New Year, New Goals, New Life, Restart WBT

Hey guys its been a while since I posted last. My first year using whole brain teaching was fall 2014. I started off so string and confident and my students loved it. Then I found out i was pregnant. I was still determined to continue WBT. I didn't have any behavior management issues and my administration loved the student involvement in my classroom.. Toward my third trimester I became so tired! I didn't have the energy to continue using WBT 100% instead we were a 50% classroom..My students still used it to teach each other. When i came back to school in fall of 2015, I started WBT with the basics.. Class-Yess,Teach- Okay, Mighty oh yeah, mighty Groan,You're still cool,10 finger woo. I had some behavior problems that yer.. I truly believe its because we weren't  100% in the WBT program.. This year I want my classroom to be like it was in 2014.. Awesome! 99% of behavior problems were gone.. My class was interactive.. I can do it this year! Tomorrow Morning I am on my way to the Louisiana WBT conference to get inspired!!!

Is it September Already??!!

Man  has September come so fast. I was able to meet and build relationships with my students as well as teach them some of the key components of Whole Brain Teaching (WBT) My class perfected the 5 classroom rules.My students even go so far as correcting other students who are not following the classroom rules. if some one comes up to me without permission another says to them, " Hey rule 3!" , and then the other student rushes to their seat and raises their hand  to ask me a question. If some one makes a mistake, the class stops and tells the kid , " Hey your still cool"

1.  Rule 1: Follow directions quickly
2. Rule 2 : Raise your hand for permission to talk
3. Rule 3: Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat.
4. Rule 4: Make smart choices
5. Rule 5: Keep your dear teacher Happy!( My favorite rule)

My school  district uses CHAMPS and I was very worried about how I could incorporate my CHAMPS with my daily rules. My students are having no adjustments to the new teaching methods. I am the first one at my school that is using Whole Brain Teaching this year and I love it. My students love it and the staff that enters my room loves how engaged my students are in my lessons. I know your probably wondering what about those students who refuse to participate. Well I have a system for that. I pick leaders everyday to lead the 5 daily rules  and to be my role models for the class, Even my " energetic students " fix themselves to be my leaders. When I attend the WBT conference this summer I bought some of the five rules buttons. My students compete every day to see who can wear for an  hour. I mean its crazy they only get to wear it for an hour but they love using gestures and proving to each other who deserves to be the best.

Another praise I have for this week is the mirror/words and the Teach okay. Wow !!! My Special Ed. students and ESL students love this. They are able to repeat after their teacher or their partner and then  teach each other free  of judgement.

I wish i would have implemented this last year!!!

Ready ! Get Set ! TEACH!!!

It's been quite a minute since I have posted on my blog! I was finally able to go into my room and start setting up. This week, I attended trainings on Thinking Maps, True Colors, CHAMPS, and STOIC.  It's been a very busy week, and I am so excited to teach my new students on Monday!  This past Thursday was "Meet the Teacher Night " at my school. I met a lot of my new students and their parents, as well as some of my previous students came to visit me. Even though I thought I was ready for them, I found myself watching countless Whole Brain Teaching(WBT) videos to get myself prepared and refreshed. My new students were so excited to meet me, and I them! 

         Today I finally finished my room how wanted it.  My mother and I went to my school and finished my CHAMPS and WBT signs for my classroom. I have the following items set up in my room:

1. Scoreboard- class size 
2. mini scoreboard- for when I am not next to  the big score board
3. PowerPix wall and cards
4. Super improver Wall
5. CHAMPS for every area of the room
6. Champs flip chart
7. 5 classroom rules
8. WBT teaching cue cards-courtesy of teacherpayteachers.com(FREE!!!!)

 Here are some pictures before it was all cleaned up for Parent night! I will post the good pictures on Monday

SUPER IMPROVER TEAM WALL BEFORE THE ICONS

WORD WALL

Get Ready! Get Set! TEACH!

Love You All and God Bless!!!

WBT Conference in Pineville, Louisiana = Awesomeness !!!!

         My mother and I attended the Whole Brain Teaching (WBT) Conference in Pineville, Louisiana on June 16-19. The conference was absolutely amazing! I thought the conference was going to be like every other professional development, boring but informative. Boy was I wrong! It was entertaining, interactive, and constant movement! Coach B, Deb, and Farrah were absolutely amazing presenters. The conference started with a Coach B or Chris Biffle, then was broken into grade-leveled sessions for behavior management, writing, and lesson planning, and ended with Coach B. If you don’t like to move or participate during Professional Development, then the WBT conference is not for you. It’s a fast paced conference that gives you the tools you need to get started, and super fun! It also provides you with mentors to help you after the conference, so that you are well prepared to implement WBT into your classroom.

 I had some rough kiddos last year, and I believe the super improver wall and practice cards will definitely come in handy this year. The super improver wall is in individual goal improver system. The students will have an individualize goal to master. It can be an academic goal, personal goal, behavior goal, etc... This makes the students accountable for their own goals. The TEACH-OK will allow the teacher to teach the lesson and for the students to teach each other.

The conference gave me so much information and answered so many questions.  Every day after I left the conference, I went back to my hotel room buzzed with excitement on how to implement WBT into my classroom I shared videos of Farrah Shipley and Nancy Stoltenberg’s teaching techniques to my teammates and principal. At night, my dreams were of WBT. Have I mentioned that I loved this conference!!  I left the conference excited for the upcoming year and with a WBT mentor who will help me implement WBT into my classroom.

I recommend going onto the website http://www.wholebrainteaching.com/

to get more information. As well as following on YouTube: Chris Biffle