This morning my alarm clock rang and I jumped out of bed excited to begin whole brain teaching in kindergarten. I am pleased! Today was less stressful than I can remember in the past couple of years. I used Andrea's guide to chunk the classroom rules and procedures that I taught today. My day would have been alot easier if I didn't have to start language arts, math and english language development today. I don't know if the kids are in a honeymoon period, but they took really well to class-yes, scoreboard, rule#1, hand & eyes, criss-cross applesauce, line-line-line, desk-desk-desk and backpack-backpack-backpack. We will see how it goes.

Post your first day success stories here.

Mine is already posted...I am on day three...and still pretty blissful here...
(find the thread that says OK HERE WE GO)

We can be first year WBT Kinder together! It is amazing and the procedure stuff...that is not even being "practiced" any more....day three and it is just routine! LOL! They even remind me when I forget something! LOL! Like today we all stood up from our desks (bodies up) and then I started sending them by rows to the carpet....one said..."YOU FORGOT LINES!" Lol! So I said "WHY DON'T YOU DO IT"....she gladly said "LINES" and like a sweet song in my ear I heard LINES LINES LINES! LOL!

I agree with what Chris told me though..."It's a long year"...so I am taking it one day at a time right now and enjoying the bliss! And praying no one pinches me and I wake up!

Farrah Shipley

risekinder,
Day two was another success. I have never felt so relaxed and comfortable teaching kindergarten. I am scared that this is just a dream. I am really enjoying this. Intro'd rule 2 the kids really enjoy the gestures. I hope this continues.

Day 3
Another stress free day! Praise God! I love WBT! We will see how next week goes. I am so excited.

Last week I was amazed. I just can't believe how fast each day went. It is amazing that when you are not stressed and the kids are engaged...the day just flies by.

We officially started our "normal" schedule on Friday due to all the assessments and placements and such for reading and math. It was bliss.....even for a Friday when most kids are just ready to get home for the weekend!

Glad yours was a dream as well....I did make an adjustment when introducing Rule 5....I changed it to "listen when your dear teacher is talking"....I am really having a problem with this in the sense that I am having to constantly "class/yes" during instruction (not just after they tell their neighbor either)..so I changed that rule...and Friday went much smoother.

Keep us updated and I will do the same!

Farrah

Hey Farrah!
I like that twist for Rule #5. I am still using the BIg Rule: "Listen when your teacher is talking" But I have no picture for that so that little twist for Rule#5 will make it so that maybe I don't need to make a picture card!

I LOVE hearing all these success stories! I had a "mini" back-to-school two weeks ago when we did our week long orientation. The day with the most students I had 15---so I have yet to have all 25 of my students. HOWEVER, tomorrow is my official 1st day, where the possibility of all 25 of those kiddos is very likely. I hope I have a great story to post, as well!

Thanks for posting teachers! It makes me excited for tomorrow:P

Day 4,
Students were a little more talkative but class/yes and hands n eyes quickly got them back into shape. I was telling my husband how great everything was going with 14 students and he commented that I shouldn't tell anyone because they may give me some discipline problems. I told him that WBT is responsible for keeping the students on task. Oh yeah, friday, we ended with more smilies than frownies and we had popcorn. This friday we will get extra playtime to learn how to jumprope. When I announced this today the kids were excited. I love free rewards! Looking forward to tomorrow!

Ok...Monday back was not so hot!!!! But let's just say I think it had more to do with me being tired and less tolerant of 5 year olds than the kids! LOL!

Overall I think we did well....we will see how tomorrow goes!

Farrah

My 25 kinders will start on Sept. 1st and I am excited about using the WBT method! I've made notes for myself and a set of picture cards to go w/ the rules. (I changed them up a bit, to fit my needs). But what I wanted to mention was the "Criss Cross Applesauce" chant. I made one up that is a bit longer, and seems to work well.
Criss cross applesauce,
Hands so neat. (I look around to see the kids putting hands in their laps)
Criss cross applesauce,
Check your feet. (Next, they cross their legs, or at least, keep them still)
Criss cross applesauce,
Don't be late! (This is a chance for those lagging behind to join in)
Criss cross applesauce,
Backs up straight. (This is their favorite part bc they sit up nice and tall)
Criss cross applesauce,
That looks great! (I look around slowly & w/ a big smile tell them how nice
they look; this is another fav. part)

K. here was my first day. Not glamorous but I survived! LOL!

I started out today with 29. A lot for me--but not for those poor kinder teachers who have districts who have gotten rid of class-sized reduction. My class will continue to fill until students are capped out--so I guess we will continue to be a massive group until then! I'm out of cubbies but not squares on the floor so I guess that's good!

I taught the Class! Yes!, Hands and eyes, The "Big rule", criss cross applesauce, lines, lines, lines, tell your neighbor, and backpacks, backpacks, backpacks.

I was extremely excited that this large group caught on so quickly. A big part, I am sure, because I had 15 of them during our week long orientation. This made a great core group--although we have doubled in size!!!!

We struggled at the end of the day--which surprised me because they had been doing so well and we had actually gotten our backpacks and were ready to line up 10 minutes early. But then I passed out the Back-to-school packets (couldn't get them from the cubbies-cubbies-cubbies cuz there weren't enough-enough-enough:P ) and that is when we lost it! I seized that "opportunity" and we practiced-practiced-practiced the dismissal procedure until we got it. Which made us late, luckily I have patient, supportive parents (for the most part--one grandfather was a bit grumpy but one out of 29 isn't too bad). The parents have given us "grace" and understand that we will get really good at this "end of the day" stuff but we just need practice. I'm so glad the rest understand!


We'll see about tomorrow!


For those of you experiencing that the "honeymoon period" has worn off--Don't give up! I promise that if you stay consistent it will pay off;)

Well, we were on day 12 today. Things are still going well however, the honeymoon is over. Inch by inch the students are trying to get out of hand. I have to keep up the constant rule reminders and stick with the rules and procedures of the classroom. This has been my problem in the past. I can be a waffler. I need to learn to stick with my plan. I'm not too upset at the passing of the honeymoon period because it is still going better than my last school year. Asst Super. will be visiting classrooms tomorrow, i hope student are on point. Im sure they will be with WBT!

Well, I am on day 14. I now have 31 students and not enough squares on the carpet. Last Friday I had to velcro tape an extra carpet square down because the friend that I had sit on the extra square proceeded to "scoot" around the class.


Life in our room is much better. I can't believe it, but I have already introduced the TEach! Okay! A monumental record considering that I don't usually get that far until about the 2nd or 3rd month of school. I think the difference was the "full body turn". I had students do a full turn on their squares when they told their neighbor something. Then when I say "Class!" they do a full body turn back. It worked so well that I started the Teach! Okay! Last week and it worked! Unbelievable!


Life with 10 extra is crazy! The district is decided that since Kinder is not mandatory they are not going to do anything to help out so who knows what will happen. Last week I introduced the Picture Card practice. I never put names in my picture card chart but since I didn't know (and I'm still not sure) if they are going to change our class I have not had anyone memorize a number so I had to put names up. I don't like doing that, but I don't want to have to make them memorize two numbers if things change. So the names are up but my pocket chart only has 30 pockets so I have a separate pocket chart now for the rule cards and that last friend number 31. The rules picture cards have helped to squish out select student behaviors, although they haven't been eliminated entirely---they are definitely reduced!!!!

Today I introduced the Weekly Stars (for more details check the forum discussion where I describe the stars). For the first time ever in my whole teaching life, these kiddos got to 20 minutes by the third try. I am amazed!


Despite our overcrowded room--without enough books, chairs, or carpet squares---we are making due. Do not tell my district or they will continue to do absolutely nothing (I'm at least hoping for aide if they won't add a class and get me a partner!).

But of course, as any kinder teacher knows, I cannot get to everybody and differentiating in small groups is impossible (8 is not a small group--and our kidney tables can't even fit everyone around them! Besides I don't even have the chairs to fit around the table even if the tables were bigger.) But, the management part is going well, better than I can believe (Thank you, God!) but I can't wait until I can get some normalcy going on in here!

Hope is on the horizon! We are on day 24 and at some point I have 10 kids being capped out so I will (finally!) have enough squares on the rug!!! I am thoroughly amazed that my Super Smarties are doing so well in such an overcrowded room. We have started a new "spin" on the "lines, lines, lines". Our school is working on implementing the arts into daily routines, and so I stole an idea from our 1st grade teacher changed it around a bit to give variety to our "lines, lines, lines" routine. We now step and snap as we say "lines, lines, lines." I introduced a "new move" for backpacks-backpacks-backpacks today. By the time we finally get to use our cubbies I am hoping that our end of the day routine will turn into quite the little musical-theaterish performance. We'll see, but the variety has added quite the fun to our end of the day routines!!!

Okay...12 years experience as a kindergarten teacher...and made a big move to grade 1. Struggling with the behavior management piece with 21 students in a small 500 sq. foot classroom. Of the 21...I have one severely autistic student...3 oppositional defiant..and at least one ADHD student. A pretty typical classroom in todays world. I just stumbled on the WBT videos last night I was so excited to begin...I walked into Monday as a power teacher. Not sure if I started too much too fast. I introduced the class/yes, the five rules, and the teach/okay. Did I do too much for the first day? Oh and we started the scoreboard. Do I work towards a end of the week reward or a daily reward?

Andrea

Yeah Andrea!
Good news for you!

About your fancy new moves...Are the students snapping while they are saying the words lines, lines, lines?

I am just trying to imagine it in my brain.

Christina from Texas!

I haven't posted anything in a while because things have been going so good! Today was day 34 and this is wonderful. I am at 18 students and I remember why I became a teacher. These kinders are awesome. Tuesday I had my first formal evaluation by my new principal. She enjoyed the power teaching strategies and techniques. She commented on the students behavior and organization. The students behavior was excellent, they were engaged and totally participated in everything. No, everyone didn't answer all of the questions I posed right but they were engaged. Consistent routines and procedures are essential to effective classroom management. I never have to remind students when they are breaking rules, other students do it for me. Where has power teaching been all my career. I am still using the scoreboard. I love the fact that I don't have to go out and buy prizes and snacks to entice them to do the right thing in class. These kids perform for prizes like using the computer, jumproping, playing baseball, watching alphabet movies. Yes! I introduced the practice cards and used them 2 times. I haven't had to use them since. Wow! I have searched for the right classroom management techniques for the past 4 years and I have finally found it!

WOW! You are awesome. I think you started just right. Now it's time for practice, practice practice. View some more videos or look for a training in your area to put some more things in your back pocket to use later.

Keep your rewards small and frequent, but not so frequent as to make the kids complacent. Reward too much and they get lazy. Too many frownies make them frustrated. With younger kids, you can go daily or even break the day into sections: recess, lunch. The easiest reward is lining up early. They don't really go out early, but you can start lining them up before the bell rings. They love this. The "punishment" is to wait for the bell.

yes Christina they walk and snap at the same time. But they are saying it with a very theatrical tone and their hands go down and snap as they step. It is a crack up! Our new "backpacks" is a "chicken dance" and they sound like little ducks as their "Backpacks" almost sound like "quack quacks" . then they do a little a little "swim" move as they say cubbies. Last they step and snap to their seats. IT is hilarious! They are too funny!!!

Hello Andrea! (not myself:P)
You only did too much on that first day if they were overwhelmed. Check out my document on the pacing guideline I use to start the year off. It is titled "How to start your year off power teaching (our old name) in kindergarten". I use a slower pace--but hey! As long as you rehearse--rehearse--rehearse (never! scold) and stay consistent I think you will be fine! sounds like you have had a great start already! I use the scoreboard as a daily reward (more smileys = a "longer" recess with bikes; equal = "regular" recess and no bikes; more frownies = no bikes & a "shorter" recess with some "think time" (they have to sit perfectly still for ONE WHOLE MINUTE! with their hands and eyes!--if any one forgets to keep their listening bodies--we start over! I also have the kids working on keeping their eyes on me. I use my eyes to track across the room from child to child--I tell them that if I can make eye contact then I know they are listening to me. So I will move my head and my eyes to make eye contact randomly while they are sitting and "thinking" of what they can work on for the next day. The best part is they are also practicing being good listeners! Woohoo! After the minute is up--they share what rules/routines they need to work on and what they will do differently!). But of course you can use the scoreboard for long term weekly rewards, as well. I like to use it for daily!
HOw are things going now?
andrea

Hey Andrea,

I like that! I will try and add this new level to backpacks and cubbies. Cool. I'm trying to make my first conference next month in Hemet. I can't wait!