Can anyone help/provide suggestions??

When I discovered WBT in the fall one of things that I found helpful was the amazingly supportive community of fellow teachers that were willing to help me learn more. I will tell anyone that listens how much I have appreciated this!

One thing that I am noticing, however, is that there is a lot of WBT "haters". As an educator, I think one of the most important things we can do is to be open and willing to learn more about our profession (all aspects of it). I am continually reading about different aspects of education and realize that all theories, strategies, procedures, etc will have those who support and follow them and those that disagree them. We see this with basically anything in life don't we? I try to always keep an open mind though and am not one to argue with someone about what they support.

The one thing that I notice that is different with WBT, however, is that those who are anti-WBT are incredibly against it. Over the past few days I have had people make some very discouraging and border-line harassing direct messages on my twitter or through my email. These messages are from people who do not support the WBT strategy.

Has anyone else experienced this?

MissL,

You are not alone! I went to a conference this past summer and had to present what I learned with my academy teachers...Huge discouragement. I shared it again for an assignment with a leadership class I was taking...the only thing that saved me was at the end of the presentation, I showed them a video from my classroom using it with my kids. That seems to be the only thing that I can do to shut up the haters.

My admin loves it though

Roxi,
Intern,2011/12
wholebrainwithroxishayne.blogspot.com

Thanks Roxi!

It is good to know that I am not the only one that has encountered this. Maybe I will have to see if the school division will allow me to film my class during my next student teaching placement

I have seen this plenty of times. The reason for this is that we have somewhat of a radical approach compared to mainstream traditional instruction. However, if your critics truly want to know why we do what we do and are willing to beyond just surface level hating, tell them to dig out their old books from college or their credential program and reread John Dewey. It's old material, but we all read it. I believe WBT is the closest to Dewey's vision education has gotten.

Thanks Angela! I don't know any of the critics personally but I have gotten the impression that it is more "surface level hating" as many are only interested in leaving negative and rude comments rather than have a constructive conversation.

WBT is "Change"! Responses I hear are not so much hate or dislike, as much as, "I don't think I can work in one more new program!" Many feel overwhelmed by District demands, school site committees, large class size, professional growth requirements,etc. We who use WBT daily know that this amazing program helps an educator facing these demands, while also giving our students a high level of engagement and critical thinking! Modeling our program daily through our students in class, at lunch, at PE, etc. gives other teachers, administrators, and parents the opportunity to see WBT in action! Our students are our best WBT promoters! I know the echos of "Class! Class!" in my school hallways are getting louder and louder as time goes by! Oh, yeah!!

Nancy Stoltenberg
WBT Intern 2011-2012

Thanks for sharing your experiences... Just new here... However, in spite of the "WBT haters" you shared I still feel positive about WBT... because in just one week time I have already proven its effectiveness... Whole Brain Teaching is one of my best weapons in class... Right now,,, The class is so excited to use Super Improvers Wall... My class-yes is box office... love it!

Great point, Nancy. People become uncomfortable when faced with change. I too have run into doubters in my own school. In order to keep your sanity, seek out those colleagues who are open to learning new strategies. There will always be those who challenge what you do and question the validity of WBT. All I can say is continue to lead by example. If you are presenting WBT to a reluctant group, ask them if what they are doing now is getting them the results they want? If not, what are they out (except time) if they explore WBT? I have found in my own teaching and using WBT for the past 1 1/2 years, it takes time to become good at our craft. It takes time to bring some folks over to our side. My principal sort of dismissed WBT, when I mentioned it to him, as, "well, it sounds good, but I don't think it is for everyone." That was last spring. He has since observed me using it in my classroom and is now more open to the idea. It doesn't hurt that I have four teachers in my building that have embraced the idea of using WBT in their classrooms as well. Keep your eye on the prize.

No matter what you try to do, there are always going to be people who are going to criticize. Some people just don't bother to research enough to understand. Like everyone else said, people don't respond well to change. If you see a difference, see your students responding and learning, then you know yourself that it works!

I was very positive when I first heard of WBT and have tried it in my classroom the past 2 years but I have not had success with it. I teach on an A day/B day schedule and have 12 classes. It's hard to build continuity when I don't see the same students every day let alone figuring out where to put 12 scoreboards.

I have only one ScoreBoard. I have them play for more/less HW. If they win by one, I knock off ONE problem. I know it doesn't sound like a big deal to us teachers, but my
ninth-graders will KILL themselves to avoid that extra work. It does mean I have to keep track of how I modify my homework assignment for each class, and that DOES take some getting used to. But: a) Remember you can manipulate the ScoreBoard to come out the way you want it to (and I usually know in advance which class I want to have win, and which I want to have lose) and b) it's worth the little bit of extra work on my part (to keep track of HW assigned) for the HUGE payoff in classroom management I get from my ScoreBoard.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this: if continuity is the problem, then forget about continuity. Make the ScoreBoard consequence a DAILY thing (more/less HW) and re-set it for every class every time.

PS I too have had better and worse days with WBT. But what I've realized is that if the ScoreBoard isn't working, it's because I'M not working IT consistently, if that makes sense...

Haters are EVERYWHERE!!! You should see some of the posts on my videos that I have had to remove!!! Oh my...I don't delete all that are just a bit against the methods but some teachers can be just down right nasty! I have been called "drill sgt from hell" "poor excuse for a teacher" "child abuser" "brain washer"...and my favorite of all time "LAZY ROBOTIC UNCREATIVE TROLL"! Yes I was called this!!! Can you believe it?

I think that most of all they are afraid of change. And the fact that if something looks too good to be true it usually is. However, with WBT it is TRUE! LOL! I have after 4 years come to realize that you are not going to bring people over to the "LIGHT" by coming at them with a NEW IDEA so vigorously! I have found that doing what I do (and I am a fully force all in WBT...everything in my classroom uses WBT techniques including district mandated curriculum) and getting results is what proves time and time again to be the best medicine. When your principal takes notice because your kids are performing HIGHER than ever before, when the local University who brings their education students to your school for observation and INSISTS that they spend the majority of their time in YOUR classroom and your kids are KNOWN for LOVING SCHOOL and having the BEST and HIGHEST attendance rate in the entire school...those facts speak for themselves. In the end...this is what brings teachers over because they want to know what it is that you do to get those kind of results and recognition.

Just be the WBT Pioneer in your school and do your thang girl! Prove it! Prove it! Prove it! Because in the end, the only ones who really matter are your students and if they are getting what they need and they are growing and learning....then let the haters hate!

Farrah

Wow, Farrah! I can't believe some of those comments. You're right about people being afraid of something new. I hear it all the time as well as "I don't have time to learn something new." We do need to stick to our guns and what we believe in. The proof is in the achievement of the students. When I watch my last video on teaching adjectives, it is hard to believe these are learning support kids. They are learning! What the people don't see is what happens after those intial reading lessons. They get a picture of the 5 step lesson plan, but they didn't get to see how a 3rd grader was not only able to identify an ajective when reading a story, but identify the noun it modified, which was in the sentence prior to the adjective! I once made the comment to Coach B that I wished I could get more people to "buy into it", refering to my co-workers. His response is to let him be the one to get to them. I am just going to, as you say, do my thang! Once my learning support start to score higher than the regular ed students, then someone may ask, "What are you doing?" My role in this is not to be "better" than them (non-WBT), but to find the best way to teach "my" students!

Thanks for all the support! I am currently student teaching again and am introducing my students (and cooperating teacher and EA) to WBT starting tomorrow! I can't wait

I'm shocked and sad that educators would treat one another that way.