Monday, June 3, 2013

Chapter 30: Bonus Chapter: Designing Your WBT Model Classroom

Of the features listed for a model classroom, choose 4 you would most likely adopt for your own classroom and explain why you chose each of them.

Pages 194-217

Full credit: 25 WBT Certification Points
Partial credit: 10 WBT Certification Points

29 comments:

  1. Of the features listed in the model classroom, I’m hoping to adopt more than four; however, the four I will definitely be using are the Five Classroom Rules, the Scoreboard, the Power Pix Wall, and the Super Improvers Team.

    Every classroom needs a set of rules in order to function. The Five Classroom Rules set up by WBT enable a classroom to function amicably and in an efficient manner. The rule of “Follow Directions Quickly” helps the teacher because it doesn’t lose class time. If students don’t follow directions quickly, 5-10 minutes every hour can be wasted in non-educational activities. Rules 2 and 3, “Raise you hand to speak and raise your hand to leave your seat”, help to keep order in the classroom. “Make smart choices” covers every area of a student’s world at school or anywhere. It covers every kind of disruptive student behavior in class and out. The last rule, “Keep your dear teacher happy”, also covers an huge amount of student activity. Anything not covered by the first four rules is covered in rule five. It’s important because it allows the teacher to teach all day long.

    I like the Scoreboard because it is simple to use, fun, and has different levels. I tried the Scoreboard last year, but I wasn’t successful with it. I think this is because I didn’t fully understand the levels. When I should have moved on to the next level, I just quit it because it wasn’t working anymore. Now that I’ve read the book, Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids, I think I can implement it and have it work for me.

    I think the Power Pix Wall is a strong tool for the classroom. It’s a visual for the students to see how much they’ve learned. It is also a great tool to use for review. I think that having the Power Pix displayed will remind me to review more often than I have in the past. The only problem I need to solve is finding the space for it. But I will!

    I absolutely love the Super Improvers Team! It’s a way to motivate the students intrinsically, and it works for every student. I like the fact that it’s not just academically based, so all students have the opportunity to show improvement. In addition, it will help with classroom management.

    As I said before, these are the four features of a model classroom that I will definitely use. I would also like to try the Genius Ladder, the Ten Minute Writing, Oral Writing & the Wacky Star Button, and Mind Soccer.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Cheryl,
      Great descriptions and reasons for incorporating these into your classroom! Here are 25 points and a 5 point Bonus!

      Delete
  2. I think the first four features of a WBT model classroom are a no-brainer for me. Without the rules, Scoreboard, proper seating and Teach/Okay, and the Super Improvers Team, my class will not be top notch!


    1. The Five Classroom Rules govern the classroom. The rules are simple and specific for any student to understand. These five rules, along with their gestures help structure classroom behavior and are key to an organized, friendly, and safe environment.


    2. The Scoreboard motivates teamwork. It is a non-threatening way to reward positive behavior and correct off-task students. I love it because there are so many variations and students will never get bored. Rewards are endless, including beating the teacher, extra recess, talk time, and game time just to name a few. Finally, using the Scoreboard is a blast. Using "Mighty Oh Yeah" and "Mighty Groan" along with the boards other levels is so much fun. The kids and myself will never lose interest.


    3. I have always assigned seats. Designing a seating arrangement and placing students with their partner helps maximize learning. This arrangement should also be rearranged periodically to provide variety, too. Seating, combined with partnering students for using Teach/Okay and Switch, also increases learning. Teach/Okay and Switch allow both students to share their ideas so everyone has a turn. In addition, Teach/Okay will work great with Oral Writing, and I look forward to using it as well.

    4. Finally, I will adopt the Super Improvers Team because it will help each student set/meet personal goals. This individualized approach to learning is student-centered and specific. I love this technique because it has levels, is individualized, and inexpensive. Kids do not feel threatened because they compete against themselves. Breaking personal records make this approach unique.

    Melinda Sprinkle

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    1. Melinda,
      Well stated post! I picture a very engaged WBT classroom this year! Here are 25 points and a 5 point Bonus!

      Delete
  3. My model classroom will include Five Classroom Rules, Scoreboard, Power Pix wall, and Super Improvers Team.

    Every classroom needs simple rules. WBT’s rules are simple and easy to follow. These rules will be placed in front of the class for all to see. Now, when a student breaks a rule, all I have to do is hold up a finger and say, Rule 1 and the class will repeat Rule 1, and no one is embarrassed or yelled at for misbehaving.

    The Scoreboard will be my next best friend in teaching. Students love to try to beat the teacher. This is a quick and inexpensive way to keep students on track and the class moving along. Extra recess is just an added bonus for the students.

    Power Pix wall will be invaluable to help students retain concepts that were taught. They can look at the Power Pix to jog their memory. Plus, it allows me to do a quick review of the concepts I have already taught, thus keeping them refreshed in students’ memory banks.

    The Super Improves Team motivates students to out do their best efforts. Everyone starts out as a rookie, and then progresses up the “ladder” to success. If students want to move up to a higher level, they always have to do their best. I like the fact that I can use this for behavior as well as academics. This is a great student motivator.

    All of these strategies will greatly improve my teaching and student learning this up- coming year. In less than three weeks, I will be testing the waters of WBT. I cannot wait.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Debora,
      Nice explanation of four choices for your WBT classroom! Here are 25 points!

      Delete
  4. In the upcoming school year, I will definitely adopt the Five Classroom Rules. I used them last year and found them effective in outlining expectations for the classroom. I loved that the students had fun practicing them. After students memorized the rules, which occurred quickly, simply saying the rule number was effective for correcting inappropriate behavior. Rule #5 “Keep your dear teacher happy” was an excellent no-loophole rule. I can’t possibly anticipate every creative way in which students will test the boundaries. Rule #5 is an essential part of my teacher’s toolbox.

    The Power Pix will have a prominent place in my classroom. For years, I have known that students learn best with visual and physical cues, repetition, and fun but have been stumped as to how to provide those things consistently with concepts like punctuation and parts of speech. The Power Pix have finally provided me with a solution that meets all of the criteria. I can hardly wait to use this powerful teaching tool.

    The Scoreboard is the third element of the model WBT classroom that I will include. Its use will produce motivation and excitement in my students. I love that the scoreboard can be used with or without a reward. When needed, a learning review game can serve as the reward. I know my students will work hard to win the Scoreboard game in order to play a learning review game.

    The fourth component that I will incorporate is the Super Improvers Team. I want to use it because it is a positive, fair way to encourage student improvement. Students can be recognized for progress both socially and academically. I anticipate that this component will be the most difficult to implement, but I am determined to make it work because I know it will be a very powerful tool.

    After dabbling with Whole Brain Teaching last year, I realize the most important component of my WBT model classroom will be invisible: the WBT community. In my first year of trying to implement these strategies, I did not do enough to stay connected to the community and free resources. I found that trying to make such big changes in myself and my classroom required more support. This summer I have deepened my study of WBT by participating in the book club and increased my investment in it by earning certification points. I intend to stay connected to the WBT community throughout the year. I understand why (and appreciate that) the developers have encouraged and continually made it easier to access support and free resources.

    Diane Strickland

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    1. Diane,
      This is going to be a great year for you! Well stated post! Here are 25 points and a 5 point Bonus!

      Delete
    2. Diane, I was in a similar position with WBT. I tried to do it alone for a couple of years and realized these types of changes required support. WBT is not like other systems where you put up a poster and follow a skript. Rather, it is a change is the way you look at the teacher-student relationship as a whole. This year, I feel more secure and excited than other years. I think that it because I am not alone in the WBT Journey anymore. I look forward to reading more of your posts!

      Delete
  5. I used the Five Classroom Rules, Scoreboard, Teach-Okay, Super Improvers Wall, Universal Homework Model, Super Speed Reading, and Mind Soccer with my 2nd graders last year. These techniques transformed my teaching! After reading, viewing webcasts, and attending the WBT Conference in Louisiana this summer, I look so forward to adopting these additional new ideas for my class this year!

    1. Power Pix Wall: I have two large pocket charts, one that is red and one that is blue, that I will use to create this wall. I started a mini Power Pix Wall for reading concepts towards the end of last year and I noticed my students were able to quickly recall the gestures, definitions, and give examples for the words I posted. I wish I had introduced this earlier! This year I will review these concepts daily using the engaging new Brain Toys I learned!

    2. Genius Ladder: I will use my SMARTboard to create a Genius Ladder template that I can change daily to reinforce blah, spicy, extender, and genius sentences. I like the idea of using these ladders orally to review material, core content, and vocabulary words. It is naturally differentiating, allowing all students to be challenged at their ability level. I will teach my students the "Tag Team Switch" technique for them to use as they work with their partner to fill in these sentence frames. After the WBT conference in Louisiana, my co-worker and I made a YouTube video about how to use "Air Punctuation" and "Tag Team Switch" that I will show my students to help them visually see my expectations.

    3. Oral Writing: I plan to begin teaching my 2nd graders the components of a sentence and then build on that lesson with Oral Writing. I will introduce capital letters, ending punctuation, commas, and quotation marks. To help frame these sentences for my students I will teach them to incorporate the "Because Clapper", "Example Popper", and "Adder". The "Wacky Fun Star Button" is absolutely hilarious! I will definitely incorporate it in for added fun! I love that my students can say, "Help me!" if they are stuck and need to class to immediately provide ideas for them. To give children an extra boost when they appear hesitant, I will teach my students to say, "You've got this (name of child)!" I think the key here to my students being successful and transferring these skills into their written work is practice, practice, practice!

    4. Seating: The configuration I used last year was not ideal for my students to easily turn and talk with their partners for Teach-Okay. Therefore, I always had my students come to the rug and sit next to their reading, math, teaching, or spelling buddies if I wanted them to use Teach-Okay. This year, I want to be able to incorporate Teach-Okay into my entire instructional day. Consequently, I feel it is best to reconfigure my students' desks so they can easily turn to their desk partners throughout the day.

    -Shelley Nizynski Reese

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    1. Shelley,
      Nice explanation of these four features in a WBT classroom! Here are 25 points and a 5 point Bonus!

      Delete
  6. This will be an exciting year for my class as we implement even more of the Whole Brain Teaching methods! Last year I used the Big Seven on a regular basis and I saw a huge improvement in behavior in all three of my classes. This led me to spending numerous hours this summer reading, reading, reading, and watching Coach B’s videos to gather as much information as I could for the upcoming year. I have decided that in addition to the Big Seven, (and all of the other techniques mentioned in the book), I want to adopt the Oral Writing and the Writing Game, Power Pix, the Super Improvers Team, and the 10 Minute Writing at the end of each day.

    I am making an effort to focus more on integrating writing in every aspect of my lessons this year. This will not only help my students with the Common Core requirements, but more importantly, it will help them to become deep thinkers. The Oral Writing program and the Writing Game will be perfect tools to get my students engaged and help them enjoy writing. I’m planning on using the new pdfs that Coach B. provided with the webcasts. They are an amazing way to present the information to the students, and at the same time, make sure that all the bases are covered. What a time saver!

    The Power Pix will fit right in with my writing focus. Our school is focusing on vocabulary development this year, and this is a perfect way to have important vocabulary words as a focal point in my classroom. I think that by having them displayed, I will refer to them more often, and the students will have more opportunity to get those words into their long term memory. I have been working frantically to make Power Pix for Greek and Latin root words, and academic vocabulary words for the upcoming year!

    The Super Improvers Team will bring my class together using a positive behavior management technique. I am so glad to have learned more about each level, and now feel more confident that I will have many levels to refer to when needed. I plan to make this a “big deal” in our classroom, and I imagine this will help the students feel that our classroom is a warm and welcoming place to learn.

    Finally, I love the idea of ending each day with the 10 Minute Writing. Similar to the exit slips I have used in the past, this will give the students a time of reflection before scurrying out the door. This will also allow me to get an idea of the level of comprehension among the students in my class. This will be a great tool to help me plan for the next day, noting whether or not I need to stay on one concept, or if the students have a firm enough grasp for me to move on.

    I’ve made lists, printed, laminated, read, watched videos….and I’m excited to use all these new ideas this year! What fun we will have!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Michelle!
      Very nice description of the WBT elements you plan to implement this year! Here are 25 points and a 5 point Bonus!

      Delete
  7. Chapter 30

    Five Classroom Rules-The Five Classroom Rules will be part of my model classroom from day one. They have proved successful in years past. They will be posted in the classroom and practiced frequently the first weeks of school. I will continue to use them to consistently correct inappropriate behavior as the year progresses. I will keep in mind the greatest principal of Whole Brain Teaching: Don’t Scold, Rehearse. What I like most is the gestures make for quick, non-disruptive, reminders.

    Power Pix Wall: The Power Pix Wall would be included in my (larger) model classroom. It is a wonderful reference source for the students, as well as the teacher. As math and reading concepts are introduced they will be added to the wall in their designated color coded areas. What a wonderful way to reinforce state standards.

    Genius Ladder: I am very excited to incorporate the Genius Ladder into our classroom. Students need a lot of practice developing their speaking and writing skills, and the Genius Ladder is way to do this. What I like most is the daily practice can be done in ten minutes or less. Students will go from a Blah Sentence, to a Spicy Sentence, to an Extender Sentence, and finally create a Genius Paragraph. Critical Thinking can be developed by using “because” and “since” as key words in the Extender.

    The Scoreboard: I have not yet used the Scoreboard in my classroom so I will be a Scoreboard Rookie this coming year. After learning more about it and becoming more comfortable with the levels I would certainly include it in my model classroom. The levels are what keep the Scoreboard a powerful classroom tool throughout the year. I was most hesitant to use it because of the reward element. Now I know the rewards can be simply a math game or music during writing activities.

    Catherine Cassaro

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    1. Catherine,
      Very good! I can't wait to hear about your experiences with the Scoreboard this year! Here are 25 points!

      Delete
  8. I hope to be the “model” WBT classroom. Therefore, I would like to implement all the WBT features! In fact, I already have many of these features ready to go for the new school year. However, below are four features that are ‘must haves’ in my class.

    1. Five Rules Posters: Every classroom should have their rules posted in their classroom. Research has shown that rules should be nonnegotiable, stated positively, be limited to five, and used to govern the classroom’s every day functions. WBT Rules meet these needs and go a step farther. My Kinders are early readers so the visuals help them to remember the Five Rules even if they cannot read them. The rules are practiced and reviewed constantly with gestures to ensure retention. My students from three years ago can still recite the rules with gestures.

    2. Power Pix Walls: This will be a new addition to my classroom this year and I am so excited to use it! As mentioned above, my Kinders are VERY visual. In past years, I had a tendency to use my “Word Wall” with little visual correlation. I will still categorize my words by subject matter (Math, Science, Language Arts, etc.) but Power Pix will be used in all areas. Reviews take place during the regular lesson. The addition of the Power Pix review will better solidify new or old skills and concepts. I am confident that this new addition will also help my students to better use these walls as reference in their oral and written language.

    3. Scoreboard with Levels: In past years, I have used the beloved Scoreboard Game. However, this year I will be armed with more Levels and variations. The variations to the game will ensure that my students will remain motivated by the game and not experience habituation. The Levels will allow me to better meet their needs by positively reinforcing gains and smart choices. Negative behaviors will be extinguished using positive feedback and encouragement on every level. Gone are the days where I needed to spend hours upon hours researching and editing individualized behavior plans for my Independents. I now have a common sense, proactive approach to redirect their negative behaviors, intrinsically.

    4. SIT Wall: As we speak, I am making my SIT Wall for my classroom. As mentioned in Chapter 28, “students who can identify with success are more likely to have higher self-efficacy” (186). The Sit Wall provides all of my students multiple opportunities to experience success every day. They can visually see their growth and gains. Their progress (not their academic grade) is celebrated by everyone in the class. Whether a student is excelling or struggling behaviorally or academically, they can all be motivated to better themselves. The SIT Wall is a fair race of recognition.

    I am very excited to use other techniques in my class this year, too. By staying connected to the Kindergarten WBT Certification Site, I am hoping to share and learn from my peers’ experiences. Five Finger Woo!

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    1. Jennifer,
      Well written post. Your class will benefit greatly from all your efforts to incorporate WBT this year! Here are 25 points and a 5 point bonus!

      Delete
  9. I have already adopted some of these features, but I plan on incorporating more. Eventually I would like to have all of them going. It would be great to have a WBT Model Classroom.

    The Super Improvers Team – I already have this set up in my room, and I plan on introducing it the second week of school. I chose the SIT for three reasons. It focuses on individual achievement. Students compete only with themselves in order to increase on the scale. Also, the SIT only relies on improvements. I used the clip chart last year, and it can go up or down depending on a child’s choices. You can only go up on the SIT. Finally, it can be used for both academic and behavioral achievements. This helps make the system more teacher-friendly, and it really seems like something I can use to fit my needs rather than me being boxed in to work around its rules.

    Power Pix – There are so many words and concepts that we need to master in fifth grade. Introducing a few each week seems more manageable, and with the constant review, students have more opportunities to cement these topics. We are tested in LA, Math, and Science, so I want to expand the Power Pix displays to include science terms. I have many, many ideas about how to use Power Pix in conjunction with other tights in our district. (Tights are things we have to do such as our Phonics program, Everyday Counts Calendar Math, computer programs, etc.) I’m excited to get these going!

    Genius Ladder – The wheels were turning in my head as I imagined all the possibilities of the Genius Ladder in my room. We have no curriculum for LA instruction, and children enter my classroom without the faintest idea of the different parts of speech. I want to use the Genius Ladder to not only spice up writing, but to get some fun grammatical lessons incorporated as well. I looked at the e-book online, and I am going to start at the very basic level. If we do a little bit everyday, I am sure my children will leave my room with a better understanding of sentence structures.

    Oral Writing – While Oral Writing can obviously be used in writing lessons, I thought about how the question prompt part of the process will easily translate into science instruction. I teach science using the Scientific Method. We always start with a question. When we conclude our results, I have the students answer the question we started with. Oral Writing will help us formulate conclusions, and we can use specific evidence gathered in our observations and data tables to use as adders. This is so exciting! I love how the same processes used in “Writing Time” can be transferred and used during our science experiments. I am so thrilled for this upcoming school year!

    Meredith Pearson

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    1. Meredith,
      This is another great post! You have found many good ways to have WBT meet the needs of your students. Here are 25 certification points and a 5 point bonus!

      Delete
  10. Scoreboard would definitely be part of my Whole Brain Teaching classroom! Why? I love how it so quickly engages the limbic system. Early in my teaching career, I was so focused on getting everything on my daily lesson plan "checked off" that I rarely stopped to consider if my students were enjoying learning. That's probably why I am such an enthusiastic convert to Whole Brain Teaching - even the teacher wants to have fun! It doesn't cost any money or instructional time, so that's even more of an incentive. It's also very flexible with more than 15 variations. So many options for a teacher's "back pocket!"

    The Power Pix Wall is another essential element to my model WBT classroom. I was first introduced to Power Pix at a local conference in my state and I was blown away! So useful in so many ways! When pairs of students finished early, they practiced their Power Pix. When my class had a few minutes in our schedule, we reviewed some Power Pix. Even when my students had 2 weeks off from school, I asked them to tell me the answer and gesture for some of our Power Pix on the first day of summer school and their recall was perfect! To me, Power Pix encapsulate the core concept of Whole Brain Teaching because it taps a student's visual, auditory, motor and language centers in the brain. I'm sold on the effectiveness of Power Pix and I have several grid lines drawn in my classroom and over 250 Power Pix printed, laminated and ready to use with my new group of students.

    Super Improvers Team is the third feature to be included in my model classroom. I have a co-teaching classroom, so about 1/3 of my students are diagnosed with learning disabilities and/or language impairments. In order for these students to experience success and affirmation for their hard work, I would include a Super Improvers Team. I also like how it is individualized, so even my average and high achieving students can be rewarded for their personal achievements. Perhaps most importantly, it allows me to reward students in a positive way frequently and specifically. My school uses PBIS, but based on how it is currently structured in my district, I am not able to reward my own students - only another teacher's students! The Super Improvers Team solves my dilemma of how to properly reward and motivate students toward continuous improvement.

    Genius Ladder is the fourth feature that I would use with my students. I was able to use the Genius Ladder for the first time during summer school this past June. This is a far more effective approach to teaching grammar than the tired "daily fix it" sentences that I used to have my students correct. Through the Genius Ladder, students not only learn about the rules of grammar, but they also have immediate opportunities to put it into practice. Since so much of it is done orally, it is also an efficient use of instructional time. Such oral writing provides students with even more repetitions for correctly using grammar. I also like how students can speak with a partner, so there is increased student engagement.

    While I will use as many of the features of a WBT model classroom this school year, these are the four that will be at the heart of my teaching.

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    1. Sally,
      This is a nice description of a variety of solid WBT methods that really work! Your hard work preparing the Power Pix will certainly pay off when your new students begin to use them! Here are 25 certification points!

      Delete
    2. Thanks, Michelle! I really enjoyed being a part of the book club this summer. I'm sure it helped me better understand many of the components of WBT.

      Delete
  11. The five classroom rules will be proudly displayed and utilized in my classroom. Every room needs rules that are simple and cover everything a teacher would want. These rules do just that and more: they are designed with no loop holes! The students will memorize the rules so that I can easily reinforce the rules and redirect behavior quickly. No one needs to argue about whether or not they were breaking a rule because the expectations are ingrained in their minds on what to do and what not to do.

    The Super Improvers Team will be included as well. The simple strategy of charting improvement creates a positive environment that will encourage all of my students to succeed and be a better person. Nothing is more powerful than seeing a person proud of their own accomplishments without a tangible prize. Every student will have a purpose in the classroom and no one will be ignored.

    The third feature of the model classroom will be to arrange my seats in paired sections. I will have student desks with chairs attached so I will leave a small gap in between the two students desks that will be paired, to ensure the students can leave their seats quickly if needed and the space will be helpful to some of my autistic students. The students will be able to clearly understand which classmate they need to talk to during a "teach/okay" as well as working on a paired assignment so they are not wasting time and wondering the classroom looking for a partner.

    The amount of information, especially vocabulary, they need to know will be organized and processed in their brains easier with Power Pix. This is a great way to help visual learners see an example of the key vocabulary of a lesson. The students who learn best through movement will benefit from the reminder of the gesture on the card. The auditory learner will have the chance to memorize the word and definition when the class reviews the Power Pix daily. This is the greatest vocabulary strategy to use in any classroom because it includes the whole brain. This will definitely be in my room for all subjects.

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  12. Stephanie,
    You have a great plan for the year as you implement many of the WBT techniques! You had a small spelling error (loopholes)in the third sentence. Here are 20 certification points!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I am forever changed having the tools from Whole Brain teaching. It will not only change my life but I believe the lives of every child I teach. To create the model classroom I will do the following.
    1. The Big 7- Where would I be without them? Reinforcing the rules and keeping behavior manageable. They are such a gift, because they allow me to keep an orderly classroom, instantly get the children’s attention, guides the children so they know what is expected of them and my favorite, keep their dear teacher happy, this one rules alone provides cooperation by even my most rowdy students.

    2. Scoreboard- I love the scoreboard so much, it amazes me how something so simple works so well. The kids love it as much as I do. It has made class time fun and engaging and serves as a constant reminder to do well in class. It also allows the classroom to flow better than before wasting no time on tedious duties.

    3. SIW- This has turned out to be better than expected. Every child, in every way, can grow! I love that we can reward every child for how far they have come both personally and academically. Such a great way to track improvement and build future leaders.

    4. Power Pix- I love these because they are such great visuals and give the brain a real work out by employing all 4 modes. This should really be helpful in teaching my kinders about sentences and structured writing among other necessary elements of learning. I am excited to try this method of learning.

    I am excited about my first year of teaching Whole Brain techniques to my students. I will be tracking my own progress, so I can reflect back on this year and see my personal growth.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Julie,
      WBT will be a wonderful tool for your Kinders! There were a few errors in your post: a run-on sentence in paragraph 2 (They are such a gift…), and a sentence fragment in paragraph 4 (Such a great way…). Here are 10 points for you.

      Delete
  14. Chapter 30: Bonus Chapter: Designing Your WBT Model Classroom

    I plan on adapting more than four components in my classroom. Here are the ones that I already have set up in my classroom and are ready to use.

    1. Five classroom rules - These are already laminated and posted at the front of my classroom. We will begin practicing these rules multiple times beginning on the first day of school. It is a necessity for every classroom to have rules. The WBT rules are simple, effective, and cover anything the student tries to say is not covered! Last year, the students and I worked collaboratively to come up with our class rules. The rules we chose worked nicely with a set of class rules I printed from Pinterest.  My biggest mistake was not practicing these rules, I honestly didn’t even think about it. Needless to say the rules were not very effective, but only due to my teacher error. This year things will be different.

    2. Scoreboard – My scoreboard is already posted on the front wall. Currently it has a smiley and frowny face which is ready to use on the first day of school. I might change the faces to holiday themes when we move into October with fun sounds just to change it up a little. I am excited to use the scoreboard and to implement the various levels as needed. I plan on using the scoreboard hand-in-hand with the Super Improvers Team. I believe the scoreboard will provide motivation and excitement for the students.

    3. Power Pix Wall – My Power Pix Wall is up and my Power Pix’s are laminated and filed alphabetically for easy access as I move through the curriculum. This will be my first year using the Power Pix Wall. I like this component of WBT. It will be a great visual for students that need reminders and practice of concepts taught. I am looking forward to getting started and getting familiar in using this wall.

    4. Super Improvers Team – I put my Super Improvers Team board in the front of the classroom, and it is easy to access and ready to use. I am using numbers for each student with the color ladder labels on the side. I have already cut out my next two colors so that they are ready to be used. I plan on starting the Super Improvers Team the second week of school. I like this piece of WBT so that the students can take pride in their own personal accomplishments and have an opportunity for their peers to witness their growth.

    I chose these four components to write about on this paper, however, I will be using all of the Big Seven components as soon as possible. I can’t wait to experience Teacher Heaven using WBT. I am very excited to begin my new year.

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  16. Terri,
    This is a great description of how you will use these components of WBT in your classroom! You had one minor error (...and cover anything the student tries to say is not covered.) Here are 20 certification points

    ReplyDelete