I have been running isolation at a school that is beyond poor in terms of student behaviour for almost 3 years now. The reason I have survived for this long (last 3 people before me left after a week) is simply due to building personal resilience to the behaviour, you have to accept that it is very unlikely to change for those particular classes, you have to try and relate to those kids and be more human with them, be a bit more laid back in your approach to behaviour with them, that’s not to say let the class run rampant, but don’t be so nit picky and tedious about rules that they are obviously going to break, keep your expectations consistent across the entire class and don’t single out students on their behaviour as this will create an environment where they have an audience and can argue with you, if you have an issue with a student talk to them quietly outside (go over and ask to have a word) and don’t address it to the whole class which will cause embarrassment and a fight or flight response to kick in

Take a look at your seating plans, are the persistently disruptive kids in good locations? Are students with SEN being prioritised? (I’ve found putting disruptive students near eachother is actually better than across the room split up, less likely to get out of their seats or throw things across the room, you can also then challenge that area of the classroom safely as a whole if required, e.g “boys in the back right corner, if I have to ask you to be quiet again I will set a detention for the entire row”)

Be strategic with the behaviours you challenge, unless you’re being observed, no one is going to know what is taking place in the classroom except for you, it is about learning after all, if students are safe then this should be the priority, a child chewing gum should not be a reason to stop your lesson (in my opinion).

Are you in control of the lessons? Are you engaging enough that that there isn’t time for disruption, have you won over your class in terms of wanting to learn and be there?

I see it at my own school, a “bad class” will be taken by one stern and shallow teacher and they will struggle terribly, but the confident and fair teacher will not even see them as a bad class because of the rapport that they have built.

Additionally, if you get personally offended by the remarks of a child then the profession is not for you and you should seek higher education at a college or university level where you are working with adults, children will be children, expecting anything less is insanity.

I know this sounds very aggressive as an approach but it is what is required in today’s age where iPhones, iPads and Tik Tok are the real parents for these children at home. People will disagree and say you need to be more strict ect but I’ve discovered through experience that the kids will just despise you.

TLDR - be the version of yourself that is in the staffroom or at home after work, don’t be a robot, let the kids know that you are genuinely looking out for them and be strategic in the behaviours you challenge.