New Year's Resolution -Purpose

     
      I can't believe that a new year is about to begin. What happened to 2014???  I am not a fan of resolutions, mostly because I never seem to keep them. I love the idea from Primary Powers to use one word for my resolution. I picked PURPOSE because it sums up my teaching plan for the rest of the year.  I find that it is so easy to get distracted by all the things that teachers are supposed to do that I lose my purpose for doing things.  
       This became very evident to me right before break and I was busy teaching Native Americans and rushing through the Lakota tribe (with 4 -6 kids absent almost each day the week before break), and after having the ELL teacher taking 5 of my ELL kids to do an assignment and when she returned - she told me that they knew nothing about the tribe! They did not know the region they lived in, that they hunted buffalo or anything! This was after 3 days of teaching and doing activities about the Lakota Indians. I quickly realized that 1. I needed to reteach it and that I had not really had a purpose to my lessons.  I also realized that I did not use my WBT  5 part lesson plan which is amazing and so helpful to all my students. So, as I am doing a little planning for the new year, I am revising my lesson plans to have a purpose and I will be checking for understanding as I go and not waiting for several days to go by.  
   For me, purpose also means that as I make choices as to what to focus on as I am teaching, I need to know what my purpose is for the lesson and the unit - what do my students need to know? It means to start from the end and work backwards in my lesson planning - which I do most of the time but not always. I also know that I can't improve everything at once but I need to focus on one thing and decide if other things fit my purpose. 
   What is your one word resolution for the new year? How are you going to improve yourself in the new year?
   

Master Class - Teach Ok

     When I found Whole Brain Teaching, I was somewhat overwhelmed with all the different pieces and trying to figure out how to make it all work. Coach B. (Chris Biffle) says that teach ok is the unifying piece that ties WBT together. The beginning pattern is to say "Class" and the students respond "Yes." and then to speak briefly. Next, clap twice and say "Teach" and the students respond "OK" and repeat what you say over and over until you tell them to stop.  This pattern is repeated throughout the lesson.  Coach B. reminds teachers that the longer we speak, the more students we lose. This is a good reminder to keep our lessons short.  An important part of teach ok is that the speaker is using big gestures and the listener is mirroring the gestures. This involves both students and it makes it easy for the teacher to see who is not engaged.  
    Coach B. suggests practicing teach ok at least 5 times per day and after each rehearsal pick 5 - 8 kids as a leadership team (with no more than 2 rebels). Stand next to the weakest rebel and then give a short, sample lesson ending with teach - ok. Observe the full turns and gestures. Praise any improvement by leaders and rebels. There is no place for the rebels to hide.
   Teach - Ok is a great way to check for student understanding because it keeps the lesson short and as the teacher walks around, she can listen in to the students' understanding and adjust the lesson as she is teaching.  
  I would love to know how you engage your students in the lesson. Please leave a comment.
         

Master Class 2.0 - Rules

   
      Every teacher has classroom rules.  Some teachers, including me in the past, made rules in the beginning of the year and then just let them slide. The rules would be nicely posted on the wall and never discussed again after the beginning of the year. I thought that I had discovered a better way when I got the students involved and had the students SIGN the poster and I revisited the rules after winter break.  The problem was that the students did not really know the rules and then I discovered Whole Brain Teaching.
    There are 5 rules in WBT. The rules are: rule #1: follow directions quickly, rule #2: raise your hand for permission to speak, rule #3: raise your hand for permission to leave your seat, rule #4: make smart choices, and rule #5: keep your dear teacher happy. These are available at WBT website and you can also find a variety of posters on the teachers pay teachers website.  
   The rookie level of the rules is to review the rules by saying the rules number and the students respond by saying the rule and showing the corresponding gesture. In the beginning of the school year, the rules should be practiced at least 5 times a day. It is important to get buy in for the rules by explaining that these rules will create a fun and organized class. Ask for a show of hands to support the rules (most children will agree). No matter the result, say I think it is a good idea to start with these and we can change them later if we need to. The rules should be posted and practiced several times a day to keep the rules fresh in the students' minds.
   The 5 rules have been a mainstay of WBT for a long time BUT now there is 1 more rule - the Diamond rule.  The diamond rule is that the student looks at the one who is teaching.  This is frequently the teacher but many times, it is also when another student is talking. I have just started using the diamond rule and I love it! It really helps to focus the students' attention.
     The pro level is to choose a student leader to lead the classroom rules. The student leader says the rule number and then the other students make the gesture and say the rule. The mastery challenge is to train at least 5 student leaders to lead the rules. A new bonus for the Master Class is the 3 Freebie Stopwatch. For example, rule #2 - raise your hand for permission to speak can be one of the most challenging.  Using a stopwatch, say to your students "Let's see how long we can go without breaking rule #2" and then the first time the rule is broken, say "That's one" and then after the 2nd time, say "that's 2" and then after the 3rd time say "That's 3. Ok, we will try again later." Then write the time on the board. Continue to try to break the class record.
    The next level is the all star level. It is used to implement the rules at any point during the day.  Rules 1 - 3 are for the most common issues in the classroom and rules 4 and 5 cover everything else. This level is for when the rules are broken during a lesson and the teacher stops briefly and says rule # (fill in with the rule being broken) and the students quickly repeat it. This quickly gets everyone focused without stopping and scolding a child.   
   I love these classroom rules because they cover everything and I practice with my students at least twice a day. The students know and understand what is expected.  You can view the webcast at the whole brain teaching. It is #583 and it free! The rules are just one step on the way to teacher heaven.

Master Class - 100% Student Engagement

      Mirrors are a great way to foster 100% student engagement!  I am still a rookie at this but I am improving. The rookie level is when the teacher says "Mirror words" and lift your hands and gesture as you speak. The students respond by following the teacher's gestures and repeating the teacher's words.  The teacher needs to speak slowly and in small chucks so that the students can repeat the words and gestures. The mastery challenge for this level is to use mirror words as least 10 times per day.  Teachers can vary mirror words by speaking slowly or quickly, in a loud or quiet voice. Coach B. has some new ideas for mirrors including tiny mirrors, rabbit fast mirrors and turtle slow mirrors.  
     Another new thing is echo mirror leaders. The teacher will pick several kids to be echo leaders and then when a teacher uses mirror words, the whole class repeats mirror words and then the teacher puts her hand to her ear and the echo leader repeats it like an echo.
    The next level for teachers is the pro level. On this level, the teacher says "Silent mirrors! ummm" and putting her finger to her lips. Students mirror the gestures but not the words. The mastery challenge is for a teacher to alternate mirror words and silent mirrors 10 times per day. One variation is mirror volunteers - anyone who wants to can stand and demonstrate great mirrors with big gestures.
   Of course, we all have the all star level for teachers! The teacher says "Magic Mirror!" and puts her hands behind her back. The students say "Magic mirrors - OOHH!!" and lift their hands and wiggle their fingers. Students say your words and create their own gestures. The mastery challenge is to use all three levels at least 20 times per day.  Coach B. recommends keeping a tally chart to keep track of how many times you do each one.  Here is the Whole Brain Teaching website to learn about mirrors and other techniques. The webcast on mirrors is webcast 582 - 100% student engagement!  Another step closer to teaching heaven.  
    I still need more work on mirrors! How do you engage your class when you are teaching?

      
    

Master Class - Attention Getters

      I believe that it is so important to be able to get your class' attention quickly as possible so that the learning does not stop. Whole Brain Teaching has taught me easy ways to get my students' attention and to have a variety of strategies so that I can change them as needed.  
Coach B. starts with the rookie attention getters.  I was definitely a rookie when I started this last school year.  As a rookie, the teacher says "Class" and the students respond "Yes" and quickly fold their hands and look at the teacher.  The teacher can say "Class" in a variety of ways, for example, if a teacher says "Classity-class-class" and the students respond with "Yesity-yes-yes" and quickly fold their hands.  Some additional variations included in this webcast are: talking like a mouse, a ninja and a cowboy.  As a rookie, teachers should be doing Class-Yes at least 20 times per day and tracking it on a tally sheet.

    Coach B. also stresses practicing the class - yes using the wrong way and right way.  A fun way to practice the attention - getters is to have students model and practice doing it the wrong way and then the right way.

     The next level is the Pro Level! I love Class-Boom! When I say "Class-Boom!", the students respond with "Yes-Boom!" and fold their hands quickly. Use this at least 10 times per day and mark on a tally sheet. Class-Boom is a great change of pace and keeps the students interested and engaged. Something new with the master class is the pick some class leaders to be echo leaders. It goes like this: the teacher says "Class-class-class" and the students respond "YES-yes-yes". Next the teacher puts her hand to her ear and the echo leaders says "Yes-yes-yes."

      Finally, we have the pro level.  At this level, instead of calling out class, the teacher calls out "3 + 4" or some other piece of core knowledge and the students answer with "7" and quickly fold their hands.  This is a great way of not only getting attention but also reviews knowledge while you are doing it.  A little piece of teacher heaven!!!  Coach B. suggests using all 3 equally, at least 20 times per day and keeping track on a tally sheet.

    Attention getters were one of the first things that I implemented on my WBT journey and it has proven to be a great way to get students' attention - so much better that what I did before WBT. You can find the webcast here at: Master class 2.0 Attention Getters.  

    What are some ways that you get your students attention?

     

Genius Ladder

       How do you help your students become better writers - the genius ladder! The genius ladder helps turn boring, blah sentences into genius paragraphs.  We start with a blah sentence - a 3 word sentence and make it a spicy sentence by adding an adjective. After that, we run it up the genius ladder by adding an extender - my students love using their brainies, especially the because clapper.  The students practice each level orally before they do any writing which helps my ELL students (and all the students) to get ideas for writing.  I love the practice of doing oral writing first and then writing. It has really raised the writing of my students.
     Today, the genius ladder came in handy, I was working with students on their writing and we were talking about adding details and I showed the students how to take a blah sentence and make it into an extender sentence.  I do not have the genius ladder template but I will be getting it ready so that each student can have their own.  
    The genius ladder is available from Whole Brain Teaching as a free download under free ebooks.  How do you help students add details to their writing?

Scoreboard

           I am loving the new scoreboard levels.  The scoreboard is one of the first strategies that I implemented and it is so effective.  Now, it is new and improved - just like many things with WBT, it is constantly being updated.  My students have responded well to the scoreboard and it has helped to improve whole class behavior on a daily basis.  The downfall, of course, is that kids become used to it and then, it becomes less effective.  Coach B. has come up with a great idea - scoreboard levels!!!! As soon as the students walked in the door this morning, they noticed the new scoreboard which is labeled Base Camp and has K (for kindergarten) on the frownie side and grade 4 on the smiley side. We are 2nd graders so, the scoreboard reflects 2 grades lower for frownies and 2 grades higher for the smiley.  Throughout the day, students earn tally marks on each side and at the end of the day, we check out the score.  If we are ahead - more smileys than frownies - then we "won"!  
    The new scoreboard has students leveling up a scoreboard after earning 10 wins! Some levels have bonus points and as the class moves up, brainies are incorporated.  Check out the WBT broadcast {here} along with many other webcasts.  My students are excited for a new challenge with the scoreboard. Are you trying out the new scoreboard levels? If so, how is it going?

Super Improvers Team

     I am loving my super improvers wall and so are my students! Last year when I started using Whole Brain Teaching, I started using some of the different techniques and strategies. I did not use the super improver team because I did not have room for it and I felt that it was too close to the end of the year to try.  This year, I was very excited to start the super improver team and dedicated bulletin board space to the wall.  Here is a picture:

     This is a picture from the beginning of the year with everyone's name on white cards. After about 10 days, I introduced the super improver team to my students.  I have all of the levels except for the beginner level turned around backwards to build anticipation.  I told the students that they are working on improvement - not on having the best grades or best behavior.  They were very excited when the first stars went on the cards and I made them work hard for those stars.  Now that the wall has been active for several weeks, there are several students that are close to moving to the next level. It amazes me how excited they are about getting a sharpie star on their card. They frequently check their card and they know how close they are getting to the next star.  

    I love how easy it is and I have happily abandoned my classroom dollars that I have used for years!! I gave up a treasure box years ago because of the expense and I never could make a clip chart work for me - I would always forget to have kids change the cards. I am also loving that the Super Improver Wall is positive - the students can't lose stars! 

   Sometimes a student will ask me what they get for moving up a level and my response is that they get to move up a level, like a video game AND they get to take the old card home and celebrate at home as well as getting a 10 finger woo! The students are quite happy with that and of course, when they get to a higher level (at level 4), there just be a surprise - which they are dying to know about but they will have to wait. :)

Whole Brain Teaching Update

     Coach B. is back! Coach B. is back! I am so happy that Coach B. is back with new webcasts at Whole Brain Teaching website.  On Monday night, he returned with lots and lots of new ideas as well as reminders of other techniques that I can't wait to try out in my classroom.  
     I have been using Class-Yes since school began several weeks ago but watching the webcast, I was reminded of using lots of variety and Coach B. included 20 new variations. I will also start using Class - Boom. Today, I did introduce the all-star attention getters - using content to get their attention.  My class did great! They did so well responding to some math facts and I threw in a brainy, nouns! I told them to be listening for the different Class-Yes variations.  I told them that they were acting like 3rd graders (we are 2nd graders) and they were so proud of themselves.
   One new idea is using echo leaders for Class-Yes for challenging students. The idea is to have a small group of students including a challenging student echo the teacher Class-Yes. Another idea that I love is the leader box.  Tell your challenging student that you will put their name in the leader box if they improve is a certain area. Whenever the teacher wants, she can pull out a name and that student can lead the Class-Yes. I have not started the leader box yet but I plan to in the future.
   Other exciting news, I taped the beginner brainies to their desks. I have been meaning to get to it but like all teachers at the beginning of the year, I have been sooo busy. I think waiting ended up being a good thing. The students were so excited about it and were anxious to share with me the ones that they already know.  I promised that I would teach them the rest soon.
   I want to leave you with one last idea that I love - one minute Brainy Time.  For one minute, have the students orally respond to this sentence stem: "We use Class-Yes because ________________. I love the critical thinking that this inspires in the students.  I will be trying this very soon.
  How do you get your students' attention?  I would love for you to comment below.

  

2nd Week

     I can't believe that we are almost done with the second week of school. I love all that Whole Brain Teaching has already added to my teaching.  The kids seem to be very receptive.  Yesterday, I noticed that they were a bit off and not responding very quickly to the 5 rules rehearsal or any of the Brainies that they have learned this morning.  So, while the kids were at lunch, I realized that I had not marked the scoreboard very much in the morning.  
    My solution, of course, was to step it up in the afternoon and that helped.  I also introduced the Super Improver Wall and they were excited to earn some stars.  After I explained that I was looking for improvement; their behavior showed improvement and they were more excited about doing the Brainies and other fun things.  
    I have introduced several Power Pix and I love the way it is a good way to review skills. I have introduced sentences, fragments, nouns and in math, we have learned about 100s, 10s and 1s.  We are reviewing these almost daily - I need to figure out how to remember to practice every day.  
   I remembered to practice mirrors and mirror words and Teach-ok is really coming along.  I get a great a compliment from my assistant principal - she was doing a walk through in my classroom and said that my classroom management was excellent and that the kids were fully engaged! A 10 finger woo for WBT!
   What is working in your classroom?
    

First Day of School

     I can't believe that the first day of school came and went so quickly today!  I am exhausted but so excited about all that I accomplished with Whole Brain Teaching.  I reviewed the webcasts on the whole brain teaching website, including the first hour, the first day and the first week to get ready to meet my students today.  
    Some of the things I covered today include: the 5 rules (yes, all of them), the scoreboard, the name game, class-yes, mirror, teach-ok, and the capital letter and end mark brainies!  It was a very busy day and I also reviewed Read to Self. The good news is that they did the Daily 5 in 1st grade, so they are experts. We did 2 minutes of stamina for Read to Self! It would have been longer but I have a friend who is going to need to build up stamina slowly.  One of my favorite moments is when several students told me that the books that they had picked last Friday during Open House were not good fit books.  I had not given them any reminders about good fit books but it is obvious that their 1st grade teachers did a great job with this! They will be able to pick new books tomorrow.
    I am delighted to be introducing WBT at the beginning of the year.  I discovered WBT last Spring and started using it at that time. I also know after today that I need to keep working on mirror and teach-ok.  Neither of these come naturally. :).  I was successful using the scoreboard - we had about 30 tally marks by the end of the day.  
    Are you using any WBT techniques? How is it going?

Back to School Night is Done!

       So, I made it through back to school night! We do ours before school starts and it is our first chance to make an impression on our parents. I always get so nervous. It is one of the hardest parts of my job - Ha!  This is my first time that I have introduced Whole Brain Teaching to my parents because last year I started in the Spring with WBT.  I explained the 5 rules, the scoreboard and the Super Improver Wall to the parents and I think it went well. At least no one had questions - is that a good thing???

  Tomorrow is Open House where the students get to come in and meet the teacher and drop off supplies before school starts on Tuesday. I am so excited to meet my new students.

  Here are some pictures of my class now that it is done. 

  

    

    I also put up a poster size brainies but I forgot to take a picture. :(  I can't wait to meet my students tomorrow and get started on Tuesday. I am looking forward to a great year with Whole Brain Teaching  starting from the very first day of school!
    Other exciting news - my donor's choose project for a tablet was funded. I can't wait to use it this year.

Back to School for Teachers and Donor's choose

   It was good to finally get back to school and see my colleagues. I have been busy working in my room over the last week. I will have pictures soon. On the first day back, our new principal shared this powerful video with us - Ted talks: Rita Pierson. It is a wonderful reminder to teachers that we do make a difference in the lives of our students.

   I am also excited to share that even as I am learning about and implementing WBT, another teacher came to ask me a question about posting the rules. I shared with her that there was no right way to post rules and that she could find many examples  of the rules on Teacher Pay Teachers, as well as checking out the website: Whole Brain teaching website. There are webcasts there that explain the rules in more detail. 
   
    I received my class list yesterday and after talking to their last year's teachers, I know that I will have a wide variety of learners from very low in math (thinking that math time was writing time - all year long!) to very high level learners (one student completed the entire screening which apparently NO  other child had done previously). It could be a very interesting year! So, I went to the WBT website to see if I could find anything for my low math learner - I am not sure whether or not he recognizes numbers or if he can count by ones or exactly where he is but I have downloaded the Super Speed numbers and I will have it ready to go, just in case. My plan is to quickly get some idea where he is so that I can start interventions by the end of the first week.  I used Super Speed addition and subtraction last year and the students and I loved it. Both the Super Speed numbers and addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are available as a FREE download from the WBT website. :)

      Finally, I am a huge fan of donors choose. For the next two days, Bill and Melinda Gates are funding half of some projects including mine, please consider donating or sharing my link:{here}. 

   I would love to know how you differentiate your instruction for your low learners. 
      


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Setting Up My Classroom for 2014-2015

      I am finally in my classroom - Yeah!! I keep seeing other teacher's beautiful classrooms on Facebook and that many teachers already have started teaching. In my district, teachers don't officially go back until next Wednesday but I will be taking a day off later in the week to take my daughter to college so, I was even more anxious to get started.  Here is a picture of my before classroom: 

    

    I spent about 2 hours yesterday with my daughter, moving furniture and trying to get organized.  My daughter put up the bulletin board paper and borders. I will add more pictures as I go! The bad news is that my wardrobe decided that it was old and 3 of the shelves fell and can't be fixed. The good news is that I will get a *new* (to me) one. 
    Now, I am busy trying to figure out where to put my Super Improver Wall and power pix. I can't wait to use both of these this school year.  For more information about whole brain teaching, check out the website: (here)
    Are you back to school yet? I would love to know how things are going at the beginning of the year.

WBT Classroom Rules

    Sooo, I am still not in my classroom and I have to admit that I am getting anxious - particularly after seeing many teacher-bloggers posting their finished classrooms. My solution is to stalk follow other bloggers for lots of new (to me) back to school ideas. 

    I read this post:  5 Common Mistakes that Will Lead to an Out-of-Control Classroom on Corkboard Connections. The first mistake was not having clear expectations and procedures. After discovering Whole Brain Teaching at the end of last year, I think I have that covered. Over the years, I have become a big believer in spending lots and lots of time at the beginning of the year practicing procedures. I use Daily 5 in my classroom and the 2 sisters emphasize that practicing procedures is very important. WBT also emphasizes practicing procedures so that the students KNOW what is expected of them - no excuses. WBT teachers practice the rules and procedures over and over again and not just at the beginning of the year but all year long.  WBT teachers also make the practice FUN by timing the kids and having the kids practice in a variety of different ways.

    Another post I read is: Why You Shouldn't Let Your Students Decide the Classroom Rules. I admit to doing this for many years. At the beginning of the year, I would take time and have the class create the rules for the year with my guidance, of course, and the kids would sign it. Then I posted it on the wall and I would promptly forget about it!  My school became a PBIS school several years ago and so that was the basis for the classroom rules. Now, after learning about WBT, I started with implementing the 5 classroom rules: Rule #1: Follow directions quickly, Rule #2: Raise your hand for permission to speak, Rule #3: Raise your hand to leave your seat, Rule #4: Make smart choices, and Rule #5: Keep your dear teacher happy. I LOVE these rules and when I introduced these to my students with gestures - they loved them. We practiced them several times a day so, there is no excuse for not remembering the rules. 

    Check out whole brain teaching at: Whole Brain Teaching for more information on the 5 rules and lots of other information about all aspects of whole brain teaching! Best of all - it is FREE! I love free.  

    I would love to know what you do for classroom rules. Do you let your students help develop the classroom rules? Please share your comments.

WBT Classroom Behavior Plan

    I don't go back to school until August 20th and I can't get into my classroom yet, so I have not had a chance to prepare very much. However, one thing that I have done is to prepare my behavior plan for the new school year. Every year, we are required to turn in a classroom discipline plan to our principal.  My plan this year is quite different because I plan on using Whole Brain Teaching techniques starting from the beginning of the year. This is my plan.

First, I plan to teach the students the 5 rules with gestures:

Rule #1 – Follow directions quickly

Rule #2 – Raise your hand for permission to speak

Rule #3 – Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat

Rule #4 – Make smart choices

Rule #5 – Make your dear teacher happy

These rules will be taught the first week of school and repeated several times a day throughout the school year. 

Our school is a PBIS school and I think that PBIS fits in well with rule #4 – making smart choices. If after a period of time, a student chooses not to follow the rules, there are a variety of options to help the student improve following the rules.  Some things that a teacher can do include: having students use practice cards – the student has to practice the rule for 1-2 minutes and having the class gently remind a student of the rule. If a student continues to ignore the rules the teacher will conference individually with the student to solve the problem.

            Another part of the behavior plan includes the scoreboard which is whole class based. I keep a tally of happy faces and sad faces and at the end of the day the students can be rewarded with an extra minute of recess, mind soccer (an academic game), and other small rewards.  If they have more sad faces, a minute of recess can be taken away, several extra problems or writing can happen as well.  

  

            The third part of the behavior plan is the Super Improver Team. I will have students earn a star on their card by improving in some area – anything from behavior to academics. After earning 10 stars, they will get a new card (a different color) and be able to take home the old card to celebrate their accomplishments. All students will start with the beginner level (white cards) and move up through different levels to genius level.    

I would love to know what you use for your behavior plan. Please leave a comment.

A Blog is born!

I am excited and nervous to get started with this blog. I am a 2^nd grade teacher in VA and I have been teaching for 9 years. I LOVE 2^nd grade. I discovered Whole Brain Teaching a few months ago and started using it in my classroom this past Spring. I am so excited about it and I can’t wait to begin a new school year with WBT. I recently was selected as a WBT intern for 2014-2015 and can’t wait for new and exciting ways to implement WBT!