I'm still not completely sure about how WBT might work in my groups, but I thought I would give a few things a shot. I tried class/yes and teach/ok with little to no response. I explained it, but when I say "class" I just get blank stares or one kid will say "yes". Same thing with teach/ok. They just stare at each other silently (which plainly shows they have not been listening if they cannot repeat what I just said). I explained it again, still nothing.

Is this common in the beginning? How do you get students to buy in to it?

I also tried Super speed, but that was a disaster. The students fought because so and so wasn't reading fast enough, or one of them lost their place on the sheet, or someone was reading each word instead of taking turns, or not reading it at all.

The teachers in the videos make it look so smooth. I want my groups to run like that!

Suggestions, help?

Thanks

A couple of things. First, remember that the kids in the videos are trained whole brain teams who have been doing this for a while. Your kids will get there, just give them time.

Next, they are balking because, as they have rarely experience academic success, they are very reluctant to put themselves out there where others can here them.

I think that one thing you need to add right away is an approach we use that removes the stigma from being wrong. Explain it to them in detail. I know they are fairly young, but they need to hear this to ease their concerns.

Have a team of them practice reading the SuperSpeed as a demonstration. If they do a good job tell them so enthusiastically. Give them a ten fingered woo. Have everyone point all their fingers waggle them and say "Woo!" this is the ten fingered woo, and it will get contagious. It is a celebration of success.

Next tell the kids that it is no longer a big deal if they miss an answer. Have someone who is bolder than the others volunteer. Tell them you are going to ask a question and you want the wrong answer first, and the second time you ask it you want the correct answer.

When they give the wrong answer say, "It's cool. Everyone, tell (him/her) its cool!" let them repeat it. Now ask the question the second time and tell have them get a right answer. Now get everyone to give them a ten fingered woo.

This way you can make it sting less when someone misses an answer.

On the SuperSpeed balking tell them "...not to worry if your partner is not reading as fast as you want. It is not a race. Your job with your partner is to help them learn, and for them to help you learn in a way that is much more fun than what you have done before."

"Be patient with your partner. Help them if they miss a word, and they can help you if you muss a word. Woops! I said muss instead of miss, ha-ha. Tell me 'it's cool'."

Try that out and let us know if you need more help.

We've often found that with the most resistant students it is effective to get them to practice, first, the wrong way of doing things. Thus, no matter what they do, they are still following your directions! So, with your small groups, you could explain the right and wrong way to respond to "Class!" ... right is "Yes" ... wrong is silence ... then ask then to practice the wrong way ...you say "class" ... they say nothing ... you congratulate them@ ... excellent job of understanding the wrong response ... then, say "Okay, you did a good job with the wrong way. What do you say if I say 'class?" And if no one says anything, you say, "You say yes!" as if you know what they were going to say. And if that is as far as you can get in the start, then stop there and keep going with traditional teaching. You have to move forward in very, very small steps sometimes ... but keep repeating the steps ... try again the wrong/right practice later in the period ... and then, show them the wrong way to do SuperSpeed ... you can even act out the wrong way ... then have them play the game complaining as they did ...and say, "excellent job of doing it the wrong way. You really understand well!" ... then try the right way ... I have quite a few more suggestions but they are best handled over the phone ... send me an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ... and we can talk further.