Reflections on Chapter 6:

This summer I will be participating in Whole Brain Teaching's Book Club. If you would like to participate, you can get more information {HERE}. My post today is a reflection on Chapter 6 with the directions/assignments coming directly from the book club. I'd love to read your comments and feedback!

You can read my previous reflections here:

Chapters 1 & 2

Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5

Reflections on Chapter 6:

Directions: 10 variations on Class-Yes.

 

Here are some new variations on WBT's Class-Yes attention getter:

1. Hook 'em Horns Class---Hook 'em Horns Yes (or any university)

2. Let's go class (clap each word)---Let's go yes (clap each word)

3. Here we go class, here we go (clap, clap)---Here we go yes, here we go (clap, clap)

4. Where my class at (snap)---Where my yes at (snap)

5. Second (or your grade) is the best class---Second is the best yes

6. Class is ready to rock---Yes we're ready to roll

7. Class full of Champions (or your mascot)---Yes we are Champions

8. 4 x 2 = what class---4 x 2 = 8 yes (can use any math fact)

9. Focus, focus class, class---focus, focus yes, yes

10. Class, class give me a noun (or any part of speech)---yes, yes here's a ______ (kids say the requested part of speech)

11. Hey, hey, hey class---Hey, hey, hey yes

12. Class we are ready---Yes we are ready

13. Go, fight, win class---Go, fight, win yes

14. You are the best class---We are the best yes

15. Students, students class, class---Teacher, teacher yes, yes

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Brandi

Reflections on Chapter 5:

This summer I will be participating in Whole Brain Teaching's Book Club. If you would like to participate, you can get more information {HERE}. My post today is a reflection on Chapter 4 with the directions/assignments coming directly from the book club. I'd love to read your comments and feedback!

You can read my previous reflections here:

Chapters 1 & 2

Chapter 3
Chapter 4

 

Reflections on Chapter 5:

Directions: Thinking about your own teaching tendencies, which brain areas are you most likely, and least likely, to activate in your students.

 

I am getting ready to begin my tenth year of teaching. Looking back, I can see that I have not done a good job of activating my students' whole brains. I often focused on Broca's area (speaking) and Wernicke's area (hearing and understanding language). In the past two years I have activated my students' visual cortex more by having my students take notes using pictures and words.

 

The areas that I have been least likely to activate are the prefrontal cortex and motor cortex. Unfortunately, these are two of the more important areas of the brain. Having more of an understanding of the brain and Whole Brain Teaching strategies, I have plans to increase my activation of these areas.

 

To increase prefrontal cortex activity, I want to give students more control over their learning. Simple ways to do this include using more menus in the classroom where students can choose which activities to complete for different standards. I have also revamped my reading logs to get away from answering questions to a tic tac toe format where students can choose to complete different activities each night.

 

To increase motor cortex activity, I will be using more gestures in the classroom. Using Teach-Ok and Mirror strategies will allow me to do this. I also need to remember to cut down on my talking in order to have students rehearse more. By fully utilizing WBT strategies, I will be able to teach my standards in a fun, engaging way that activates the entire brain and will lead to great student success.

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Brandi

Reflections on Chapter 4:

This summer I will be participating in Whole Brain Teaching's Book Club. If you would like to participate, you can get more information {HERE}. My post today is a reflection on Chapter 4 with the directions/assignments coming directly from the book club. I'd love to read your comments and feedback!

 

You can read my previous reflections here:

Chapters 1 & 2

Chapter 3

 

 

Reflections on Chapter 4:

Directions: Imagine next year is completed.  You've faithfully charted your own behavior as an instructor and your students' progress.  Looking back, what did you learn?

 

It's June 2014. I've just finished another year in second grade, but my first fully implementing WBT strategies. One of the first things I realized I needed to do was take a look at myself and how my behaviors affect my classroom. I started the year by focusing on two critical features of my behavior--controlling my tone and being consistent with my classroom management plan.

 

In order to chart this effectively, I utilized Class Dojo. Each week I would rate myself based on my ability to control my tone and consistently follow my classroom management plan. The data was shaky at first. I realized that I had periods of time when I wasn't being consistent. What I also noticed was that this lack of consistency was linked to my inability to control my tone. Imagine that! When I was consistent with my management plan, I controlled my tone! Once I saw this connection, I went back to basics and was able to see a change in my behavior, which led to a change in the whole vibe of the classroom!

 

Once I had a firm handle on my behavior, I moved on to focusing on student behavior. The measures that I focused on were following directions quickly, raising hands for permission to speak, and being ready to work at all times. Once I picked my focused measures, I saw who my Alphas, Go-Alongs, Fence Sitters, and Challenging Students were. I again used Class Dojo as a way to record students’ points. By using this in combination with the Super Improvers Wall, I was able to see my students strive for greater behavior and effort. By using these strategies and focusing first on me, I was able to see my students all move at least one level, leaving as Leaders, Alphas, Go-Alongs, and Fence Sitters. I was also able to see myself striving for more. I wanted to increase my score, which increased my students' score!

 

Overall, the year went smoothly. By focusing on my behavior first I was able to see where I struggled and where I excelled. Then I was able to use this information to help guide my students along. Also, pinpointing specific measures allowed me to provide genuine opportunities to watch my students grow. Charting my behavior and student behavior is a strategy I will continue to use throughout my teaching career.

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Brandi

This summer I will be participating in Whole Brain Teaching's Book Club. If you would like to participate, you can get more information {HERE}. My post today is a reflection on Chapter 3 with the directions/assignments coming directly from the book club. I'd love to read your comments and feedback!

 

 

Reflections on Chapter 3:

Directions: Pick two of the errors described in Chapter 3, pages 9-13, of "Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids" and write yourself a letter of advice about how you're going to avoid these mistakes in the coming year. Include one or two useful quotes from the chapter.

Dear Brandi,
You've been there before.  Tired and frustrated at the end of the day.  You look back and wonder what happened.  Then you realize, "I made the same mistakes again". 

Now that you're utilizing Whole Brain Teaching in its entirety, there are some mistakes you won't be making this year.  Coach B has taught you that the options are simple--grow or die!  You've taken steps in the right direction to do this.  You've continued to grow by blogging and creating.  Every day that you read, reflect, comment, and post, you're learning.  The more you learn, the better prepared you will be and the more you'll be like the teacher you want to be and know you can be.  This new online community has also led you to fall in love with teaching again.  The excitement you had 10 years ago is back armed with knowledge and determination!

Another thing to remember is the importance of organization.  You love things to look neat and organized, but remember to have things be functionally organized too.  As Coach B said, "The less class structure you have, the less structured your classes will be."  You don't want that.  Remember to review rules and expectations daily!  Using the gestures you've learned makes this fun for you and the kids.

Along with this organization comes preparation.  You don't like the feeling of not being prepared.  Remember that you need to put in the work, but you also need balance.  Work hard all year to keep this in mind.

You can and will do it!

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Brandi

This summer I will be participating in Whole Brain Teaching's Book Club.  If you would like to participate, you can get more information {HERE}.  My post today is a reflection on Chapters 1 & 2 with the directions/assignments coming directly from the book club.  I'd love to read your comments and feedback!

 

 

 

Reflections on Chapters 1 & 2:

Directions: Coach B says... "You've just been made principal of a charter school and you're about to address your staff for the first time. Select three points from chapters 1 and 2 that you are going to talk about describing key aspects of Whole Brain Teaching. Include one story about your teaching experience."
 
Last summer I was a frustrated teacher. I had a good class, but there were one or two kids that always seemed to be presenting behavior challenges. The more I tried strategies from my old bag of tricks, the worse it seemed to get. While looking online, I found many discussions, articles, and videos on Whole Brain Teaching and I was instantly intrigued.

Whole Brain Teaching is more than a management plan; it's a teaching style.  As Coach B says in his new book, Whole Brian Teaching for Challenging Kids, "if a student's whole brain is involved in learning, there isn't any mental area left over for challenging behavior". This is something that is often missing from the classroom today. As educators, we are presenting great lessons to our students. However, are we engaging them completely utilizing current brain research?

This leads to another point from Coach B.--the longer we talk, the more students we lose. We've all sat through a presentation with great material and an amazing presenter that was all talk.  How soon did we check out? In this same way, we can't expect our students, even the best behaved and most motivated, to sit through lecture after lecture.

That's where Whole Brain Teaching comes in.  It's a way of teaching that leads to total engagement no matter what you're teaching or to whom you're teaching it! It's also been proven to work from kindergarten to college. By using these methods, we will be creating classrooms that enable students to see, hear, say, and move about to learn. Those challenging kids that we've all had will be experiencing learning in a new way that will keep their brains so busy learning, they won't have time to be "challenging".  Sounds like the classrooms we all want to be in and create for our students.  Let’s get ready to do it!

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Brandi

 

Last summer when I started blogging, I read up on Whole Brain Teaching.  This summer I will be participating in the Whole Brain Teaching Book Club!  I'm super excited to share and learn more so that I can better understand the strategies and implement the philosophy more fully next year!

I will be posting my reflections on the new book Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids.

I know there are other fabulous bloggers reading and learning about WBT this summer.  If that's you, I'd love to chat with you about it!  I'm hoping to start earning points toward my WBT certification too!

Make sure you stop by again tomorrow for my reflections on Chapters 1 & 2!

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Brandi

Last summer I started reading up on Whole Brain Teaching.  I was able to implement the 5 classroom rules and gestures, Class-Yes, Hands & Eyes, and Teach-Ok (I blogged about my initial adventures HERE).

One of my go to blogs for WBT is Stephanie at 3rd Grade Thoughts.  She posted this great video of Coach B explaining the Super Improvers Wall.  After watching this video I was blown away.  I love how it utilizes motivation for beating a personal best in all aspects of the classroom.  My head is already spinning with ideas for using this in conjunction with Class Dojo and as a way to push my kids to improve in academics.

I started the year using SuperSpeed Math but unfortunately I wasn't consistent in using it.  With the SIW, I'll be able to tie in AR points, ST Math, and HFW as well.  The possiblities seem endless!

So after watching the video I went to Pinterest to find some examples of the SIW.  I love the examples of people integrating their classroom theme into the 10 levels.  Since I want to integrate my sports theme more I knew I needed to do this.  Inspired by this pin:

click the picture or here to go to the source

I created my levels: rookie, phenom, starter, leader, captain, star, mvp, superstar, hall of fame, living legend.  I love that it ties into my sports theme!  Here are my levels that I created:

header

Since the whole premise is about personal best and racing yourself (which I love!), I made a little certificate to go home when students move levels.  

What I'm thinking of doing is creating smaller versions of the header cards that I can use to put the stars on. Once they get the 10 stars, I'll attach it to the certificate so their parents can see it then give them the next level. As for the actual display in the classroom, I'm thinking of just putting students' names on die cut stars that correspond with the color of the header.

If you've used or are using the SIW, I'd love to hear how it's working for you.  I'm so glad to be able to spend the summer learning more about WBT in general!

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Brandi

So I'm taking introducing WBT gradually with my class. For one, I am still reading up and learning about correctly implementing these strategies.  Also, the first 2 weeks of school have been CRAZY!

The first week I introduced "Class-Yes" and my students have been doing a great job with it.  This week I introduced "Teach-Okay".  We started our social studies unit on government and my kids were taking Nancy Fetzer notes (a topic for another post because I love her!).  Anyway, I'm not the best when it comes to hand motions, but seeing as so many of my kids are bodily-kinesthetic, I know I need to implement this strategy more often.

We started with our main idea (or S, S, light bulb for those of you familiar with Nancy) and I used a gesture to remember it.  Once we had all practiced it repeatedly, I divided the class into pairs and introduced "Teach-Okay".  My students loved it!  They were engaged and excited and truly listened to their partner.  Once the 1's went, I said "Switch" and they responded "Switch", then the 2's taught their partner.

We continued to use teach-okay for each section of our notes.  By the end, the students were so engaged and focused...........it was amazing.  Even the next day when we went to review what we learned, they immediately used their hand motions and could tell me their overview of our government unit!

It was fun for me and them and they retained the information........what more could I want!

If you're using WBT strategies, how's it going for you?

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Brandi

Well the first week is in the books and I'm exhausted.  I love my kids (all 32 of them!) and love my new room.....I moved from the portables in the back to a big room in the front!  I have more cabinet space than I know what to do with.....go shopping I guess!
 
Anyway, I still haven't taken pictures....I know, bad blogger.  But I love how my room turned out!  Will definitely post pics and link up to the classroom picture parties ASAP!
 
Now, on to my new favorite classroom technique.....WHOLE BRAIN TEACHING!  Why haven't I been using this for the past eight years!

 

I started by introducing the classroom rules.  I downloaded my rules from The Polka Dot Patch and taught them to my class early on the first day.  Using the gestures was amazing!  My kids actually remember what the rules are when asked, instead of giving generic answers.  When they need to make a better choice I just do one of the gestures and they know what they should be doing!  I love it!


Reflecting on previous years, I'd never really taught my kids the rules.  I told them and we discussed what they meant, but they could never tell me what they were once I had introduced them.  If they don't know them, how can they follow them?  I know this bunch will have a better understanding of the rules, which I'm hoping will help them remember to follow the rules.  I also know that they've been given multiple chances on a daily basis (which we'll continue to do) so there's no excuse as to why they aren't following a rule.


After I'd taught the rules and we'd rehearsed them for a while, I showed them part of the second video from Miss Smartie Pants' blog.  Even though the video was middle schoolers, my kids were into it and wanted to do what they did!  So motivating!






A little later in the day I introduced "Class, Yes".  This beats all of the things I've done in the past hands down.  My kiddos respond instantly and are ready for directions almost immediately.........again, in love!  They think it's hilarious when I use different voices and really try to imitate me as best as possible.
 
Next week I plan to introduce "Hands and Eyes" and "Teach, Okay".  I need to brush up on some videos and blog hop.  I am just loving WBT so far and feel ashamed for not having used these strategies sooner.  I'm so thankfully for blogging which has opened my teaching world!

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Brandi

I'm linking up with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics again for

Yesterday I posted about sight word practice.  Click {HERE} to read.  To help my students practice their sight words even more, I made Tara's Shake, Write, and Learn Tumblers.  When I saw this idea I was instantly hooked!  I know my kids will love doing this activity and I think it compliments WBT's SuperSpeed 100/1000 very well.  While SuperSpeed works on reading sight words, the Shake, Write, and Learn Tumblers focus on spelling and writing sight words.  By using both, my students will have a great grasp on sight words!

While I was reading up on WBT, I read Tonya's post and followed the link to Ashley at The Polka Dot Patch.  She has the WBT rules you can download and print, so I did that and attached them to ribbon.

I teach at a Multiple Intelligence (MI) school and love how well the strategies from WBT align with MI.  I will definitely be spending more time this summer reading and watching videos from WBT.

For more fun items, I made these bookmarks from paint samples that I picked up at Walmart.  I had a star punch that I used along the sides, then tied some silver ribbon to the top.  I plan to pass these out at meet your teacher day.

Don't forget to link up and share what you've done this week!

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Brandi

I've been spending time this week thinking of how to have my students practice their sight words more.  We all know how important being able to read, write, and spell these words are; yet I feel like I haven't always done the best job of making sure my students practice them regularly or are working at a level that is just right for them.
As I was blog hopping, I found a great post from Amber at T is For Teaching. 


She wrote about the SuperSpeed 100 and SuperSpeed 1000 from Whole Brain Teaching.  Since entering the blogging world, I have read so much about WBT and have fallen in love with so many aspects of it.  So when I saw this post, I knew it was something I would have to look into.

With the SuperSpeed 100/1000, student pairs read a list of sight words that is at their level.  I love that there is little prep, once you make the initial set of lists.  Students are challenging themselves to beat their personal best, which I also love.  April even made a really cute recording sheet for students to use!

 I think this is going to be a great addition to my classroom.  I feel like it's manageable, practical, and something I'll stick with, which is so important.  What do you do in your classroom to practice sight words and how has it been working?  I'd love to get even more ideas to use!

Check back tomorrow for my Monday Made It.  It has something to do with sight words too!

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Brandi