January 10, 2012

A New Year Means *New* Classroom Rules

Happy 2012 everyone!

Wasn't winter break amazing?  I really needed some time to recuperate and relax. It was just too easy to get used to sleeping in late, lounging around the house in sweatpants, and spending my afternoons getting caught up on movies and TV.  Ha! I was such a bum and I loved every minute of it.

Well, we headed back to school on last Tuesday *sniff, sniff* and it has been a whirlwind.  My class is getting back into the groove and learning all my new tricks and classroom rules. That's right... we didn't review rules and reboot the old... we started ALL NEW RULES. With a new year, comes a new approach for me and handling the sometimes wild, outrageous, and definitely annoying challenging behaviors that occasionally occur in my classroom.

Now, I know I am a bit late hopping on the bandwagon, but Whole Brain Teaching is a-m-a-z-i-n-g! I love the 5 new classroom rules.  They are simple and effective.  Be sure to check out their website to learn more.  Rule #5 is my favorite...Keep your dear teacher happy!  Ha! No loopholes!

Basically, Whole Brain Teaching as classroom management is a highly interactive way to run your classroom and it was really easy to implement.  I started using a few teaching strategies before winter break, like the Teach-Ok and Mirror.  The students really enjoyed the incorporation of these strategies and were quick to catch on.  With the beginning of the new year, I have started using the essential 7, plus a few others I have picked up from watching video footage. Check out the video below to learn a bit more if you, like me, are just now learning about this stuff. Awesome! :)




6 comments:

  1. Class-OK and the gestures are what have stuck with me over the years. I just love how it gets everyone involved! I am glad it is going so well in your class!

    ~Stephanie
    Teaching in Room 6

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  2. I have been using WBT this year and I LOVE, love, love it! My students live for our scoreboard (even in January), but we are struggling for some reason with "teach-ok." Any advice for me and my class?

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    1. My class is still working on loving the score board. They were on a mighty groan streak today...no good. They do a great job with Teach-Ok though. I use it all the time and always give them specific feedback about what I saw going well when they are teaching and suggestions for next time. I also do a lot of mirror and gestures before I have them do Teach-Ok. That way I have already provided some gestures and words for them to use to explain. Finally, I also let them stand up to teach their neighbor which seems to help. The get more into things when they are standing up. Hope these ideas help a bit. I'm still new at this and I am learning everyday. Thanks for commenting! ~Amanda

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  3. I have been using this too since Sept. Love the whole idea, and my kids know the rules. However, I need to find the time to read how to move on to the next part to keep them motivated. It is amazing how this all works.
    Lisa

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  4. Miss those class room when i am making my corporate law topics for research paper such an amazing day and flly knowledge

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Thank you for taking a moment to share your thoughts!