Well, the Conference started today and it is GREAT! There was so much power in the room it was incredible. There were about 400 teachers and soon-to-be-teachers present. The local Channel 5 news came and filmed during part of it and I saw the piece on the 5 o'clock news!

It is wonderful to be able to learn about WBT by using the techniques. I am teaching high school math next year and so I was in the breakout sessions with Chris Biffle. He looks just like his videos - imagine that. He teaches just like his videos, too. It is really cool.

The best part, well one of the best parts, is that the whole thing is FREE! Yes, I paid to drive down and I am paying for my hotel and food, but I am not paying an additional $500 - $600 just to attend the conference. Chris and the others are here helping hundreds of us and we do not pay any money for this help. Have you ever noticed that teachers are the nicest people? They are so willing to share their knowledge and help other teachers to become the best.

I hope others who are here will post, too. It will show that we support the Whole Brain Teaching movement.

I know I am having a good time. Don't forget to ask any questions you have while you can get one on one answers. Enjoy the rest of the conference!

Hello,
I'm glad you liked the conference. I attended my first conference a little over a year ago, and it has definitely changed the way I teach. I, too, was very impressed with Chris Biffle. It is rare when a presenter teaches with the techniques that they preach... crazy... but true! I wanted to respond to your post to encourage you because I am also a high school math teacher (in Hemet, CA). I used many of the WBT techniques this past year in my Algebra 2 and Pre-Calculus classes. I'm still perfecting it, but I think teaching is one of those fields where you are always improving. If you are brand new to WBT, you will definitely have moments where you get stuck trying to figure out how to blend some of the WBT techniques with some of the math concepts. Don't get discouraged... keep trying and post any questions/issues on the forum. There were definitely concepts (especially in the higher level classes) where I had a hard time coming up with gestures and trying to teach in small portions. Try to get as many high school math teachers to post on this forum as you can. We can all help each other! I wish you the best!
~Kristin DeWit

I highly recommend Kristin's new video, especially for math teachers!

One of the emails I got before the conference said that we could get continuing professional development credits for attending the conference. How do I go about getting those credits?

By the way, Kristen's video is great! It is nice to see an example in my teaching area. I also liked the ones for Mind Soccer. Great review game!