encourage new teachers throughout the year. And we also have some non-new teachers and administrators and things like that as well. It's just a great educated community that we help support each other. And I pull questions from there as well. So if you ever have a question, drop it somewhere where I can find it and I will try to plug it in here. But this question comes from Miss Mason. She asks, Can you give specific examples of what is okay to share with kids? In this video, I was talking about how to build relationships. Again, if you want more information about that, let me know and I can do like a whole thing on it. But she said, I've been told that it's inappropriate to share my learning divergence, to share my struggles in education, to share my marital status, to share the fact that I have kids. I mean, I can tell them my favorite color, you know? So basically, what she's saying is, listen, you want me to build relationships with these students, but you don't want me to share any information with them. What can I share with them that's gonna be relevant enough to build a positive relationship? And here's what I'll say in response to that, Miss Mason. I always say, you want to share personal information that allows them to connect. We connect over similarities. We connect when we feel like we we know somebody, right? We feel like we know them. That's what this whole world on social media is all about. I'm looking at people and celebrities and their families and what they eat for breakfast and all those kinds of things. But here's always what I say: share information that you would not mind being the headliner of Good Morning America. Okay? Don't say anything in a classroom that you would not be proud of to see the headline of Good Morning America because once you let it out your mouth in front of those students, it very well might end up on Good Morning America. So Miss Mason has three kids. Is that the headline on Good Morning America? Cool, sounds great. Great headline. Now, you know, Miss Mason, you know, drinks on the weekends and blacks out and driving and like stuff like that. Probably gonna keep that to yourself, you know, um, not in front of the students, not something that you want to be publicly known for. And then in terms of you know, uh sharing your your vulnerability, I think one of the reasons why somebody might have suggested to you that you shouldn't share your struggles or shouldn't share your neurodivergent status and things like that, uh, is because if handled incorrectly, they're thinking that students could take advantage of it. Where I say being vulnerable is what allows us to connect. I share all the time that I was a former terrible teacher. I share stories all the time about how much I struggled in the classroom. I told you just now I thought about not coming back after the first year because of how terrible I was. And that helps teachers to see me as real and say, oh, oh, he went through it as well. Like he experienced it as well. And the same happens for students in the classroom. When you share, listen, I didn't like math either. I struggled at math. But science was never my thing. I can never remember dates in social studies. But I stuck with it, I persevered, and look at me now. Hey, I'm not perfect, but I'm a teacher, right? I know enough to help you learn some things, and that can help students to say, oh, you're a real person. So that's really the takeaway. You want students to know that you're a real person. You don't want to overshare, don't want to give them too much information, and you don't want to give them anything that um again can be used against you negatively, but share information with the students that helps you build a positive relationship. Again, if you would like more information on how to build positive student relationships, let me know. And that's something that we can do a whole series over. With that being said, you know that I'm always gonna leave with an exit ticket. It's your last action step. What are we gonna take into the into this upcoming week? And as we're talking about building student relationships, I want you to review your expectations and ask yourself, are they clear enough? Remember, clear is not synonymous with posted. When I say are they clear enough, I'm not asking, do you have them posted in the classroom? When I'm saying, are they clear enough? I'm asking you, can every student in class recite it on command? If your students don't know the expectation in your classroom, how can we expect them to live up to them? So your action step, your exit ticket for this day, review your classroom expectations and see if they are clear enough. Let me know what you think in the comment section down below. I'm there to support you. All right, this has been an incredible experience. And again, hopefully you can take what you learned here, step back into the classroom where you can manage that classroom effectively so that you can be the teacher you've always wanted to be and make the impact our students deserve. I'll see you on the next one. I help new teachers become the teachers they've always wanted to be and make the impact our students deserve. Because I've been there. I know what it's like to struggle, to feel like I'm not enough, but I also know what's on the other side: excitement, fulfillment, and the ability to change lives. Every great teacher was once a new teacher, and new teachers are often excited and eager and anxious, but a lot of times new teachers lack the foundational skills of effective instruction. Every teacher that I work with, I carry them through this journey, helping them master the principles of effective instruction so that they know how capable they are. I can't wait to see these teachers enact. They're 1% amazing and make the difference that only they can. If you would like for your school district to be empowered as well, you can click the link down below and our team will reach out to you.