Jeff Battle, Director, North Carolina Power Teachers

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Whenever you want your students to pay close attention to an important point, say, "Hands and eyes!"  Your students respond, "hands and eyes!," fold their hands and stare at you intensely.  We have found that this command is also very effective if you have said, "Class!" and your kids are not entirely focused on you when they respond, "Yes!"  Follow up with "hands and eyes!" and you'll be delighted at the quality of attention you receive.  

Published in First Steps

When you are using Teach/Okay you'll notice that you have some students who are chronic talkers and some wo are chronic listeners.  We want the talkers to learn to listen and the listeners to come out of their shells and talk!  This is where the Switch command comes in handy.

Divide your class so that your top students are paired with your bottom students and your middle students with your middle students (of course, you don't reveal the basis for the pairing to your kids.)  Next, count off your students in ones and twos.  If you have an odd number of kids in your class, one group will have two ones.  

Published in First Steps

Jeff Battle, Director, North Carolina Power Teachers

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Next you should use the most important of the Power Instruction's learning methods, Teach-OK.

When you are instructing your students about foundational concepts, it's time to step out from behind the worksheets! Open your students’ brains and give them a learning experience that is both effective, and fun.

Published in First Steps


Some students will not respond right away to the Scoreboard Game. They want to get into a power struggle with the teacher. They want to have the last word.

As a teacher you are between a rock and a hard place. You cannot let the rebel student win the struggle and allow the rest of the class to believe you will back down. You also cannot afford the battle of wills with the student. If you win, the student will be angry and hurt. If you lose your cool, it won’t matter whether you win or not, you will lose the respect of your class.

Published in Levels

Jeff Battle, Director, North Carolina Power Teachers

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For older learners there is a slightly different approach that works really well. Instead of smiley vs, frowny we go to a much more motivating contest- Teacher vs. Student!

Just like in the other version on one side of your board you are going to draw a grid. The grid will be divided into two columns. In the top box of one the word TEACHER, in the top box of the other STUDENTS.

Published in First Steps

Jeff Battle, Director, North Carolina Power Teachers

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Now it is time to learn about The Motivator. How do you get cooperation from your class? The Motivator. A reward system that your students will buy into, and participate in. Here we come to the Scoreboard Game.

Published in First Steps

Jeff Battle, Director, North Carolina Whole Brain Teachers

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The following are five classroom rules that will make your life amazingly easier. One of them is nuclear power in your hands!

If rules are only posted on your board they are not really a part of your class. You must have the rules running around in your students’ heads for them to be effective. It will also help you quiet extra talking in the class. Look for that as you read.

Published in First Steps
Jeff Battle, Director, North Carolina Whole Brain Teachers

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Whole Brain Teaching contains methods that are amazingly effective in classroom management. For the first step let’s get their attention, shall we?

Published in First Steps
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Published in Whole Brain Teaching