So, this week and next week I have a total of 5 teachers coming to my room to watch some WBT! I'm so excited. Today I had a 2nd grade teacher from another building observe my 3rd graders during word work, shared reading, and guided reading. I received an e-mail from her when she returned to her home school, and she was so impressed and is on board with trying it out next year in her classroom. She was amazed at how the students would use gestures and could remember previously taught skills that I had taught during the year by quietly using the gestures to themselves before answering. Also, if they were to have trouble with something, all I had to do was show the gesture and they could quickly recall and give the definition of what it was. In a 30 minute time frame, we reviewed nonfiction, title, table of contents, chapter heading, compound words, contractions, and suffixes with one book. They did awesome! She liked how they were all engaged and participating with the repitition. My class is great this year and I have to attribute a lot of successes in my room to WBT. I'm hoping that the other visitors coming in will see the benefits of WBT and jump on board as well. All of this sparked from a PD presentation that Susan Floyd and I did at our last PD day in February. I'm so excited that teachers in Jackson are getting the WBT bug!

This is such great news. The WBT movement is huge in MO, and spreading. Thanks for all that you do there at your school.

Now that you have people coming to your room, challenge them to take on one part once they get back to their room and then have them get back to you with the results. The hard part is getting people to keep up the spirit once they get back to their room, and the newness wears off.

Your doing a great job of posting, so keep them coming.

Can you make it to the National Conference in Alexandria, LA this summer? It'd be great to see you again and hear how things are going.

Chris

I had two fourth grade teachers in my room yesterday, and they were amazed at how smoothly things flowed in my room. They said, "Your kids know exactly what to do to transition" and they thought it was great that my student leader for rule 2 was monitoring when the guests had a question for me. They came in during guided reading and math yesterday, so they were able to see use of PowerPix in math and also in a small guided reading group. They were happy to see how I used it in guided reading and left with some great ideas of how to put it in play in their rooms! They were already using the "Class-Yes," the Scoreboard, and some of the class rules, but now they have better clarification of the scoreboard. I told them to try "Lines," or "Papers," and they are all for that after they saw my kiddos pass out papers in 32 seconds. They said "If your 3rd graders can do this and it move so smoothly, surely our 4th graders can." One of the teachers is really quiet and the other is more outgoing, and they were able to see both dynamics. I told them that they are really the ones that control that, because the students will do what they do. I wish they would have been in my room during shared reading yesterday because I was whispering when asking questions, and all my kids were so focused because they really had to listen and I had lots of hands in the air ready to respond with gestures and words! It was awesome.

Next week I'm welcoming two more 4th grade teachers into my room. I'm hoping that they will come away as excited about WBT as I am.

You are so right about keeping them motivated, so I'm going to send out an e-mail to all my guests to challenge them with something new to try and ask them to let me know how it goes! Thanks for the suggestion.

I would love to attend the National Conference this summer if I can work everything out with my husband and two little ones. I looked on the calendar for dates, but didn't see any on there yet. What are the dates again?

Thanks,
Staci

Staci...the plan for the National conference is June 13-15. We're still nailing down some details, but this is our inital plan. Keep posting, you have some great insights.

Chris

We had our 3rd grade collaborative team meeting today and our district superintendant was there, so I put a bug in his ear that we need to bring WBT to Jackson, Missouri for reading, writing, and math. Fingers crossed!

As you find out more details about the National Conference, please share. I'm really interested in attending!

Staci

I've heard back from a couple of the teachers that visited my room last week, and one is so excited about WBT. She has a student teacher now, and has been reading the ebooks and is now pulling the PowerPix that she will need when she takes her class back over next week. Hopefully I'll have some exciting successes to report on next week.

One of the others has tried, "Lines" and loves it. She says that it has made a huge difference in how her students leave the classroom.

Waiting on reports from the others, but getting ready to send out another e-mail to check in on them!

Also, so excited that my husband has almost given me the green light for the National Conference this summer! Ready for more details, so I can relay them to him and get a definite okay!

Alright Staci here are a few more details about the National Conference. It will be at Louisianna College in Pineville, LA (Alexandria is also right there, but I think the address is Pineville).
Day one June 13: Classroom Management
Day two June 14: Academic Games
Day three June 15: Critical thinking and State Standards

Each day we will be breaking out into small groups...K, 1-2, 3-5, 6-12. This is a great time to see firsthand what it looks like in a classroom and also a chance to get some questions answered from an expert!

Hope to see you there!
Chris Rekstad

Thanks for the update Chris! That all sound great. I'm trying to arrange things so I can get there. Keep me posted as more details come available!

Staci

Last night, a colleague of mine and I presented to our local university's Kappa Delta Pi chapter on WBT. We had such a great reception presenting to about 50 future teachers from all grade levels. They seemed to really enjoy it, and there were several questions about how it has been working in our classrooms. We pulled up Biffle's video for his college class as well, so the secondary majors could see how it can easily be used in their classrooms. We left our e-mails and a handout for them if they have future questions. I'm excited to see what kind of response we get. We also left the Whole Brain Teaching website and told them how to go on there and share with others, because the resources are free and they are awesome! Let's get more people on board for WBT! "Oh Yeah!"

WBT excites central MO teachers and student engagement continues to rise! Last summer, a 1st grade teacher and I attended the West Plains, MO presentation and raced back to our district to share all the information we had learned with our administration and fellow teachers. At first, just like with any new idea, the administration and staff were hesitant. I kept telling my principal that he needed to come observe in my classroom and see for himself how engaged in learning my students were each day! Finally, teacher observation day came and my principal showed up in my room to see a lesson on the scientific method. Due to a student being absent, there was an opening for a partner for one of my students. My principal jumped in to be the partner and was able to witness and participate in the class-yes and teach-okay strategies. He was amazed at the process and the enthusiasm of the students. At the end of the lesson, he stated he had never observed in a classroom with 100% student engagement the entire lesson! My students had sold the WBT to the administration. Now, I am super excited to say that a WBT presenter will be presenting to our whole staff Pre-K-5th grade at our back to school professional developement. I feel to get teachers/administration on board, all they have to do is observe/participate in a WBT classroom! Seeing is believing and I know great WBT teaching is going to be everywhere in our district for the 2011-2012 school year!

Laura
2011-2012 WBT Intern

Laura-

That is so exciting! I am excited to say that I along with two of my colleagues will be attending the National Conference in Louisianna next week. We are looking forward to learning more and taking even more back to our school. In July, I'll be attending the conference in West Plains along with at least 12 other teachers from our district, 8 from the school I teach at. I can't wait for them to get more information on Whole Brain Teaching and get even more excited about using it in their classrooms in the upcoming school year! Three of those teachers had come to observe in my classroom last year, and left super excited about WBT and were anxious to implement parts in their own classrooms. I'm hoping that they will be even more inspired after seeing Biffle and Rekstad present! WBT made a huge difference in my classroom this past year, and I know it will continue to do so in the years to come. One of my students told me on the last day of school that they were going to miss my class, because they got to talk and teach each other! How amazing is that! I'm also very blessed to have an administrator who is supportive of the WBT movement and great colleagues that are willing to give something new a try!

Thanks,
Staci Glass
WBT Intern, 2011-2012

Susan and I were asked to present WBT to the new elementary teachers in our district on the 11th of August! They were so excited! Several of them asked if they could come back and be 3rd graders in my classroom. I, of course, told them, "Absolutely!" I know that several of the principals have already given the okay for them to come spend some time in a WBT classroom. I'm looking forward to visitors and getting more teachers in our district using WBT. I'm hoping that my model classroom will live up to all expectations. I still need to post pics too!

Thanks,
Staci Glass
WBT Intern, 2011-2012

That sounds great Staci! I may be doing a presentation later in the year at my district for any teachers interested in seeing it. I know I can get a few teachers on board. We'll see what happens!

I think if classroom MAP data shows a significant increase in scores in WBT rooms, teachers will be jumping into it quickly. I can't imagine the scores won't support WBT use.

Just in 2 days - mostly directions so far - it is a huge improvement. I have 3 sections of 6th grade science - so my first class goes the roughest while I'm getting used to WBT. We put science notebooks together yesterday. My first class I didn't use Teach-Ok as much as I should have - chalk it up to DUH - my next two classes I used Teach-OK for ALL directions and in the 2nd class I had 15 minutes extra and in the 3rd class I had almost 20 minutes extra - in fact really more time than that because the first class didn't even finish and the classes are fairly equal in student make up. By the third class I had better gestures. I know some of this is due to planning for using WBT - I promise I'll get better. Normally I'm very planned out - this year - well - whatever it is - it was - Moving ON!! LOL Obviously - it's also me improving my use of WBT as the day went. Apparently this is my reflection for Friday. LOL I do hope it shows for those deciding to use it that it is truly AMAZING!

I am having a somewhat similar experience at my school! It is HS and it seems to be a little hard to sell... but my CC has been in my room as well as our Freshman Academy Prin. So, they are asking if I will present to the faculty soon... I am excited, but sometimes teachers can be the worst a accepting new information!

Roxi,
WBT Intern, 2011-2012
wholebrainwithroxishayne.blogspot.com

Roxi,

I have found that you have to continue to be persistent and eventually other teachers will want to know what is going on in your classroom! Once you start to use WBT, anytime you get to talk about it, the excitement just comes bubbling out and it is contagious! I am in fifth grade and the fourth grade teachers were reluctant last year to try WBT. I continued to share information at our professional development workshops and the WBT forum for resources. This year, one of the fourth grade teachers decided that she was going to give it a whirl and introduce the five rules to begin. She is hesitant because she is not a really outgoing person. I shared with her that the beauty of WBT is that it works in any classroom with any teacher, because it is your room and you can adapt it to your needs! I am so proud of her for trying WBT this year!

Keep sharing, Laura Caisse
WBT Intern, 2011-2012

Laura,
I hear what you are saying! I think that a conference, if possible, is an absolute! Also, Chris provides those webinars, this week on Tuesday, I have tried to recruite as many teachers as possible. I thought that maybe they could start building a foundation, with respect to WBT. Once they see a webinar their just itching to get started in their classroom with more info!!
Heather Hansen
WBT intern
2011/12:cheer:

It's so exciting to hear what all is going on in everyone's classrooms and schools! We have the majority of our faculty now using at least some aspect of WBT in their classrooms, even if it is just the scoreboard and Class/Yes. A lot of our new teachers are super pumped to implement it in their classrooms, and all of my 3rd grade team is now using WBT in their rooms. We all have PowerPix walls up in some fashion. I hope to get my pics uploaded soon of all my different walls. I have them all up and running and the pics have been taken...now, I just need to post them.

Thanks,
Staci Glass
WBT Intern, 2011-2012

I have one 4th grade teacher trying it out this year. Our principle is giving us Act 48 credit when we work together on WBT and how to use it. Maybe after more teachers come see what it is, more people will be interested. I also suggested that any student teachers in my building this year come and observe. It would be great to get them started from the beginning!