Calm corners look great online – but in reality? Students can ignore them, misuse them, or turn them into a hangout spot. You’re left wondering if they’re even worth it in a busy secondary classroom where time, space, and structure are limited. You want to support emotional regulation, but not at the expense of learning.
I’ll take you through how I create calm spaces that actually support self-regulation – without turning your classroom into a free-for-all – and how I embed emotional literacy and co-regulation into my behaviour approach.
IN THIS EPISODE, I DISCUSS:
Why calm corners often fail in secondary classrooms
What needs to happen before you set one up
My “pocket calm corner” and the tools students actually use
How to embed regulation without disrupting the flow of your lesson
So, are calm corners worth the rage in secondary? Yes – but only if they’re adapted to work in our world. That means ditching the distractions and zeroing in on strategies that are teachable, transferable, and actually usable for our students.
The Unteachables Podcast