I am new to Whole Brain Teaching and couldn't wait to implement it in my classroom this year. However, it is not going as well as I had hoped. The first couple of weeks of using Class-Yes it went beautifully. I have noticed that now half of my class is ignoring me. I do it over until they all respond and/or I'll give myself a point on the scoreboard. Any other suggestions as to what I can do? What am I doing wrong?

One of the things you need to be sure to do is look at Coach B's first steps that may help. The other thing is to be sure you are being lively, changing your voice, placing those happy smiles as soon as you get them answering. Then do he next step, one minute parties, such as talk to a friend for one minute, songs, quick draw time and there are so, many more. Ask your kiddos what they would like to earn, mine love early out and early recess. Keep asking questions on this forum and we will all help.
Annette.

Try More/Less Homework on the ScoreBoard - that seems to get my classes' attention.

One thing that I have found that adds excitement back into the mix instead of using class-yes, I mix it up according to content that we are learning. Right now my students are practicing their multiplication/division facts, so we use 9 X 6 and they answer 54. In Science, the students learn a lot of vocabulary words/definitions, so we use those as well. Any content that they have to remember works well to substitute for class-yes. Another suggestion is to have students work toward the goal in a shorter amount of time, instead of at the end of the day. If you have not introduced class leaders in your classroom yet, you might want to add that in, as it places the responsibility on the students to do a job. The students never know when they will be called upon to do their job, so they must be actively participating and listening.

Have you seen any improvements after you've switched things up a bit?

Laura Caisse
WBT Intern, 2011-2012