Recently, my principal came to observe me. She was able to view our practice in Whole Brain Teaching. I was especially excited because the period that she observed was during our Daily Language Review time (about a 40 minute period of time per day). The principal recognized that I was able to masterfully facilitate the grammar practice while at the same time engaging the kids' interest in both reviewing "rules" of grammar and putting them into practice and learning new concepts about conventions.
The Whole Brain practice offered me a multi faceted way to assess the knowledge of my students. For example, (pull from the head), I ask my students to say why a sentence should start with a capital. They will say that the "t" in Tim needs to be a capital because it is a proper noun. But the very next day, the very same students say that they do not know why a particular letter should be capitalized. I appreciate that the students get an opportunity to practice demonstrating understanding in a variety of ways. I am always striving for the connection that one kid might make to learn the new thing and beyond that to hold on to that learning!
We know that this is the only way for kids to learn new things. In the end, the principal revealed that she did not know that DLR could be more than a sponge activity and that in her view most teachers only spend 10 or so minutes on such activities. On the other hand, I offered that DLR is the centerpiece of what we teach and learn in morning exercises and that may be why our kids score well in these areas. But the essential learning is achieved through the student's discovery of what she/he NEEDS to know. All in all, I think it was good learning experience for all of us involved.
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