5 Whole Brain Teaching Tips and Tricks + Gold

One of my followers,  Amanda at Ms. Wilkie's Second Grade Class, asked if I had any tips for teaching Whole Brain style.  Here is what I came up with!

1.  When teaching each Power Pix, especially if the speaking bit is long, break each section into parts.  Add gestures to each speaking part.   Use a silly voice, add a goofy face/gesture, or sing a song.

2. I just, just started doing Silent Cheers.  I have a few students who always cross the line or go overboard with cheers, or just wait a little too long so they are not with the rest of the class when responding, use an overly loud/exuberant voice, etc. to give a cheer or choral speak with the class.  Finally, I came up with, "Give Hannah a double chin wiggle, with a 2 winks and cheek rub!" or "Give Petey a double eye-brow rub with a knee shake and a tummy pat!"  Works like a charm and is easier on the ears!!  Here is a WBT lesson on Singular and Plural Nouns - check out the Silent cheer at 2:54.

3.  My Power Pix wall is on a magnetic chalk board.  Instead of taking down previously taught Power Pix when all the room is taken up, I just start piling them on top of one another and voila - a 3D Power Pix wall - OH YEAH!  I had a little girl leading the Power Pix one day and she just flipped up one of the Pix to uncover the one she was looking for.

4. Try different things and experiment.  I have been playing around with The Wheel of Excitement lately.  I thought I would try this other method to encourage engagement in my class.  When students are especially engaged they or I will spin the Wheel of Excitement.  Where the arrow is closest to landing will determine how many Smilies the class receives.  If the arrow lands closes or on the star the teacher gets to choose the number of Smilies awarded.  If the arrow lands on the question mark, then I will roll dice to determine the number of Smilies awarded.  So far this has worked quite well!!

5. At the end of the day I always have a WBT ticket to leave.  Students must provide example poppers related to Power Pix learned that day.  For example, students may have to add 10 to a number of my choice after we have learned the 10 more than rule that day.  

Gold = I think the biggest tip I could give is be  yourself and have fun with Whole Brain Teaching!  The more you are having fun and allow yourself to be goofy or tap into your personality the better WBT with work for you and your class.