I am finding incredible gains in the areas of writing for my students. The gains are in the areas of sentence structure and organization of writing. I attribute the gains largely to the teach/okay process. I've been using it to practice grammatical structures, to structure retellings of readings, and to organize essays. This process is infinitely more powerful than worksheets and graphic organizers. The cognitive support provided by the physical response, visual cues, listening, and speaking, coupled with the emotional involvement students experience creates a very effective learning environment.
Behaviorally speaking, I no longer have the same classroom that I had before I started implementing WBT in January. I did have to implement the Guff Counter and I jumped the gun on Level 4. My students do not like Level 4. They do, on the other hand, love the opportunity to earn time to play Mind Volleyball and Mind Soccer and to earn extra recess minutes. The Scoreboard is a great balance of + and - motivators. And framing the consequences as an opportunity to practice behavior rather than facing a punishment keeps me in check. I don't want to develop a negative attitude, and implementing punishments fosters a negative attitude in me. Having students practice behavior helps me keep a positive attitude.