Day 1 on Whole Brain Teaching

Today was the first day back in the classroom with students. I faced eighteen third graders armed with my Whole Brain Teaching repertoire. Taking a lesson from Coach Biffle I used "whole brain teaching" to teach Whole Brain Teaching!!! It worked great!! I introduced "Class/Yes", "Teach/Ok", and the scoreboard. We practiced and ping/ponged the scoreboard quite a bit. I then introduced "The Big Five"!! The kids taught each other the rules.

It was truly amazing how quickly they caught on to the rules and how much fun we had learning and practicing with Whole Brain Teaching.

I am anxious to begin using all the other great Whole Brain Teaching techniques. I have my room set up and ready, now just have to get the kiddos ready.

My Power Pix Wall is up and I will be adding some 2nd grade Power Pix as a review tomorrow.

Oh, and yes ... that is Spider Man you see hanging there on the wall. We are required to use Thinking Maps in our classroom and they remind me of webs ... so who better to get the kids attention ... but Spider Man!

I am very excited to start using my Genius Ladder. We have moved to Common Core Standards and the emphasis across the curriculum is writing. The Genius Ladder is going to become such a valuable tool in my classroom.

The four white boards are not seen in the picture, but the Genius Wall is ready to go.

And yes, if you look closely there are two little climbers ascending the wall.

I use Daily 5 and Literacy Cafe:

Daily 5 Choice Board

Literacy Cafe Board ... we will be adding our goals and the skills we are working towards.

Our school has adopted "Bucket Filling" as our school - wide theme ... we are already practicing to be Bucket Fillers in our classroom ... And Wrangler Freddy is watching us!

I use the "Potty Pal" System in my classroom. Two stuffed animals that the kids place on their desks when they go out to the bathroom. I can look out at anytime to see who is out of the room, and BONUS .... no nasty, dirty bathroom pass!!

And, finally a picture of our first team-building activity.

A great first day ... looking forward to more with Whole Brain Teaching! 

So … after a three-month hiatus we teachers were given the go-ahead to come back to our rooms and begin the process of preparing for another group of students. I must say I AM EXCITED!!

As I began the grueling process of putting up eye-catching, yet teachable bulletin boards I turned on my computer and cued up “Coach B” on a live stream broadcast and listened to the broadcast of “Super Improvers Wall” … Wow!!! I cannot wait to use this in my classroom this year. I put my Super Improvers Wall up right next to my objectives wall … yes – I think it is THAT important!

I have allocated wall space for Power Pix, and a space for my Genius Ladder. Other teachers are coming in and asking what my bulletin boards are all about and I am happily sharing the Whole Brain Teaching message. My boards will be completely up on Monday and I will snap some pictures then and post them.

We have new administration this year and they have not heard of Whole Brain Teaching … so you can imagine how anxious I am to show them and let them watch my students in action; fully engaged in their learning. I will be using the Power Pix this year and also “Prove It”. I am very excited to see how well the kids respond and how it will help their grades and test performance.

Third grade is such a remarkable grade to teach, students are so full of life and enthusiastically take on whatever I ask of them; I know this new group will wholly embrace our Whole Brain Classroom!!