Rule #2: Raise your hand for permission to speak!

This year, it is no secret that my crew of squirrels loves to chat.  I love to hear all of their stories!!  Sometimes Often, they like to tell them to me all at the same time which is where Whole Brain Teaching's Rule #2: Raise your hand for permission to speak! comes into play.

Now that I am a Whole Brain Teacher I always remind myself that as I am managing and training my class to create an optimal learning environment - WE are playing a wonderful, exciting, FUN game!!!  This makes me smile and gives me energy!!  Here are some of games I play with my students to help them remember to follow Rule 2:

1. Frequently, at the beginning of the school  year, and as the year progresses, I will occasionally stop the lesson and review how not to follow Rule #2 (I play the part of the Rule 2 breaker and I have a student play me - they LOVE to be the teacher!)  Then, I show them how to follow Rule 2 and we practice.

2. When a student breaks Rule #2, I call out "Rule 2" and the whole class replies, "Raise  your hand for permission to speak" thereby, giving the rule breaker a gentle reminder to remember to raise a quiet hand before calling out.  Smilies are awarded on the Scoreboard for group participation in the response.

3.  Often, I will use the silent hand gesture for Rule 2 by holding up two fingers.  This works well when I am in the middle of speaking, during assemblies/performances, or any other time students need a quiet visual reminder.

4.  Now this is the kicker.  I got this idea from the wonderful, talented Andrea Schindler, and it will work for any of the 5 Rules, but lets look at how it would work to help students remember to follow Rule #2.  Purchase a kitchen timer - I got 2 for cheap at the dollar store.  

Tell your class that for the week we will be working on following Rule #2.  If they can follow Rule 2 for X amount of time (I start out with 2 minutes and increase as the week goes on) they can earn a star (I section off part of my Scoreboard for stars.)  If they have 10 stars by Friday they have the opportunity to win something extra fun!  After brainstorming some possible ideas (slurpees for everyone - lol - not this early in the year, donuts for all - what can I say - my kids think big!), someone came up with a dance party.  I changed it ever so slightly to a 1 minute dance party in class with some fun music - my kids were pumped!  They love a good party!  Well, Show and Share was never so quiet that week - not even a whisper was heard.  Although we didn't earn 10 stars (we got 8) my kids are excited to try and earn 10 next week!  Oh yeah!

5. Last, but definitely not least, the Super Improvers Wall makes its grand entrance to recognize all of the students who are doing a FANTASTIC job of following Rule #2.  They earn stars left, right and centre, especially if they are sitting next to someone who needs a reminder.  When those darlings remember to follow Rule #2 they ALSO receive hoards of Super Improver stars!!!

Hope these tips are helpful friends!  I'd love to hear any more ideas that you may use in your classroom!!

Classroom Pictures with Whole Brain Teaching Style

 Classroom picture time with Whole Brain Teaching has arrived!!  Here is my calendar bulletin board with the 5 rules posted, as well as the No Guff! poster in the bottom left!  You can download the posters for free at http://www.wholebrainteaching.com

Up in the top left hand corner you can see the first Math Power Pix - "pointer counting" ready to go next to my SmartBoard!

Below is my lovely Power Pix Wall of AMAZINGNESS!!!!  I am super pumped to use this baby!  Download Power Pix for Math and Language Arts K-3 for FREE at http://www.wholebrainteaching.com

Here you can see my Genius Ladder.  Get your free printable here.

Now for the Super Improvers Wall.  I debated back and forth on how I was going to implement this.  My partner teacher next door was a great help.  I finally decided that 2 areas in my room would work best.  The first area is right at the front of my room beside the SmartBoard and in front of all the desks.  Here I posted all of the Super Improver recording sheets for easy access by me.  So far it has worked like a charm!!!  Incidentally, it has replaced my Practice Cards Chart for those of you that remember the Practice Cards.  When I was in Mattawa I asked Chris about the Practice Cards and he said he wants to focus on the Scoreboard and the Super Improvers Wall as the main management system.  It hasn't let me down.  My students were so pleased when I acknowledged them individually for improving academics and behaviour.

This bulletin board is closer to the floor.  I decided to leave it up for my students to post their recording sheets once they have passed a level.  This is kind of like a wall of fame!  Get your free printable here!

Enjoy my friends!  Please let me know what you think!!!  Any questions are welcome!!!

Swap Day

Today was swap day at our school - yes!  All the primary teachers drew an intermediate classroom to teach for the day and vice versa.  I drew the Grade 5 classroom and the Grade 6 teacher taught my Grade 1's.  It is amazing how many little details go into planning for a sub - especially for a teacher that you work with - I kind of wanted to impress her with my skills:)  Luckily, I had the WBT Sub guide created by the lovely Deb Weigel.

I have to admit I was a bit of a nervous wreck.  However, I was confident Whole Brain Teaching would save me and....of course...it did!!!  This particular class had already done a little bit of WBT.  They knew the Class/Yes!, the five rules, the Teach/OK! already.    I taught the Scoreboard (the incentive was 1 minute early to lunch) and reviewed five rules within minutes.  We recited the rules.  I talked a little bit about how the brain works and the importance of keeping the entire brain active through gestures, visuals, speaking and fun.   Then I taught Bodies Up!  and Seats!  Finally, I added the Woo! and the It's Cool, Hand and Eyes, Mirror and Switch!.  The kids were really into it.  They kept on getting faster and more in sync with one another.  It was really cool.  I did have to ping pong a bit and practice a few times but it was still super exciting.

The first lesson was on Sentence Fluency from 6+1 Writing Traits.  I taught it like a Power Pix with gestures.  Then I had them teach their neighbour using the Teach/OK.  We did a really neat sentence building activity and I used Papers! and the count down to hand out and collect everything.

After recess, two students came up to the front and lead the class in the rules.  One even did it using a silly voice.  In Math, I had a few students teach the class.  There was some really cool teachable moments and I even threw in a quick mini-lesson on the equal sign with gestures.

In Social Studies, I taught the four requirements needed to vote in an election.  As a class we came up with gestures to match and the students taught their neighbour.  I even still remember them - lol!  Alas, they lost the Scoreboard before lunch so we had to try again in the afternoon.

In Science, I taught about the circulatory system using an analogy about cars and highways to describe arteries and veins, gestures included.  One students had the definition down so she taught the class.  At the end of the period there was a little time so I taught them my version of Mind Soccer and I used the material from the previous chapter on respiration for the questions.

The rest of the day was pretty zen.  They did win the Scoreboard for the end of the day so they got some D.P.A. (Daily Physical Activity) time out on the playground.  I really made them work for it - no calling out and staying in their seats was big!  All in all, WBT and the day was brilliant.

My First Couple of Weeks

Well my friends, I am back at it again!  Here are my observations:


1.  Whole Brain Teaching is still so amazing!


2. I just got 6 new children - they unsplit the 1/2 split next door - now I have 25 kids and they picked up WBT so quickly.  Not sure if they know what hit them:)


3. Scoreboard has had about 30-40 smilies and frownies on both sides before recess.  The class has won the Scoreboard several times and they have lost several times, as well.


4.  I have still had private talks with students on occasion just to reinforce that when they break the rules they are causing frownies for the class, especially if they are being unsafe.


5.  I have had to remind myself occasionally to not use names when pointing out frownie behaviour.


6.  I am going to have to talk with my teacher aids and explain to them that this is a different type of classroom.  I may even give them some light WBT reading to do.  They are not in the mind-frame of practice, practice, practice like I am.  They look at me when students aren't sent back to their desks from the carpet for misbehaving.


7. I have had students sit out of an earned learning game - partly due to second guessing myself, aid comments, and the desire to have that student understand that what they were doing was not acceptable.  Really, each student is part of the class and if the class won the Scoreboard then the entire class should be allowed to partake in the reward.  Still, I think students need to get the idea early that what they are doing is not acceptable.  Do I give a student who is causing all the frownies a consequence even if the class wins the Scoreboard?  My initial thought says no because right now that child is still practicing.  My instinct says that child knows he/she is breaking the rules and, therefore needs a consequence.  What I really need to focus on is the class giving the consequence - peer pressure is the key - when I call out Rule 2 - the whole class needs to say it and really mean it!


8.  Line check has worked wonders on my line up!!  Thanks to Educ8rKP who wrote about this on the forum!! Very helpful!

"1. Laser-straight: the tiles on the floor help a lot, but we also have lines painted on our sidewalks. They know, because I remind them often, to make sure their left foot is on the line.
2. Dead quiet: I never allow any talking in my line. Not even to me.
3. Arms crossed: I used to allow kids to choose whether they crossed their arms or put their hands in their pockets, but I found that if you give an inch, they take a light-year. So, arms crossed only.
4. Faces forward: It's really irritating to me when people standing in line at theme parks aren't paying attention when the line moves forward, leaving a huge gap. I don't want my line to have gaps in it either.
I teach these four expectations, and slowly wean them off me reminding them of each one when we line up, and settle for the aforementioned "LINE CHECK!" They repeat "LINE CHECK!" and instantly snap to attention in a perfect, orderly, OCD-tickling line (tears of joy!). The key is consistency and unbending, unwavering expectation of perfection. As long as it's not perfect, we don't move. If we're already moving and it stops being perfect (arms swing out, someone talks, someone veers way out of line), I call "FREEZE!" and everyone stops. I say "LINE CHECK!", they respond appropriately, then we're on our way."

My goals right now are to:


1. Change my challenging students, to fence sitters, fence-sitters to go-alongs and my go-alongs to alphas.


2. To talk less and use Teach/Okay! more.


3. To be consistent.

Beginning Gradually in the Classroom

So here is Andrea Schindler's document for starting Kinder adjusted for First Grade!

Day One:
Class Yes!
Rules 1-5
Scoreboard Game
Hands and Eyes!
Criss Cross Applesauce
Bubble in your mouth
Lines, Lines, Lines
Seats, Seat, Seats
Cubbies, Cubbies, Cubbies
Backpacks, Backpacks, Backpacks
Tell your neighbour

Day Two:
Practice all the routines introduced so far

Mirror

Mirror/Words

Switch!

Teach your first 5 Step Lesson

Pencils and Erasers, Pencils and Erasers, Pencils and Erasers

Name, Name, Name

Work, Work, Work

Papers, Papers, Papers

It’s cool
Ten finger woo



Day Three:
Practice all the routines introduced so far

Continue to teach one 5 Step Lesson a day - try to make them short as it is the beginning of the year.

Week 2:
Practice all the routines introduced so far
Weekly Stars (When students get 10 stars, which usually takes about a week, they earn a special reward, like a five minute game of Mind Soccer).

Introduce the Practice Cards when you feel the time is right and approximately 85% of your students have bought into the Scoreboard Game. If you start the Practice Cards too soon you will have a ton of students practicing and the goal is not to have any if possible. Some teachers wait until Thanksgiving or January to introduce them and some do not use them at all. It really depends on your class:) Begin with the white cards. Gradually, introduce the purple and green cards - this may happen days, weeks or months later. Remember, it is a long year:)

Month 2:

Begin teaching two Five Step Lessons plans per day. You may even increase this to 3 or 4.

“Milestones to Reach for Further Routines”:

*If you have used the individual pocket chart and still have a select group of students who are exhibiting undesired behaviors, use the Independents Group

*Once students are comfortable with “Tell your neighbor”, move to “Teach! Okay!”, with both students talking

*Once students are comfortable with “Teach! Okay!” add in the "Switch!"

*Once students are comfortable with "Switch!" add in "Tag Team"
*Once students are comfortable with the “Teach! Okay!”, teach the students the Crazy Professor Reading Game.


Here it is in google.docs

My Most Discerning Critic Yet

On Thursday, the other Grade 2 teacher came to observe my class.  I often look to her for sound advice and if I am trying something new she asks the hard questions!!  I was not surprised when after the lesson she started out with, "That was an interesting lesson..."  I smiled, unsure of how to respond.

"What did you think?" I asked.

"Well," she said, "it was very fast paced.  I was a bit overwhelmed!"

"Yah," I responded, "it takes a bit to get the rhythm and technique down."

She continued, "I wonder if your weaker students are able to follow the lesson?"  I explained that, often, they were the students who shined because they were able to share their knowledge orally, rather than on paper.  Furthermore, I told her I often repeat the concept during the lesson three times with mirrors and gestures, to make sure everyone catches on, as well as I will teach the whole lesson later on in the week.

"Do you ever use manipulatives?" she queried.  I had been reviewing the equal sign, combining it with unknown variables in addition and subtraction equations so it was a valid question.  I admitted I hadn't thought of using manipulatives, although I had used them earlier in the year for the same concept. Still, I could easily add them anywhere in the lesson.

She continued, saying, "I noticed two or three students not participating - what do you do about that?"

"Gosh, I hadn't even noticed - I would usually give a frownie, remind again about 100% participation or perhaps move the class from Winners back to Team!" I responded, a little embarrassed.  Now that I reflect on her observation, its true; there are always a few kids who are caught up watching everyone else before they do their own gestures, often on the third repetition.  Then, there are the quiet, shy ones, who struggle orally, so it is a challenge.  Finally, there are the students who will do anything to get your attention, including not participate.  I think WBT has a rule for that? :)  I'm going to have to work on keeping my little ducks focused and not forgetting to add some manipulative activities every once in awhile!!  Thank you Grade 2 teacher for keeping me accountable and making me a better teacher!!