Whole Brain Wednesday - Amping it up!

Anyone else feeling in a bit of a slump this time of the year!? The snow days, delays & early releases have me in a mixed-up teaching slump! I can't wait to have normal schedule, full days and full weeks! I think my dog is one of the only ones who is still enjoying all this New England snow!

So this brings me to the topic of today's Whole Brain Teaching...

Today I'm going to share how I'm "amping' up the WBT in my room during this winter weather slump!

You know the feeling... (or at least you do if you live somewhere where it snows a lot!)
Delays... 2 hours off of instruction time, kids all amped up from extra sleep or play time!
Early Releases... If it's announced early, all day feels like a half day, which we know is out of the normal schedule and crazy! If it's announced part way through the day.... chaos ensues as kiddos go to the office to call home or as it begins to snow and all eyes are out the window.
And then, Snow Days... one fewer day of summer and don't even get me started on the day after when they're still all jacked up about playing in the snow!

So how can WBT help get you through the winter slump?! I'll tell you...

#1 Amp up the Rules!

We practice the rules every day... but what about practicing them multiple times during the day? Before your reading block, after recess, before specials! Help the kiddos remember the super-easy-to-follow rules that make the classroom so successful! If you don't know about the rules... click the picture above to check them out. Or, if you need a set of rules for your classroom, go visit my TPT page here.

Also, encourage your kiddos to help their friends out by holding up a number to represent the rule a friend is breaking. It makes your job easier, and let's be honest kiddos love to boss each other around ;)

#2 Amp up the Super Improvers Wall!

If you don't know about the Super Improver Wall, check it out by clicking the photo above! I am handing out improver stars left and right since the winter slump hit! Even if it only is a burst of motivation, it's enough to get us through a few more minutes! I'm giving them out for even the tiniest improvements... YES! You started your independent work right away, improver star! YES! You came to the rug quietly, improver star!
Check out some of my WBT Super Improver Walls here.

#3 Amp up the scoreboard!

Click the picture above to read about the scoreboard! The scoreboard is SO easy! It doesn't have to be fancy, it can just be a smile & a frown drawn on the white board. So there is NO excuse not to amp it up. Give out those smiles & frownies constantly... every lesson, every transition, every time you use class/yes, etc.
And of course make sure you follow through with a little fun time at the end of the day. We do a lot of games from ABCya on the Promethean board before buses as a reward for more smiles. We also have played Around the World and other fun (& quick) games as rewards. Some teachers in my building do an extra GoNoodle video at the end of the day for their reward. There are lots of other things you could do too that are quick and fun!

Hope you're motivated to Amp It Up with the WBT to help get you through the winter slump!

Whole Brain Wednesday: More Super Improvers

Hey everyone, I'm finally back with a WBT Wednesday... it's been WAY too long! Today is a quick tip for you Whole Brainers out there...

I want to share a really great idea one of my co-workers is doing with her WBT Super Improver Wall. If you don't know about WBT's Super Improver Wall, please click the pictures below to check out my posts about it. It is a FABULOUS motivation for students in my room and in many other WBT rooms!

So back to my co-worker... she turned her classroom over the WBT after I did a few informal PD sessions for my district early in the year. She was seeing a lot of success but wanted the super improver wall to be even better. So, she attached an individualized improver goal to each students' pencil box to remind them what they can do to improve in the classroom. The students wrote out their goals on their own to help them really take ownership over their goal.

SUCH a great idea, I especially love it for those tough kiddos because it gives them a focus throughout the day and they are reminded of it every time they open their pencil box! And super easy... just taped into the front cover of the pencil box.

I'm thinking I might need to put some individualized goals on my kiddos book boxes! How do you keep your super improver wall goals on your students' minds?

Whole Brain Wednesday: Freebies

If you've been to my TPT store or scrounging around in my other WBT posts in search of anything Whole Brain to download, you'll notice all the WBT items are free! I do this because all the folks over at wholebrainteaching.com allow you to download EVERYTHING on their site FOR FREE! So if they aren't making money off of their amazing ideas, ebooks & more than it would be totally uncool of me to be making money off of them...

So anyway, I've neatened up a few of my WBT products, finally uploaded a few that have been sitting in files, and am offering many to you here as freebies in my TPT store or free through my Google Drive. Some I'm sharing here on the blog for the first time (and many I just uploaded last week)... Enjoy!

WBT Rules & Procedures

WBT Rules & Procedures Chevron

WBT Rule/Reminder Cards & Letters

WBT Super Improver Wall Sports Theme 1

WBT Super Improver Wall Sports Theme 2

WBT Super Improver Wall Star/Galaxy Theme

WBT Super Improver Wall Frog Theme

You Are Entering A Whole Brain Classroom Sign

WBT Scoreboard

 *I have these laminated, cut out with magnets on the back, on my whiteboard.*

WBT Lesson Template

I hope you can use one or more of these freebies! I love sharing the joy of WBT, especially when it's with free resources for classrooms! Where do you find you WBT resources?

Whole Brain Wednesday: Classroom Pics

Hey all, here again with Whole Brain Wednesday.

Since this is my 2nd post of the day (check out some organization tips here) I'm just going to show some pictures of WBT areas in my room... enjoy!

Here's my super improver wall. Next year the numbers poster will be the spot for my living legends' pictures to hang.

 

Here are our WBT rules & procedures. They hang right above our meeting area, basically front & center of our classroom life. You also might notice our scoreboard (smile/frown). Sorry if it's hard to see, the glare on the laminating isn't the best. You can

Here are my kiddos' practice rule card slots with rule cards ready to go. They are sort of hidden behind my "desk"/reading table at the bottom of my math board in hopes that we won't be using practice cards very often!

I will eventually have either brainies posted or each student will have a brainies card but that won't be until we learn quite a few of them.

How do you represent WBT in your room?

WBT Wednesday! Lose the Clip Chart Part 2

If you missed part 1 of this post last week, go read it here!

Part 2 of losing the clip chart is all about the Super Improvers Wall!

With a Super Improvers Wall, you don't need to tell a kiddo to move their clip down, because instead they will be trying to IMPROVE academically or on a negative behavior... all POSITIVE reinforcement and no negative, hooray!
 
So what exactly is the Super Improvers Wall (or Super Improvers Team)?
It is a way to help students become intrinsically motivated to improve both behaviorally & academically! (like I said, all positive!)

Every super improver wall has 10 levels... such as the levels used on the WBT website and by Kate over at EduKate and Inspire:

Or something to fit your classroom theme such as the candy theme I'm going to try this year:

Or here's the sports theme Super Improvers Wall I made for my grade level partners:

Keep reading to get either of these themed walls/teams for free!

Okay so #1... a color coded 10 level theme.
(If you're going to use these throughout a building or across a grade level, it's nice for everyone to have the same color scheme to kiddos can talk about their improvements with kiddos not in their class)

Now #2, each kiddo has their name on a colored piece of paper that coordinates with their color level. So for example, everyone in my class will start out on a white piece of paper because they will be "bubblegum" or in my grade level partner's classes they will start out on white paper as "fans." Since I haven't set this up yet in my room (trying to enjoy July & stay out of there!) here is a great example of the beginning of the year from Kate (again) over at EduKate and Inspire.

So how do kiddos change the color of their card & move up in levels???

That brings us to #3, kiddos earn stars for making improvements (hence the name Super Improvers). When a kiddo earns 10 stars they move up a level. Meaning, they take home their star-filled card and get a new card with their name on it, in the SAME PLACE it already was on the Super Improvers wall... see yet another example from Kate (geesh I think I need to thank her for her awesome post when I'm done here!)

I really like that they stay in the same place all year no matter what color they are. It takes away the feeling I know kiddos have about clip charts that "Oh I'm always below everyone" or on the other side "Ooooh I'm always above everyone."
It also is powerful that kiddos are competing against THEMSELVES, not each other!!!

Okay so... to review:
#1 There are 10 levels to the Super Improver Wall/Team
#2 Each kiddo's name is on the color coordinating with the level they are on.
#3 Kiddos need to earn 10 stars to move up a level.

Got it? Okay. So now you may be asking how do kiddos earn a star? Well, that's up to you as a teacher... For me, I'll start the year with a couple class goals... improvements on following class rules such as Rule #1 Follow Directions Quickly & Rule #2 Raise Your Hand for Permission to Speak (check out my post on WBT rules here & go here to get my WBT rule & procedure cards). Then I'll probably add in that making personal improvements on our addition facts can earn a star.

Throughout the year, class goals can change &&& (best part) you can make INDIVIDUAL GOALS for certain kiddos (after all, the whole point is INDIVIDUAL improvements)...

Perhaps you have a child who cannot keep their hands to themselves... you tell them they will have a *special* goal to keep their hands to themselves, if they can make improvements on that, they get a star! Or maybe your class goal has moved beyond not shouting out, but you still have a kiddo who shouts out constantly... make that their *special goal*

The individual goal setting is my FAVORITE piece of the Super Improver Wall! I can't wait to manage behaviors in a POSITIVE way!!! However, I am promising myself here and now that I will not have individual goals for EVERY kiddo, because that just seems very overwhelming to manage!

So here are some ideas for how kiddos can earn stars either as a class or individually:

• Improving...
• following certain classroom rules
• math facts
• spelling certain words
• handwriting
• blurting
• challenging oneself (i.e. not saying "I can't do it!")
• rug behavior
• partner-work behavior
• length/meaningfulness of journal entries
• moving safely in the room
• the list goes on, and on, and on! 

I will definitely be posting more about the Super Improver Wall as the year goes on! I wanted to use it last year but didn't feel I completely understood how it worked. Feel free to leave comments with questions (I will email you back so you definitely see my response!) There is a lot more you can do with the Super Improver Wall too, such as take pictures at certain levels and of course there's the whole "picture on the wall forever" that happens if a kiddo reaches the top level, but we have many more Wednesdays for that!

In the meantime, thanks for sticking it out through this entire post, please click the images below to get a free copy of either of the Super Improver Wall Levels I featured in this post!

Candy Theme

Sports Theme

A final shout out to Kate over at EduKate and Inspire for her "help" with this post! Go check out her blog, she is also a 2nd grade blogger & a "Whole Brainer"

 

You can also check out the Whole Brain Teaching Website to learn more about the Super Improvers Wall