Hand, Hands, Eyes!

My class has been improving a lot on folding their hands and having their eyes on me when I say, "Hands and Eyes!" They repeat me and quickly follow my directions. I made a "REALLY HUGE POINT" sign to hang from my ceiling. When I have something REALLY important to say during a lesson or anytime during the day, I will stand under the sign. My class will know they need to be completely focused on me. This is a great strategy through Whole Brain Teaching. If you'd like to know more, please go to wholebrainteaching.com

Seutasstic Super Improvers!

It's that time of year again! Time to decorate the classroom, get things in order and most importantly, get the classroom WBT ready! My school has a theme every year and this year we've gone with Dr. Seuss. As soon as I knew the theme, I made my Super Improver Wall. I LOVE this part of WBT because my students LOVE improving with their behavior AND academically just to reach Legend. If you are not familiar with SIW (Super Improver Wall), let me give you a Seutasstic explanation!
(See picture below)  The SIW is a 10 level, color coded scale (I use stars). Each student starts as a Beginner with a white star and has one to two goals. These goals can be following Rule 1, walking in the hall properly, sitting with feet on the floor and so on. I also give my students academic goals such as moving up a text level, mastering math facts, etc. For very 10 sticker stars they earn on their white star, they move up to the next level and so on. Their ultimate goal is to be a LEGEND which is the top level. When they reach Captain, the 5th level, they get their picture taken with any friends of their choice. I cover the picture up by the SIW and when they move up to Pro, I uncover their picture. When and if they reach Legend, their picture will ALWAYS be on my wall as a LEGEND! Guess what's SO AMAZING about SIW??? It's your most beloved rascals who reach the highest level!! YES!! They work the hardest!!! WHY!? They are IMPROVING!!!!! Improving with their behavior AND academically!! With WBT, we always reward for improvement, not ability!


To learn MORE about SIW and other AMAZING WBT games, check out WBT 122 Amazing Games by Chris Biffle on Amazon.com

The Big 7

I recently purchased Whole Brain Teaching 122 Amazing Games by Chris Biffle. Although I know most about WBT games, it's a great refresher and it's a great book for teachers wanting to implement the amazing parts of WBT. I've been reading about The Big 7. I do all these in my classroom and I thought I'd share what I've created for the upcoming school year and explain The Big 7!

The first is the attention getter! Oh how I love this one! Class! Yes! What's so great about the attention getter is you can do so many variations to keep the students engaged. Some of my favorites are: Hey Hey Class! Hey Hey Yes!
       Good Golly Class! Miss Molly Yes!
       Go Class! Pokes Yes! (I am an OSU alumn)
       Meanwhile Class! Back at the ranch Yes!
       Scooby Class! Doo Yes!
       Western Class! Oaks Yes! (our school)
       It's about Class! That time Yes!
This list can go on and on! I do variations of my voice as well. The more variation in Class! Yes!, the students will respond quicker and activates their pre-frontal cortex, the brain's boss!
                                                                   

The next part of The Big 7 is Mirror Words. I would say, "Mirror Words," while holding my hands up. My students would "mirror" what I am doing and saying. It's 100% student engagement!!! The students are learning by using their visual, motor, hearing and speaking parts of their brain. Mirror Words is so powerful because ALL students are learning. The kinesthetic, visual and auditory learners are learning AT THE SAME TIME!!!! There is no single memory area in the brain so the more brain areas are involved in learning, the more memories are created when using Mirror Words.

I have not purchased candy, prizes or even used my marble jar in a few years. The reason? The Scoreboard!!! My students LOVE the challenge of trying earn more smilies then frownies by the end of the day. I start this the first day of school. I tell my students the Scoreboard is leveled two grade levels higher than our grade. So they need to act like 3rd graders to get smilies. If not, they are acting like Pre K and will receive a frowny. For each smiley, they get a one second party, "Oh Yeah!" and for each frowny, they lift their shoulders to their ears and give me a mighty groan, "Ugh!".  We do this all day, every day. They can earn an extra minute at recess, one minute dance party, sit on their desks for quiet reading, and the list goes on! Notice not one mentions candy! ;-)

The first couple of weeks of school, I implement the 5 rules. We practice the rules the wrong way and right way five times a day. I will usually pick some students that are having a difficult time with the rules and have them practice the wrong way and right way. After a while, their behavior will turn into positive behavior because they eventually want to be doing the right thing.

The more we talk, the more students' attention is lost. This is where Teach-Okay comes in. I will begin my getting my students' attention, use Mirror Words, then say. "Teach!" The students respond with, "Okay!" The students then teach their partner what I just said using big gestures.  I only talk with 2-4 sentences because I do not want to lose them. When I first started using Teach-Okay, I would set my timer for 30 seconds while I was talking so I could train myself. Again, the longer we talk, the more students we lose!

Just like using Class! Yes!, using a variety of voices and claps will keep the students engaged. 

I always have at least one student that is shy and won't speak in front of the class. Well, that's okay! When I say, "Switch!" the students that were listening to their partner teach, now has to teach! They take turns teaching each other. This is a great way for shy students to feel like they are successful and contributing to the class.

There are times throughout the day I will have a big point to share with the class or I need their full attention. I will say, "Hands and Eyes!" They repeat me and fold their hands while their eyes are on me. I switch it up to keep them focused by saying, "Hands, Hands, Hands and Eyes!" I also use a variety of voices.

All these fun Seuss WBT posters are on my TpT store for FREE. There's so much more I could say about The Big 7 but if you'd like to know more about WBT 122 Amazing Games, please check it out on Amazon.com. You won't regret it!!

Daily 5

I use Daily 5 during our reading block. I love how it teaches students to become independent when writing and reading. However, it takes at least 6 weeks students to work independently. I usually start implementing Daily 5 during the 2nd or 3rd week of school. We always start with Read-to-Self then move onto Read-to-Someone. These two parts of Daily 5 are the most important to build stamina on. I've created a Build Your Stamina poster to help remind kids to stay on task. Of course we also create a t-chart as a class to show what each part of Daily 5 looks like. Here's the stamina poster!

We always talk about 3 ways to read a book. I think it's really important because often there will be non readers and they need to feel successful when reading to themselves. We talk about reading the pictures, reading the words and retelling the story. Here's the poster I've created for 3 ways to read a book.

When we begin to learn about Read-to-Someone, we always start with EEKK. I love this because it's simple and a great way for the students to remember how to sit! I always hear my students saying EEKK before they sit down to read! Here's the poster I made for EEKK!

After learning Read-to-Self and Read-to-Someone, I teach my students the I "PICK" poster. When they are looking for a book to put into their book bag, I tell them to think of PICK. P, what's the purpose? Why do I want to read this book? I, does this book interest me? C, can I understand this book? K, do I know most of the words? My students love I "PICK!" They even use it when we go to the library! Here's the I "PICK" poster!

These posters are FREE on my TpT store! Enjoy!

Meet the Teacher

I know it's only July 6 but in my world, it's never too early to start thinking about school! I am always thinking of things to do, prepare, and get for the next school year. I've been pinning a lot this past week and saw a really cute "Meet the Teacher" handout. I thought I would just buy it off TpT but why not just make one myself?! So I did! I plan to have these laying on my students' desks when it's Meet the Teacher night or if we do not have one, I will hand them out to parents the first day of school. I love the way it turned out!

Gettin' Creative

A good friend of mine is doing a game theme for her classroom this coming school year. I told her I would make her WBT rules because one, I love her to pieces and two, I love being creative! I think there's a reason God wanted me to go into advertising before becoming a teacher! ;-) I just absolutely

love designing and especially helping out sweet friends! So here's a set of WBT rules with a game theme! They are FREE on my tPt store!

Dr. Seuss Whole Brain Teaching Rules-with New Diamond Rule

Every year, my school has a new theme. We are going with Dr. Seuss this school year. So my creative side came into play and I've been creating some Seuss WBT posters. I love the way they turned out. While I was at the National WBT conference last week, Coach B introduced the new rule, the Diamond Rule. The Diamond Rule says to "keep your eye on the target." I LOVE this new rule! What a fun way to keep the kids engaged! I posted the 5 rules plus Diamond rule on my TpT and the best part...it's FREE just like all my WBT posters!

Hocus Pocus, Everybody Focus!

I am so excited because my Donors Choose project was fully funded today!!!! My wonderful friend, Angela and her family, funded the rest of my project. I had several donations the past couple of days from amazing friends and family. I'm truly blessed!

I initially wrote my project request in March 2015. This is my second time to submit this project. I was determined to get these stability balls! I knew if my class, especially the boys, had comfy seating,they would be more engaged in learning. Oh and yeah, I get one, too!! With WBT and the stability balls,I'm going to be in teacher heaven!

I can't wait to see my students' faces when they walk I to the classroom the first day! 

                        

WBT National Conference 2015

Just got back from the WBT National Conference in Pineville, Lousiana. I can't begin to tell you how MUCH I learned!!!! I've been implementing WBT for 2 years and I'm more excited now to get back into the classroom than I've ever been! I had the pleasure of meeting Coach B and attending his advance class in lesson design and delivery. It was very informative and upbeat. Now that I've seen what he exactly wants in a 5 step lesson, I'll be ready to make my video! He told me it needs to be exemplary so other teachers will be able to see my video and learn from it. I've got this, Coach B!!!

Not only did I learn many new strategies, I met new friends!!! I love meeting other teachers who are going through the internship like myself. I can't wait to collaborate and share our videos! I learned so much and I look forward to sharing with my staff in August! Next year's conference is already in my calendar!! Here's a pic of me and my outstanding mentor, Farrah Shipley, the first day of conference.  She taught me everything I know! I am blessed!