I have just learned about Whole Brain Teaching... and I am in love with the ideas!!! I am entering my 4th year teaching 4th grade in North Carolina. With the new teacher evaluation and the fact that this is my tenured year, I have been very nervous about this year. My school has a lot of positive changes happening with a new AP and a new overall attitude of the staff. My principal is very supportive of new ideas so I am looking forward to introducing Whole Brain Teaching to my students as well as to my fellow teachers after I have success in my room (which I know will happen!!! ) I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions or ideas to share to a new Whole Brain Teacher!! I also just received wonderful news the other day, that my school has been chosen to be a pilot school that provide all students (3rd, 4th, and 5th graders) a laptop. I know Whole Brain Teaching will work with the laptops, I was just wondering if anyone has taught in a classroom with a class set of laptops and used the Whole Brain Teaching. I will have a few weeks before the laptops are ready for the classroom to introduce the Whole Brain ideas.

I still have 4 weeks of summer.... but I can say I can't wait for the end of August to get here!!!!!

Hi there. Consider me your contact and a resource. I am located about four and a half hours from you in Canton, NC. I am a trainer, and have been using WBT for three years with great success.

My school uses netbooks extensively, and I can help you there as well.

What can I do to help?

Hey there!! It's nice seeing another new person to WBT. Last year was the first year I saw it in use in my classroom, and it worked wonders! I did more watching than teaching of the WBT skills during the regular school year because it does not match my personality. However, I am teaching summer school right now, and I can't get enough of it. I spent the first day teaching the students the 5 classroom rules, "Class, Yes", "It's cool", etc. They love it!! Everyday they ask me if we are going to do Teacher vs. Student because they love the competition. Going into the 5th week of summer school, I have not had to call a single parent for inappropriate behaviors. The scoreboard really helps with classroom management. I cannot wait to try the WBT skills with our new class this year. I will warn you though...once other teachers hear and see the successes you are having in your room, be prepared to have an audience in the back of your room. :)My suggestion to you is watch the videos first. I learned a lot watching the videos. When I use the skills in my classroom, I take notes of how it worked or what I need to try differently. The students' reactions provide great feedback of how things are going. If you have any questions, join in on the webinars and discussion boards. There are so many people out there with great ideas. Good luck in the upcoming school year!

Thank you so much for the support!! We do not begin the new school year until Aug. 25th... so I have sometime to learn before I teach my students!!

First question, do you think I need to speak with my principal before planning on using WBT? My principal is amazingly supportive but I would like to be pro-active in all ways in order to assure my success. Secondly, I am planning on teaching my students the 5 rules, "Class, Yes", "Teach, Okay!", "Hands and Eyes!" and the Scoreboard within the first week or 2 of school; is there anything else I should plan on teaching/using with my students?

I am super excited for the Crazy Professor Reading Game. Do you have any other favorites that I must use with my students throughout the school year? My county is pushing Reading really hard this year... And reading is an area most of our students dislike and struggle with... anything to help would be wonderful!!!

Thanks again for all your help!!!

I just discovered WBT today and think it would be a major asset in my under-resourced school, teaching 4th grade. I'm new to this school (Winston Salem/Forsyth) and would love to be impressive in my first full-time elementary classroom. (I've previously taught Middle & High School with major classroom management issues.) I am struggling with summer school and wish I had discovered this three weeks ago. So, I'm interested in reading the responses from Mr. Battle to MissLisa.

You are going to LOVE teaching using WBT techniques!! Be sure to download and study "Super Speed 100" and "1000" to use for fluency. They can also be used to teach spelling. Check out ALL the downloads on the website and watch the videos over and over. Don't forget to use the scoreboard--that is the major classroom management tool, and it works wonders!! Also, check out the Calendar section of the website. If there is a training day scheduled within your area, don't miss it for anything!! Best of luck to you.

Absolutely tell your prinicipal about it. You can get them on board quickly, and save a lot of back end explaining later.

My prinicpal likes me using this as I rarely have to send any disciplinary issues to him. He knows that with the number of tools I have to address problems if I send someone to him he really needs to take action.

Crazy Professor, and Super Speed 1000 are great! I also created a SuperSpeed Science for my curriculum.

Remember that as you use the methods feel free to modify them to fit your situation. One of the greatest things about this method is its flexibility.

CFButler wrote:


You are only a couple of hours away from me. I am in Canton on the other side of Asheville. If you would ever like to come over and observe my classroom just get in touch with me.

This is such a wonderful tool for use in the classroom. We had a trainer come to our school and train the entire staff. It is amazing what can happen when the whole school gets on board. However, it is very important to remember that this is not just a classroom management tool. It is a way of teaching. We use this in every subject. The most amazing was watching my students take their state test and seeing them use the gestures to remind themselves of what had been learned throughout the year. We don't have our scores back yet, but I think it made a tremendous difference in the long term retention of material in my students. I wish you great success with using WBT this year in your classroom.