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. :)