Hi,
I am doing a paper on Whole Brain Teaching after having had a training in the district I sub in. It was so much fun, and so successful with students, I just want to inform all the people I know about it. I am taking a "Children Around the World" course, and I am supposed to talk about how Whole Brain Teaching is good for different children from different cultures, socio economic statuses, etc.

I was wondering if anyone reading this, who does this in their country, could tell me if, when you decided to use Whole Brain Teaching, what specifically made you choose it over other approaches, like Reggio Emilio for example.

Also, what is the socio economic status of the area you are in? Languages? Traditions in teaching subject matter and morals, etc?

Is there anything culturally specific that makes Whole Brain Teaching more feasible?

How is it working for you if you are using it? What are the positives and negatives, especially in a cultural context?

Any information you can give me would be appreciated. My professor was so vague, I'm not really sure what other questions to ask, so hopefully I can compile enough for my paper. Also, if Chris reads this, if you have any information about using Whole Brain Teaching in different countries, I would SO appreciate hearing it. Thank you!

Hi Raylene
I seem to be the only Australian from Australia in the forum at the moment. And unfortunately for your assignment I'm only just beginning my WBT journey.

Culturally the US and Australia are fairly compatable but when I show others the video presentations I do get a bit of "Oh, it's so American!" however they soon forget that when they see how brilliant the strategies are and how well they work with students.

So far I've only used the introductory first steps with white middle class kids in two states and it has been excellent but I hope that one day I will give them a try with some of our isolated indigenous communities. This will be the real test of cultural translation. It will be really exciting but my guess is WBT will work brilliantly.

I hope your assignment goes fantastically well and that you are able to impress your vague professor with clarity and class.

Yours Mitch

Hi Mitch,
How is your WBT journey going in Australia? I am a languages teacher in Qld and incorporate some WBT into my lessons. I would like to use more and it is a constant work-in-progress for me. I really enjoyed Chris' recent video demonstrating the Genius Ladder. The class seemed quite small but it was wonderful to see how engaged all of the students were with the lesson. I saw great potential for the method in my own classrooms and look forward to giving it another try next year.
Kathryn

HI Raylene!
I see that this message was posted awhile ago. I really want to comment on this. I have been using WBT for almost two years. This year I have a specific sub-group and a few challenged students with socio-economics. By comparing their test scores to last year, I have seen vast improvement in their ability to participate and stay on task. Overall, doing much better on our district benchmarks. I believe strongly that WBT takes many children's mind away from the troubles of home and brings them into an exciting, fun, learning environment. I am a strong believer in WBT!!!


Heather Hansen
Wbt Intern
2011/12

hey matthew here im heaps keen to try WBT on my internship for my final year of university at wollongong. how would i introduce this method to the class? i will be teaching a stage 1 class for 5 weeks (23 july - 30Aug)