Year 2 WBT

Gearing up for my move to 3rd grade last year, I became obsessed with learning everything about Whole Brain Teaching. In the past I used Class! Yes! and the scoreboard, but that was all I mastered.  So last year I implemented a little bit more, added 5 Rules, Super Improver Wall, Hands and Eyes and a little bit of Mirror/Words.  It was a challenging class and I didn't keep up with Mirror/Words as much as I wanted but the rest worked pretty well.

This year I had read the book Love and Logic over the summer and knew a teacher that had a lot of success with it, so I wanted to give that management style a try.  I didn't teach my 5 Rules (but kept Class!Yes!, scoreboard and Super Improver Wall) The Love and Logic way has only one rule: You may do anything you want as long as it doesn't cause a problem for me or anyone else.  They are supposed to solve the problem they make or I will do something.  Unfortunately, I was missing something because three weeks in I was not a happy teacher.

So, I tore down my love and logic poster and put up my 5 rules.  By the end of the day I was back in Teacher Heaven!! It amazes me how fast they learn the rules using the mirror words and teach/okay.  Gee maybe they will learn the math I'm teaching if I used the same format? Duh!

My goal for this year is to really implement the WBT lesson format.  I am also determined to get guided math going as well.  So my plan is to use WBT style during the mini lesson.

I just read on someone else's blog the saying Practice=Progress (not perfection) and I really liked that!  So here is to more practice with WBT and I look forward to the progress I will make this year!

Day 6 The Super Improver Team

I introduced my Super Improver Team board today and I think it went over pretty well.  I did not hand out the goal cards today, I don't think they need them yet.
Here was the board from the first day of school until yesterday:

And today they walked in to this:

I explained that the SI Team is like a video game where the object is to "level up".  The way you level up is by improving things like your behavior or academics.  It can be anything that needs improving!  As I observe students doing things better than they were, I will praise them and mark a line on my chart.  Each time I mark a line I am making a star.  When they have a complete start I put an actual star sticker on their card, 10 stars and its time to level up.  I showed them that I had already printed their names on every single color so that they knew I expected them to level up.
It felt really good to be on the lookout to catch students following the rules who normally didn't and a lot of students got 2-3 lines today towards their stars.  It helped with redirecting unwanted behavior too, there were a few students who I simply asked if they wanted to earn some lines and they instantly changed their behavior.  I am hoping I can get  a few of them on the yellow level by tomorrow to get them excited.  The hardest part about this for me is the students who are really great anyway!  Its hard to not want to just give them stars for being "good." I think I will conference with those students to see if there are any goals they would like to strive for that we can monitor on the SI Team.

Day 3-Glimpse of Teacher Heaven!

Today I pushed myself to fully use teach/okay.  I had taught the procedure to my "good" class, but not my challenging class.  This was the step of WBT that I struggle with since I had such a mental block with the gestures.  Since I decided that I was going to break down the rules on anchor charts (I don't know why I didn't take pictures of them!) I decided that was the "lesson" I was going to use.

Here is how it went:
First of all I used big exaggerated gestures, funny voices, walked all around my room (*racked up 16000 steps on my fitbit!!) and just went all in!
Me:  Claaaaassss!
Students:  Yeeeeeees!
Me:  Mirror Words!
Students: Mirror Words!
Me:  Rule 1 looks like following directions quickly but carefully (repeated 3 times)
Students: repeated what I said and my gestures-anyone not engaged (maybe 2 at the most) I would walk over and get right in front of them squatting down if I had to until they did it!
Me: Clap clap teach!
Students: Clap clap okay!
Boom they were doing it and loving it!!!!  I did about 3 "looks like" statements for all 5 rules and it was AWESOME!!!
The best part was not only did my "good" class do it, but my challenging class loved it even more!!!!  It was truly teacher heaven.
It was a lot of work but man, I had a blast.  It was fun!

Now, the only issue I need to work out is this.  I still don't have my challenging class when we are not doing mirror words and teach okay.  I still keep thinking that when I start Super Improvers and star cards and I can already tell I'm going to need the Bullseye for 2 of my students, that things will get better.  Yet I also want to say that its only the third day and they will get it.

The other issue is I feel so vulnerable not having any real consequence like warnings, detentions etc. but then also I guess recess squad will be that once I get that going.  I did take a few students out into the hall for a talk, happy to say 4 of them were to tell them privately how thankful I was to have them in my class, they were doing such a good job and I was proud of them.  Then my two major rascals, I took them out and gently told them to knock it off, very very gently, one cried, but it did "work" for the rest of the class.

Third Grade - Day 1

I survived!
It was so hard to plan this day since I had no idea what to expect from 8 year old students!  I am extremely grateful for all of the WBT materials I have been studying all summer.   As I thought, it felt like a natural fit in 3rd grade.  Did every student act perfectly?  Nope, but it was a great first day and start.

Since I teach math and science, I have two sections.  I had my homeroom class for the whole morning and then the other class for the whole afternoon.
My class did a fantastic job. We did class/yes, mirror words, teach/okay, scoreboard, 5 Rules and Star, and hands and eyes.  I have two definite beloved rascals in that class but they are not overbearing.

My second class really struggled with  the 5 Rules, LOTS of blurters.  They were not able to handle mirror words or teach/okay - I didn't even try it with them.  They do have class yes, but started to struggle right away with the Mighty Oh Yeah and Mighty Groan on the scoreboard.  I even let them do a "Mighty Dab" when they say Oh Yeah instead of clap, but that didn't get me the 100% I need.  Lots of beloved rascals in this class.  I'm probably going to start recess squad tomorrow!

So tomorrow the groups switch and I have the rascally bunch all morning and the other class in the afternoon.  I am interested to see how that changes anything, if at all.  I know students are usually a little more focused in the morning and "off" after lunch.

One thing I learned today is to slow down!  Even when I think I'm going slow, I need to go slower.  I can tell that if I don't get these routines down now it will be a rough year!    I feel pretty confident that we will work it out.  They are going to be an awesome group for the Super Improver Team!  Can't wait to get that started next week!

My New Classroom!

In general, I use a lot of exclamation points and this year it will probably get annoying, so I apologize!  I can't help it though, I am terribly excited about this new school year.  We have a lot of great new staff members on board and there is just such a positive vibe running through our school that I haven't felt in a while.  I am also really happy with my new classroom! So I wanted to post some of my hard work and also how some of it relates to my WBT journey.

Welcome!  Yes, I did the superhero theme.  Not usually a big fan of themes but found a new teacher store and went a little crazy.

My outside bulletin board waiting for some student work!

A view of the front of the classroom, calendar, my scoreboard, the WBT rules up top and the Super Improver Team board!  I will cover up the title for the first few days and build suspense until the second week. 

My word wall, or power pix wall, it will probably extend over the windows since I am doing math and science this year. 

Classroom jobs, there is a pocket to put a popsicle stick with the name of the student. Cute jobs like Super Sharpener, Captain Line Leader, etc. 

Close up of the Super Improver Board.  The colored strips have the titles of each level, they will be turned around next week once the board is totally revealed. 

My clock!

So there we have it!  I didn't show the back wall with the student cubbies, I want to go this weekend and buy some plants to put on top of them.  What are good plants for a classroom?

Happy New Year! 2016-2017

I absolutely love the beginning of the school year!  Its so much fun to have a fresh start full of so many possibilities.  I am really excited about this year because I am moving to 3rd Grade!!  I am a little nervous but as I am getting used to the idea, the excitement is truly replacing the nerves.

The thing that has me fired up the most is I that I finally feel 100% comfortable with Whole Brain Teaching!  I had a lot of success with it last year with my 5th and 6th graders as far as classroom management goes, and I am looking forward to seeing how it improves lesson delivery as I finally add in gestures, teach/okay, and the assessment strategies, etc.  I know that it is proven to be successful with older students, but it just seems like with 3rd graders it will be a perfect fit. 

In addition to having both books, Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids and 122 Amazing Games by Chris Biffle, I am also going through the certification option on the website to make sure I know all of the ins and outs.  The first part is the Bronze Certification and it requires you to take quizzes based on the different levels and I've already passed the advanced level!

My 1st goal of the new year is to finish the Bronze Certification before the start of school!