Week 1, and done

Week 1 of Whole Brain teaching is done, done, doooooone!  And I must admit, it's working.  My kids are having fun, participating, working hard, even getting along with each other better!

Mostly.  

There are of course, those couple of difficult bunnies who seems to think they won't survive without negative attention.   I (and the rest of the kiddos) feel kinda bad for them.  I am really interested in seeing whether this new style will eventually appeal to them, or if they will continue to fight it tooth and nail.

Anyways.....  SO far this week we:

1.  Reviewed the rules about 1.6 trillion times (see my signs I posted previously).  I had a different student helper come up and help demo the rules and their motions after every recess, special class, morning, and any lull where we got 'off track'.

2.   Enacted the scoreboard.  The students are playing a game every day.  It's me vs. them.  I told them: "You will earn ALL of the points in this game.  Either earn them for me, or earn them for your team.  I'll be happy either way."  So far they have earned their 'reward' each day.  Yay kiddos!

3.  I paired all of the students low-high and mid-mid.  We call them peanut butter and jelly.  I made little cutouts for each student.  Brown splat shapes for the peanut butters, and purple splat shapes for the jellies.  I wrote their names large on the splat, and their partner's name small on the tag.  

4.  We have been doing TONS of repetition with large gestures.  First I teach, then they mirror with gestures.  This is working out VERY well for me after having studies sign language in high school for 4 years- I finally have a use for it!  And the kids LOVE knowing they are learning REAL signs!

5.  After mirroring, the students peer-teach.  I do:  clap-clap "TEACH" or something similar, and they respond: clap-clap "OKAY."  Such a good cue for them to know when to start.  And it gives them the opportunity to talk, but in a very directed manner.

6.  But probably the best thing that came of this so far has been the attention getter "CLASS" - "YES"  I had been having trouble allllllll stinkin' year with this class and attention getters.  We have been through many.  Its like their effectiveness wears off and they just stop responding after a few days.  I think this is a more novel approach because I change the way I say class to them, so they are always having to listen.  Yes, listen!  It's this new crazy thing that all the kids are doing these days (or at least the ones in my class!)  

I can say for the very first time this year, I am looking forward to next week!

Oh no. A sub day.

I was worried this would happen.  Just when my kiddos are making forward progress, one of my own kiddies gets sick.  


Let me say here that I actually took a sub day last week; that sub told me she would never. come. back. to. my. class...  They were THAT bad.


So, when my own little one got sick, I just came to school to get the room set up for a sub, and asked the office to help find one.  I work at a GREAT school, where people are so helpful and always watching out for one another.


Who did they call?  The sub who said she'd not be coming back.  Did they tell her it was my class?  ummmm, no.  She came.  I asked her to give them one more chance.  Before I left, I asked her to watch the two videos I posted here previously....  She did.


Let me just say, I am so excited by the note she left.  She said they were, and I quote, "great!"  Can you believe it?  Someone used the word 'great' to describe my rambunctious, 14 boy, 6 girl, class.  I know, pick your jaw up off the floor.  I think we've turned a corner!

Days 1 & 2

Wow.  I mean WOW (underline, bold, exclamation point)!


My students are like different people.  After Day 1, I could already see an improvement.  But, figured, novelty can be to blame.  And now after 2 days, I'm still hoping its not just novelty here, they are 

AH-MAZING! 

What have I tried so far?  In my class we:

Have new rules!  Yes, halfway through the year, and we have new rules.  They like them.  They are very clearly defined.  I always say that kids do better when they know what's expected of them.  I guess my old rules just didn't cut it weren't any good weren't specific enough. So, our NEW rules (with the hand movements we do) are:

Rule #1:  Follow directions quickly.  (hand moves like a fish swimming in water)

Rule #2:  Raise your hand for permission to speak. (raise hand and then bring to shoulder level and pretend hand is a mouth talking)

Rule #3:  Make smart choices.  (tap head)

Rule #4:  Keep your dear teacher happy.  (hands open wide next to face, like jazz hands, and tilt head back and forth)

I know many other have another rule:  "Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat."  I allow my kiddos to get their sweatshirts, put them away, get pencils from the sharp cup and get sips of water when they need to.  Having them raise their hands all the time would only serve the purpose of making me crazy.  So, we tossed that rule.

I made rule cards, and laminated them.  They look like this:

We review these rules ALL THE STINKIN' TIME.