tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919846901320600212024-02-07T01:35:19.366-08:00Mrs. Kasper's Whole Brain TeachingI invite you to follow my journey in my fourth grade classroom as I become a Whole Brain Teaching certified classroom teacher. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04144035225247816853noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-191984690132060021.post-59276982788818788192012-10-12T19:35:00.000-07:002012-10-13T10:30:48.469-07:00The Scoreboard, Webcast #517<span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">"The artist's studio, the researcher's laboratory,
the scholar's library are each kept deliberately simple so as to support the
complexities of the work in progress."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>–
Lucy Calkins</span></span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ve been using the "deliberately simple" WBT Scoreboard in my classroom
since the first day of school – about seven weeks now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No more marbles in the jar for me. That’s
right – no more fake money or treasure boxes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I now use the Scoreboard, and it’s been a
great success in helping me with classroom behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My students love to “hug their ears” as they
give a ½ second groan and, even more, they love the 1 second party, the mighty “Oh
Yeah!” We even do whisper “Oh Yeahs!” in the hallway in response to the
portable scoreboard I wear on my lanyard. Yup, a sticky note on the back of my
I.D. badge elicits great hallway behavior from my wiggly, jiggly, talkative
fourth graders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rewards that they
work so hard for are one minute of talk time at the end of the period or a
quick game of four corners.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSMWXf8j4rYQf9p4Utn8PN1gHmc6ackQ3dDCPTp71kjKpBJ3evuhO8KUm3nRi-S0xS8ttw7lEX_jOEBjsx9vZ8p2MH1acYcN7Ds0ysF_GfdXMoWYxoTOaKFVLdhiJt1bD0_QROi3vdIiA/s1600/Scoreboard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSMWXf8j4rYQf9p4Utn8PN1gHmc6ackQ3dDCPTp71kjKpBJ3evuhO8KUm3nRi-S0xS8ttw7lEX_jOEBjsx9vZ8p2MH1acYcN7Ds0ysF_GfdXMoWYxoTOaKFVLdhiJt1bD0_QROi3vdIiA/s320/Scoreboard.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This picture shows my scoreboard, which is at the front and
center of my classroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All I need is a
dry erase marker, a smile, and a bit of ping ponging to motivate my students.</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">(The "I can" statements are required by my district. I simply turn them into the question I ask in the first step of the five-step WBT lesson plan.)</span></span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">However, I noticed last week that the Scoreboard was
becoming lackluster. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My knowledge of the
scoreboard was gleaned here and there as I’ve poked around on the WBT website,
but I hadn’t watched the video yet. After all, I told myself, I can teach
myself a simple procedure like the scoreboard. Oh ho ho! Little did I know that
that was the reason my students have become lackluster about the scoreboard.
Today I watched the video, and I learned that my students are dangerously close to becoming habituated to the routine! </span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On Monday, the first thing I will do is offer a tiny bit of
variety: Pirate Captain v. the Crew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
will be the just the thing to rekindle student interest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Perhaps in another week, I’ll introduce a new and different reward,
changing things up a bit, but not too quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Next time, I won’t wait too long to introduce a little variety. There are many suggestions on the video that I will employ.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you haven’t already viewed the Scoreboard Video, Program
#517, it comes highly recommended from this reformed marble-in-the-jar teacher
who is now a devoted Scoreboard user.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04144035225247816853noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-191984690132060021.post-89887160405134085472012-10-11T12:44:00.000-07:002012-10-13T16:10:48.836-07:00Prove It! Webcast #506<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Benjamin Franklin said “By failing to prepare, we are
preparing to fail.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I think this is the perfect quote for teachers who need to
prepare students for standardized state tests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We teachers had to prepare to take our state certification tests. Most
of us not only obtained college degrees, but also took practice tests and
studied the types of questions we would likely be asked on those state
certification tests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We owe the same
type of test prep to our students. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
not enough that they have quality guided, shared and independent reading
experiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They must also thoroughly
know what types of questions they will encounter during standardized academic
testing.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">With that in mind, I studied the “Prove It” webcast #506.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prove It is a game in which students practice
How To Solve a problem, rather than merely coming up with the answer to the
problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The class earns points for excellent
answers as well as for effort. The points are cashed in at the end of the week
to play Mind Soccer. Ya gotta love it – kids are practicing an academic skill
in order to earn the privilege of playing an academic review game. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Awesome!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I began by creating a visual to post to teach my fourth
graders the three types of questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is what I came up with.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtj8ud2ckkUiCxDCLpeW7ih0BZTM9icHGBdCGisB333UDCL8XD3dHpZSKJsaiX6oY6hZOlYO-PZuqi0bJLgLQJ1bUQaslownWBactfhijN97tWlai0IKUhd8rNkvgf3KlZefWebe3QpFA/s1600/Prove+It+Poster+for+blogsite2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtj8ud2ckkUiCxDCLpeW7ih0BZTM9icHGBdCGisB333UDCL8XD3dHpZSKJsaiX6oY6hZOlYO-PZuqi0bJLgLQJ1bUQaslownWBactfhijN97tWlai0IKUhd8rNkvgf3KlZefWebe3QpFA/s320/Prove+It+Poster+for+blogsite2.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I used the 5-step lesson plan format to teach the three
types of questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My students love the
5-step lesson plan format. When we begin each lesson, they are fully engaged,
and I know each student is learning.</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I also prepared a bank of questions for when we played the
game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I simply typed several questions
from a reading passaged in one of my resource books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The questions follow the format of typical
questions on our Texas STAAR test.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I decided
to use only the question stem unless the question requires the answer choices
to make a decision about how to solve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Following is an example of a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Find and Compare</i> question. Students can identify it as a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Find and Compare</i> question without the
answer choices.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">Which
is the best summary of paragraphs 8-10?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next question is an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Answer
Now</i> question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have to give the
answer choices so kids will know that enough information is given for it to be
an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Answer Now</i> question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span style="background-color: white;"> </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Which
statement supports the idea that Josie was curious about the elephant?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Josie snoozed peacefully under the magnolia
tree.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>B<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the way to the market place, Josie looked
for straw to feed the lost elephant.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>C<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Josie peeked around the corner of the
magnolia tree at the magnificent animal.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #cc0000; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>D The
strong elephant used its trunk to lift Josie high into the air.</span><br />
<br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A <em>Read Again</em> question might be worded as follows.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span style="color: magenta;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Which
is the best summary of this selection?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The main problem I found as we played the game was that my
students were having trouble knowing the difference between the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Find and Compare</i> questions and the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Read Again</i> questions. Coincidentally, a
special ed inclusion teacher had joined us during this time, and she was having
the same trouble!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought, “Oh,
no!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If a teacher can’t tell the
difference, how can my students?” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Then I realized that you also have to “read
again” for a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Find and Compare</i> question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I quickly re-taught.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My students now know that for a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Find and Compare</i> question, you simply
scan to find the little bit of text you’re looking for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then you just have to reread a little
bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> We gestured by holding our thumb and index finger apart one inch and looking at it closely. </span>For a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Read Again</i> question, you have to reread <u>a lot</u> of text to
figure out the answer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> We gestured by spreading our hands apart as far as we could to indicate reading a lot of text. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next day when we played Prove It, I simply used my Elmo
to project questions directly from my resource book. I just covered up the
answer choices with a blank piece of paper. It was so easy and required no prep work at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This was a four-day week in my district, and we’ve just begun
our Prove It game. I plan to carefully watch test scores to see how much they
improve, and I’ll blog about the results here as I accumulate data.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">By playing Prove It, the kids have earned 38 seconds of Mind Soccer time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By this Friday, we’ll be ready for our first
game of Mind Soccer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My students beg for
Prove It, and they’re begging even more for Mind Soccer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m completely grateful to Coach B for
teaching me how to weave the golden thread of fun into test prep.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04144035225247816853noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-191984690132060021.post-20880478473160585802012-09-27T19:51:00.002-07:002012-10-12T20:13:04.435-07:00The Five-Step Lesson Template, Webcast #505“Keep it simple. Ask a question. Do all the lessons the same way.”<br />
<br />
This simple instruction from Coach Biffle resonated with me. I watched Video #505 about the 5-Step lesson template, which is the heart of whole brain teaching. The first 5-step lesson I taught was “What is a compound sentence?” For the answer in step 2, I created the Power Pic below by editing a Power Pic from wholebrainteaching.com using MS Paint software. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnKIJpwfEuiK3rn8HRQ0M8y900PjJMI9YMTxEQ7SrCWGhHX0wpNifSz60dcgCgf33k5Wa4Jh-aNaynLSCYi1WiYb1Tk0qQTxNTr7enXtRo4McYreAh_J7o8lpKhLuJEvWkbhjo-Oss8I0/s1600/Compound+Sentence+small.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnKIJpwfEuiK3rn8HRQ0M8y900PjJMI9YMTxEQ7SrCWGhHX0wpNifSz60dcgCgf33k5Wa4Jh-aNaynLSCYi1WiYb1Tk0qQTxNTr7enXtRo4McYreAh_J7o8lpKhLuJEvWkbhjo-Oss8I0/s320/Compound+Sentence+small.png" width="280" /></a></div>
I created gestures to go with the definition, which I taught my students using Mirrors with Words. In step 3, I elaborated by projecting various sentences on the whiteboard and explaining why they were or were not compound sentences. In step 4, we played “Yes / No Way” to identify if sentences were compound or not. I continued to assess in step 4 by playing the QT game. I could see immediately who understood and who did not. In step 5, students used paper and pencil to underline the “complete message” on each side of the conjunction, circle the conjunction, and state whether the sentence was or was not compound.<br />
<br />
During step 2 of the lesson sequence, I asked, “Why is this sentence a compound sentence?” I was thrilled when one of my learning disabled students answered, <br />
<br />
This sentence is a compound sentence because<br />
(here she used the Because Clapper) it has a conjunction<br />
with a comma in the middle and there is a complete <br />
message before the conjunction and after the conjunction. <br />
<br />
I could have kissed her brain right then and there! Needless to say, she earned a star on the Super Improvers Wall.<br />
<br />
However, I wasn’t yet satisfied with my lesson. Step 5 still bothered me because I knew it wasn’t the best critical thinking activity I could create. The solution to my problem came in Coach B’s live webcast about critical thinking on Tuesday, September 25, 2012 (Webcast #539), which I will blog about in more detail later. For step 5, I had not planned an open-ended activity. So, I fixed that in my next lesson, “What is a biography?”<br />
<br />
For step 3 of the biography lesson, I displayed books and explained using micro lectures and Teach-Okay why they were or were not biographies. I assessed in step 4 using the same technique of displaying various books and playing “Yes – No Way” and the QT game. But the real difference came in step 5. Here, students used whiteboards to create a Venn diagram to compare and contrast a biography with a Native American Cinderella story we had read. This was the higher order thinking I’ve been looking for. The kids shared their Venn diagrams by displaying them on the Elmo and explaining their ideas in complete sentences, and I took a quick grade for the grade book during that time.<br />
<br />
This is the Power Pic I created for the biography lesson.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZXgBbkSio4tkSTjmKNIzG-3jvBTfpgctDBDk6SDp7jfYIUqGr35OQs_O5R2ZpbLkYIyJ6_OHy-dM4YkHpI9m_birdaLlYS6XqJIhd7B9fu1RvyLKsa_lnALUEssiIT2gOaHMv2-3KAyI/s1600/Biography+small.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZXgBbkSio4tkSTjmKNIzG-3jvBTfpgctDBDk6SDp7jfYIUqGr35OQs_O5R2ZpbLkYIyJ6_OHy-dM4YkHpI9m_birdaLlYS6XqJIhd7B9fu1RvyLKsa_lnALUEssiIT2gOaHMv2-3KAyI/s320/Biography+small.png" width="252" /></a></div>
Now that my students have a firm grasp of what a biography is, they will be able to meet the standard of comparing a character in a fictional text to a biography of the same character.<br />
<br />
I hope this helps other teachers new to Whole Brain Teaching with the very core of Whole Brain Teaching—the Five-Step Lesson Template.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04144035225247816853noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-191984690132060021.post-33828724111137685882012-09-26T21:49:00.000-07:002012-10-12T22:34:30.299-07:00Crazy Professor Reading Game<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">“Nothing great was ever achieved without
enthusiasm.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>-<i>Ralph Waldo Emerson<o:p></o:p></i></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Have you coached your students to “read with expression?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have you modeled reading with expression during
your read-alouds, yet kids still read in a monotone?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do they pause in the middle of sentences, but
fail to stop at periods?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Worse yet, is
their compression suffering because of little ability to demonstrate prosody in
their reading?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If so, then check out
Chris Rekstad’s fourth graders on Youtube.com <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>as they play the “Crazy Professor Reading
Game.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enthusiasm abounds as his
students read aloud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was one of the
first Whole Brain Teaching videos I watched when I first learned of WBT late in
August.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I yearned for my fourth graders
to be able to read with the expression and enthusiasm that Chris’ students
displayed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Consequently, the Crazy Professor Reading Game was one of
the first games I introduced to my students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They begged me loudly to play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yes, it was controlled, enthusiastic, loud begging.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was fortunate that my district’s first reading unit to
teach was about fiction, because the fiction genre seems so perfect for the
Crazy Professor Reading Game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I chose a
fairly short, simple selection for our first attempt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kids used their best overly dramatic voices and
wide gestures as they read the selection. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never would have dreamed that kids could be
so enthusiastic about reading out loud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I know I have a long way to go to fully harness the power of
the Crazy Professor Reading Game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve
downloaded the free eBook and will study it thoroughly so I can teach my
students about about paraphrasing, skimming, Q and A, silent reading and silent
summarizing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can find the eBook at </span><a href="http://www.wholebrainteaching.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">wholebrainteaching.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> on page
three of the free eBooks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-oLrnkLcV3Okc15JGJN13cxhfb8fIZh1dfYJ7tK5YiKWHqD5b3eYaEBz_N93xJj6ksDGifcLF6rSFVOKRa57UX_OF39YM1IOLuRFAZofT1FZLTo7HZMkEyreKCOtTf08s5MS4ryzfgBA/s1600/Crazy+Professor.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-oLrnkLcV3Okc15JGJN13cxhfb8fIZh1dfYJ7tK5YiKWHqD5b3eYaEBz_N93xJj6ksDGifcLF6rSFVOKRa57UX_OF39YM1IOLuRFAZofT1FZLTo7HZMkEyreKCOtTf08s5MS4ryzfgBA/s320/Crazy+Professor.png" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>To view Chris
Rekstad’s amazing youtube video, just click on the following link.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xFcUPQ_z_8"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xFcUPQ_z_8</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Watch the video and read the eBook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, sit back and be amazed as your students
become fluent readers!</span><br />
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZsOu2_VpICmRm5wqo8jzQYeanmsK7-nzfVAq7bNxgIgWR1vGE7JSY_geiGigw-Zw5ChzlPnJoMfHVXoGu7SDNU7QHt1-vL0W6zMV42Sg36325HW5fpyiC1VVQXu4FMv9PNawqg4Q759I/s1600/signature3.png" />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04144035225247816853noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-191984690132060021.post-75360452594542339952012-09-24T19:28:00.000-07:002012-10-12T15:53:59.078-07:00Lubbock, TX Conference <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOkjcLG8MgBuj4gRe8kQsNtDypY7yS9l-BOp68d6SYXpu9y2yOIUpqtT3ENfTpBjB9KMM0qfLwKdQL3mXpzofOw0LPSDBuYmySlyInhlIh9UUMYFwkb2lwIIXCAkxk3qfG0Nh-nbXDW5A/s1600/Lubbock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOkjcLG8MgBuj4gRe8kQsNtDypY7yS9l-BOp68d6SYXpu9y2yOIUpqtT3ENfTpBjB9KMM0qfLwKdQL3mXpzofOw0LPSDBuYmySlyInhlIh9UUMYFwkb2lwIIXCAkxk3qfG0Nh-nbXDW5A/s1600/Lubbock.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This weekend, I had the pleasure
and honor of attending a WBT conference in Lubbock, Texas, taught by Farrah
Shipley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Farrah told us that Marva
Collins once said, “I don’t teach at-risk children. I teach future productive
members of society.” This inspired me to read a bit more about Ms. Collins. Ms.
Collins also said that in teaching impoverished children, she had “<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">discovered few learning disabled students
in my three decades of teaching. I have, however, discovered many, many victims
of teaching inabilities."</span> This is something I realized about myself
as a teacher this weekend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s very
difficult to admit to myself that I have not been the effective teacher I
dreamed of being. I have worked hard and been dedicated, but I’ve been ignorant
of Whole Brain Teaching theories and methods. I’ve been teaching to only a
couple parts of the brain at a time and talking too much!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Farrah did an awesome job of
teaching us the five rules, mirrors, mirrors with words, the genius ladder,
super improvers wall, class/yes, and teach/ok.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have implemented these in my classroom, and my students love it! They
are smiling, and so am I.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Farrah also taught us the seven
levels of the scoreboard. I have a couple of students who will really benefit
from the practice cards and the guff counter. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I plan to put the practice cards in place by
Tuesday of this week to help my most challenging student remember and respect
the rules, especially rule number 5. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Wingdings;"></span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The focus of my reading lesson on
Monday will be sequencing events in fiction. For the example portion of the
lesson, I plan to project a paragraph and we will identify the sequence of
events in the paragraph, first in a guided format, then independently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think the critical thinking portion is
being able to find strong evidence in the paragraph to support their answers.
I’ll go forward with this understanding for now. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Many, many thanks to Farrah Shipley
for opening up her school, her classroom, and her heart to instruct us about Whole
Brain Teaching. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thank you, also, to my good friend, Penny, one of my teaching colleagues. Penny enthusiastically joined me on the long drive to Lubbock and has embraced WBT techniques in her classroom, too. Welcome aboard, Penny!</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04144035225247816853noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-191984690132060021.post-16487963685477822422012-09-23T20:14:00.000-07:002012-10-12T22:32:16.762-07:00Super Improvers Wall, Webcast #503<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We educators have unwittingly enrolled our students in an “education
caste system” according to Whole Brain Teaching Coach Chris Biffle on the Super Improvers Wall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coach further adds that “the only fair race
is the one you run against yourself.” On both counts, I completely agree with
Coach. Many students, especially our intellectually challenged students, are
working as hard as they can, yet they never seem to be properly rewarded under
the grading system of most public schools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>On the opposite end of this spectrum are students who are able to put
forth very little effort, yet are still rewarded with straight As. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neither situation is fair to the student. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">With the Super Improvers Wall, students can be rewarded for
any activity in which they show improvement, such as following procedures,
keeping their area in the classroom clean, showing kindness to others, or showing
growth in critical thinking or writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
structure must be woven throughout the day, much the same as the Scoreboard. We
need to emphasize to the students that they are competing against themselves,
not each other, so they can constantly be improving. The whole idea is to
reward kids for meeting goals that they set for themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Students must earn ten stars at each level to move up a
level. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, on my Super Improvers
Wall, students will earn a photo at the third, fifth, and eighth levels. On the
fourth, sixth and ninth levels, they will only need to earn five points to see
their photo and move to the next level. You should have seen the grins when
they heard that! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Many thanks to Coach Biffle for pointing out that "rewarding for improvement should be our number one teaching goal."</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOAxgDYQuzG4X1rGDwn-NIMK10K5oWhyphenhyphenbxD0cmuRU-Ut8Jbv4GwZR3mk9mgin_O7k2BHm-m7Nd13CZmH0il1qan-UBAQEz_yHNa4l7d01UGdNhwQJsFJGkQo2DSZNreWGoYzsjB2T5-ME/s1600/100_1041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOAxgDYQuzG4X1rGDwn-NIMK10K5oWhyphenhyphenbxD0cmuRU-Ut8Jbv4GwZR3mk9mgin_O7k2BHm-m7Nd13CZmH0il1qan-UBAQEz_yHNa4l7d01UGdNhwQJsFJGkQo2DSZNreWGoYzsjB2T5-ME/s320/100_1041.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This wide view of our Super Improvers Wall shows how I included both my morning and afternoon classes, which total 46 students in all. Above the S.I.W. are the five WBT classroom rules that we practice several times each day. To the right is our Cosmic Genius Ladder that we use to improve the quality of our sentences and our critical thinking skills. On the shelves are book boxes my husband built for my students to store some of their library books, together with their reading and writing journals. I acquired the used chairs from an office that closed and re-upholstered them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thank you for reading my blog!</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04144035225247816853noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-191984690132060021.post-51760087097697723482012-09-22T19:07:00.000-07:002012-10-12T22:33:17.435-07:00The Writing Game Part 1, Webcast #536<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Students need lots of reps with micro writing skills.” This
was one of Coach B’s major teaching points during the Writing Game Part 1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, he said students need 100s of reps! No
way to do 100s of reps during the school day with a paper and pencil. How do we
solve that problem? Oral writing, of course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We use puzzles as a frame in which kids take turns working
in pairs to verbally fill in the blanks as many times as possible to create new
sentences. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Students play for points,
always trying to beat their previous best score. Cowabunga! What a great way to
build fluency. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We reward energy with smilies on the scoreboard, and we spur
on a lackadaisical class with frownies. My students will do almost anything for
those smilies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve learned to keep that
scoreboard active all day long!</span></div>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5gmmHCTC1F98U0OeWprnZwCVyybGCOb7M3Kq-7PAThBxHybUrp9NNA7uIpUZoUlh_klCGMdc_85WWtW775YKcFzXDnq6UhNEWfo5lZgxjgN7sXV-zClioKvfvp2RcPJL3-fpUwJAxsXU/s1600/100_1035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5gmmHCTC1F98U0OeWprnZwCVyybGCOb7M3Kq-7PAThBxHybUrp9NNA7uIpUZoUlh_klCGMdc_85WWtW775YKcFzXDnq6UhNEWfo5lZgxjgN7sXV-zClioKvfvp2RcPJL3-fpUwJAxsXU/s320/100_1035.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">To build excellent content, I have created the Super
Improvers Wall. This is a picture of my Super Improvers Wall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><v:stroke joinstyle="miter"><v:formulas><v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"><v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"><v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"><v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2">
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<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><v:stroke joinstyle="miter"><v:formulas><v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"><v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"><v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"><v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When my students grow in the use of a skill such as great detail
adder sentences or use of the words "because" or "though," they will earn a star.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of my students are now up to five stars.
They really work hard to earn those stars, and I believe it will have a very
positive impact on their growth in writing skills.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Although my students write across the curriculum, at my school we
also write all day on Wednesdays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
think I will use the Writing Game as a warm-up each Wednesday to give my
students the opportunity for hundreds of repetitions of micro skills. I will
also continue to use the Super Improvers Wall encourage growth as strong,
proficient writers.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04144035225247816853noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-191984690132060021.post-46920775572976600812012-09-21T18:54:00.000-07:002012-10-12T22:37:24.799-07:00Red and Green Markers, Webcast #531<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This evening, I went straight to my computer and the WBT website. I started Webcast #531 and there was Coach B with his straightforward advice, “We need to teach each of the tiny skills of writing – isolated.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being a fourth grade writing teacher, this simple quote made a great deal of sense to me. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wrote down all the micro skills on the video and I now can’t wait to start breaking my writing lessons down into micro skills. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><img alt="" class="rg_hi uh_hi" data-height="112" data-width="160" height="224" id="rg_hi" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSDTliXLblTxLPt3gUUGdGYAzS2opv8FPZqvmNpm32M7kvBcjtC0w" style="height: 112px; width: 160px;" width="320" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I plan to use the red and green markers today in my class. Although Coach B demonstrated red and green markers mostly with writing, I’ll start with context clues in reading, since that is our word work topic today. I also have shared the red and green marker procedure with my grade level colleagues and my principal during a planning session, giving credit, of course, to Coach B and WBT.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We plan to use it with respect to writing complete sentences and topic sentences <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>on our next Wednesday Writing Day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all loved the idea of releasing control of the red and green markers to the students to help them become better self and peer editors.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The paragraph sketching also has me intrigued. As an adult, it’s the way I pre-write, yet I’ve always had my students draw a graphic organizer before actually beginning to organize ideas on paper. I think I’ll simplify this process for my students, and I think they’ll love me for it. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Finally, I love the WBT Super Improvers Wall! For me, it answers the question “How do I get gifted and high achievers to strive for excellence instead of mediocrity?” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet it also motivates lower achievers to improve. It will most assuredly increase the level of critical thinking among my students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As soon as possible, I will get my wall set up. Oh goodness! I wish I had known about WBT this summer. Then I’d have my room all set up by now! I have so much to learn and do with my students! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you WBT and Coach B for adding to my passion for teaching.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04144035225247816853noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-191984690132060021.post-66292960749491165192012-09-17T18:51:00.000-07:002012-10-12T22:29:06.196-07:00The Big Seven<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
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“Reform has to be free and voluntary!” A profound statement from Coach Biffle, indeed. Last year was a year filled with tough kids and new, more rigorous standardized tests – and I wasn’t prepared. Determined to be a better teacher – yes, to reform my classroom—I tuned in and turned on to Whole Brain Teaching.
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I absolutely love it! My students are moving. They are laughing. They are on task. They are learning. The Big Seven are seven simple procedures for class management. I started with Class-Yes. Never has getting the class’ attention been so easy and so fun, and never have I smiled so much while teaching. Yet it was simple, simple, simple to teach!
</div>
<br />
Next I taught the five rules. My students always grin when we chant Rule No. 5. As Coach recommends, we chant the rules several times a day as a reminder and way to gain focus. I included a Score Board with Smilies and Frownies. <br />
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On Day 1, we moved on to Teach-Okay and Switch. Now, I’ve always had kids share with a partner, but that type of “turn and talk” has never been as successful as Teach-Okay. With WBT and Teach-Okay, kids are using their hands as they clap and say “Okay.” The micro lectures eliminate boredom. Students use their arms as they gesture widely. They smile. The noise is task-oriented. I soon learned pairs were more successful when I assigned the “1” to the more advanced student of the two students. That way, partner No. 2 had heard the micro lecture both from me and from another student before Switching and teaching it back to the No. 1 partner.
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The most powerful part of Teach-Okay is the high level of thinking it requires. My students must listen to the micro-lecture, process the information, and synthesize it into their own words as they repeat it. Each and every student has the opportunity to synthesize the information in this way, moving the new information from short-term memory to long-term memory.
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I also taught Mirror, and added in the Ten-Finger Woo. My kids loved both. With Mirror, students are focused completely on me and what I have to say. <br />
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Finally, for complete and total anticipation and focus, I taught Hands and Eyes. It's never been so simple and quick for me to garner my students' attention before teaching. I feel so loved, and my students are fully engaged in learning. It’s truly Teacher Heaven!
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For more information about the Big Seven, go to <a href="http://wholebrainteaching.com/">wholebrainteaching.com</a> and click on the First Steps drop-down menu.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04144035225247816853noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-191984690132060021.post-23760677258129933862012-09-16T18:57:00.000-07:002012-10-12T20:14:28.252-07:00Teaching the Rules, Webcast #515 <span style="font-family: Calibri;">Today, in Webcast #515, Coach B stated
my sentiments exactly. “Power to the teachers and God bless us all. We’ve got
the greatest profession on earth.” But this wonderfully passionate statement is
true only if you have classroom management well in place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus, I taught the Five Rules to my class
within the first hour of the first day of school this week. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As recommended by Coach B, I’ve been weaving
the Rules instruction into our daily routine several times a day. This is the
first time I’ve taught kids to memorize the rules, but they took to it really
well. They had fun with the gestures I taught them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My fourth graders can recite the rules in any
order – quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think this week we’ll
have fun reciting them in a whisper or a silly voice. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">More importantly, they can not only
recite the rules.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can tell me why
it’s important to have good rules.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
all agreed that we need to create an atmosphere where learning occurs and
everyone feels safe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we voted on
each rule, my class overwhelmingly agreed each rule was a good one.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This year, my students are really
good kids, so I don’t anticipate any major problems. That is, unless constant
talking can be considered a major problem, which I do, because learning isn’t
taking place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried the timer a couple
of times on Friday, but the alarm clock I got wouldn’t time for just a few
minutes. I’ll head to Wal-Mart tomorrow for a better timer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I can get the talking throughout the
class period stopped that way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what do I do about dismissal time?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t even pretend it’s organized
chaos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s just chaos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t mind if the kids talk a bit among
themselves, but they go crazy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How can I
stop this loud frenzy at the end of the day so kids can hear last minute P.A.
announcements and instructions from me?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I would appreciate some insight or advice from one of our experienced
WBT teachers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you very much!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Note: After I posted this reflection, a kind blogger
recommended that we practice the dismissal procedure earlier in the day. So we
did that today with great results. Dismissal was much calmer today. My students
understood that they had not earned the talking time at the end of the day
because we had one more Frownie than Smilie. As one of my former excessive
talkers explained to the class “We’ll do it [earn the free time]
tomorrow!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was compliant in a very
positive way. Teacher Heaven!</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04144035225247816853noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-191984690132060021.post-69740361461571659632012-09-12T04:00:00.007-07:002012-09-17T03:52:52.921-07:00Introduction<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My name is Michaelene Kasper, and I teach Language Arts to fourth graders in a small town in Texas. I first learned about Whole Brain Teaching (WBT) in August this year, just a couple of days before my students returned to school. I was immediately hooked! I'm not sure what to expect as I embark on this journey, but I know what I <em>want</em> to happen. I want my students to learn joyously. I want them to look forward to coming to school each day because they can't wait to come to my class. As Coach B so aptly states, I want to be in Teacher Heaven! This is where I will write to record and discover what I am learning about becoming a WBT teacher. I invite you to join me, to observe me, to coach me, to comment on my successes and challenges, and to cheer me on! My thanks to all the wonderful teachers at WholeBrainTeaching.com, but especially to the insightful genius professor, Coach B, for sharing his passion for WBT. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04144035225247816853noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-191984690132060021.post-41357972688733645412012-09-11T19:12:00.000-07:002012-10-12T22:36:36.251-07:00My Blog Site Is Up!I'm so excited! It took me many hours of research, trial and error, but I've finally published my blog site! Now I have a place to share my Whole Brain Teaching experiences with all the wonderful teachers in the growing WBT community. I've posted blogs on my first few WBT experiences, and I have several more in the works. The WBT bug has bitten me, and I can't get enough! In place in my classroom are my Scoreboard, Rules, Super Improvers Wall, Power Pix, and Cosmic Genius Ladder, as well as twenty-three wonderful little fourth graders each morning, and another twenty-three each afternoon.<br />
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I've watched several videos on which I haven't yet been able to blog. This week, I hope to post blogs about The Writing Game, Parts 1 and 2; The Cosmic Genius Ladder; and Brain Toys, Parts One and Two. In addition, Coach B's live webcast on Tuesday evening is a must-see. So, to all my new WBT colleagues, I'll see you on Tuesday!<br />
<br />
Rose2001<br />
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