Whole Brain Teaching

I have a really bad habit. I am really excited about books and reading in general. I mean I love reading magazines and blogs. One thing I absolutely love is when summer hits because of the professional reading that takes place during this time. I love reading Text on Tuesdays by Meg from The Teacher Studio. She reviews different professional texts every Tuesday and that's mostly where I get my ideas for texts that I buy for my professional reading.

Once I get the text though (and I'm going to be very honest), I don't always keep up with the reading. It becomes a bit too much. I can't put my finger on what really is the problem but I know there are some really good books on my shelf that need my attention.

There is one book however, (I am proud to say) I have stuck with and that's Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids. And I can vouch Whole Brain Teaching does work. I began using aspects of Whole Brain Teaching about ten to fifteen weeks ago. I did not begin my school year using it because I needed to get a better understanding of Whole Brain Teaching. But once I started using it, there was no looking back. It was like, give me more!

There are staff members in my school who are quite impressed by what they've seen. Initially, I was a bit nerved when they put it off to, "a different classroom management strategy" or a "chant". I wanted to yell, "It's Whole Brain Teaching folks!" Ah well, in time.

Today, I am going to write about the Class-Yes strategy which works beautifully in the classroom. I've tried using different strategies in the past to get my students' attention - the music wand, everyone raise your hands and look at me when you see my hand raised, I can safely say that I am most happen with the Class-Yes strategy. 

This is how Class-Yes works, when I say "Class!", my students respond by saying "Yes!" Chris Bifle, the author of Whole Brain Teaching recommends that you vary the way you say "Class!" and the students will respond similarly. I can understand the need for variation. It keeps the kids on their toes and excited. My favourite is "Yo Class!" In the following weeks, I am hoping to share videos and thoughts about my experiences with Whole Brain Teaching but for now I would to share a resource that I created during my holidays. There are lots of WBT posters in TPT of the 5 classroom rules, but I wanted one which had a Subway theme (if you  know what I mean).

It's a free download from my store. Just click here to download the posters.