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There I was, standing in chaos in front of 30 students, feeling that familiar tightness in my chest. Another lesson disrupted. Once again, behaviour spiralling out of control. My instinctive response would have been to raise my voice, to shout, try to salvage some semblance of order. It's a reaction I've seen in far too many teachers. And one that I know deep down is fundamentally broken.
Managing emotions is tough.
For the fourteen-year-olds trying to navigate the world AND for us educators guiding them.
The difference is, most of us have spent years learning how to deal with things like fear or anger. We’ve got coping methods to de-escalate frustration.
But kids are still a long way off.
Yet, by taking emotional self-regulation for granted, we make a fundamental mistake. When a classroom gets out of hand, we default to raising our voice—rather than stop and think "hmm, let me see what went wrong here." As if volume could magically restore calm!
Unsurprisingly, it usually doesn't. What shouting actually does is leave students and teachers feeling disconnected and, frankly, a bit defeated.
What else can you do?
After 14 years of teaching, here are four classroom management strategies that saved me from becoming that teacher who yells—and maybe they'll save you too:
1. Know your emotional triggers
Teaching is one of the most stressful jobs out there. And if you look at research, or ask literally anyone around you, pupil behaviour is often one of the top stressors.
So I started paying attention to what got under my skin. Was it students challenging my authority? People talking behind my back? Nonstop disruptions? The relentless pace with no breathing room?
If these worries sound familiar, here are some strategies you can use to stay in control:
- During chaotic moments, use a pre-planned signal to get students' attention (hands up or a countdown, perhaps) instead of escalating vocally.
- When you feel your authority challenged, pause for ten seconds to think before responding.
- Try to set check-in times and allow yourself breaks when your nerves are stretched, even if that means 2 minutes between classes.
Spotting triggers isn't about eliminating them, that'd be impossible. It's about getting better at riding the waves. And when you do, you set yourself up for success.
That said, as teachers we juggle a lot and support isn't always there. Remember that you're dealing with 25+ different personalities and energy levels at once—it's normal to feel overwhelmed at times. Controlling your gut reactions is never as easy as it sounds anyway, and you shouldn't have to carry the burden alone.
2. Teach more than punish
Picture your most challenging class. Maybe it's your fourth lesson on a Tuesday when students come straight from PE, still buzzing with energy. Or that Friday middle-of-the-day group that's perpetually distracted.
Every teacher has classes like that.
Many students come to school with their own challenges—it could be trauma, home struggles, poor mental health, or simply being at different stages of development. Thankfully, emotional self-regulation isn't some mystical skill reserved for us adults. Just like history or science, it can be learned.
I know it sounds counterproductive, but what if student outbursts are actually opportunities? Not failures to be squashed, but invitations to learn. So if a Year 8 is great at debating big topics but loses their cool when working in groups, they aren't being “difficult”. They simply haven't been taught how to navigate their emotions yet.
Here are two ways we can help:
Foster Self-Reflection: Respond to impulsive behaviour with calm, non-judgmental feedback. Help students to understand what's happened and guide them toward better choices next time.
One of many ways to encourage reflection is through "pause and think" moments, for instance: when, say, "James" turns to chat with a classmate during a task he should have been doing alone, ask him: "What's making it hard to wait until break to chat to your friends today?" This helps students become more aware of their actions and it keeps the conversation constructive rather than punitive.
Give group mindfulness a go: Research shows that mindfulness improves young people's mental, social, and physical wellbeing. Some schools are now incorporating mindfulness practices during morning registration or after lunch breaks. They're creating these spaces for kids to just be still and remember who they are beneath all the noise.
Sounds interesting? Start with a "finger-walking" meditation: children put one hand on their desk and with their other hand, they trace their fingers up as they breathe, down as they release. Sixty seconds. That's it. You're teaching them how to listen to themselves.
3. Ditch random seats
I remember entering classrooms over the years - some overjoyed to see me, others lifeless as a wet weekend. And somewhere along the way, I can't tell exactly when, I started noticing how the arrangement of the desks, and who sat where, could shape the whole atmosphere.
It turns out that different classroom seating arrangements can reduce the disruption rate by up to two-thirds—research shows.
Most teachers I've spoken to share a familiar gripe. "My students won't sit where I tell them to sit," they'll say, sighing in frustration. And so they default to the most uninspired solution: rows, the order of which is either random or we let students pick their spots, usually in pairs with someone else. But what if there's another way?
There are basically three ways to sit a classroom:
- Random seating: The classroom equivalent of drawing names from a hat. Spontaneous, but about as strategic as throwing confetti and hoping it lands somewhere meaningful.
- Assigned seating: Also known as a seating plan, this system that can be as elaborate as the teacher desires. It takes into account each student's location to better prioritise engagement, manage classroom disruptions and meet individual needs.
- Student-selected: The wild card. Each student chooses their own territory.
When I dig into the research, a clear narrative emerges. Left to their own devices, students (often but not always) create social landscapes. Clusters of friends who love to chat and treat the lesson plan as background noise.
But if seats are allocated, we have a better chance of running a good class.
Think of the possibilities! You could keep potential troublemakers separate, sit students with sensory challenges next to you or next to supportive classmates, or at the very least create a learning environment that adapts to what's needed for each activity. After all, a seating chart isn't a fixed blueprint, and what works great in September might feel restrictive by January.
If this sounds like a lot of work, it’s because it frankly is. But there’s technology out there that can help.
Mega Seating Plan, the app I built over the last decade, is a classroom seating plan generator that integrates behavioural data, academic performance, and student preferences into an all-in-one software. This can either talk to your school's systems or work on its own. And for those who appreciate a little automation, it can also use artificial intelligence to automatically seat students based on your requirements, their preferences, and their data.
Mega Seating Plan is EdTech Impact's 'Top Student Wellbeing Tool of 2025' because of how it fosters good classroom relationships and better learning.
Ultimately, there is more to classroom seating than just rows vs groups. We're trying to create a space where we don't have to shout to be heard. A space with purpose, where students feel safe and learning feels easier.
4. Be consistent
Our most challenging students often have the most chaotic home life. You can counter that by bringing consistency and order to their school life. If your school has a clear and well-defined behaviour policy, follow it. When students know that their achievements and behaviour will be rewarded and sanctioned consistently in Maths, English and History, you bring the stability and predictability that they crave.
Mega Seating Plan can help with this too. Its behaviour management tools allow teachers to add achievement and behaviour events directly from their seating plans, allowing senior leaders to identify trends before they become embedded. It can be used by schools as a standalone system, or integrated into their MIS's existing behaviour tools.
There are always alternatives to raising your voice
Through years of experience and real conversations with my students, I've found more effective approaches and I trust you will too.
We don't only teach physics, literature or geography, we also teach young people how to be (and grow) together. So chaos and frustration are part of the curriculum. As learning opportunities rather than obstacles.
Focusing on things within our control—like mutual respect, thoughtful seating arrangements, and creating a supportive environment where students can be their full selves—will lead to some substantial changes. These won't be instant, but you'll find that over time you can learn to trade fear for understanding and become the teacher you were always meant to be.
Because at the end of the day, our students won't remember the perfect lesson, they'll remember how we made them feel.
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
