Wednesday 19 September 2012

Whole Brain Teaching Wednesday! Road Block

     So I have to admit that I have been conflicted over the past few weeks regarding what to post for my Whole Brain Teaching Wednesday posts. With the Whole Brain Teaching Certification program beginning this summer there was a huge jump in forum activity about a variety of topics as well as new activities and strategies being introduced by the WBT team but yet I still couldn't figure out what to write about. If you have checked out my Whole Brain Teaching Certification tab at the top of the screen you'll notice that I have previously written almost 20 posts about various WBT strategies and I feel as though I am now hitting a road block.

     Here is my challenge: as a high school teacher there are many WBT strategies that are unnecessary in a high school classroom where you teach your students one subject for one period of the day. If I was in an early years classroom or even middle school they would be perfect but in a high school setting, for my specific students, they are unnecessary. The strategies that I do use regularly and that work wonderful are:
- Class-Yes
- Teach-Ok
- The Scoreboard
- 10-Finger Woo
- It's Cool
- Mind Soccer
- The Super Improvers Wall
- Power Pix (to an extent)

     I've now posted about all of those (sometimes one or two times). I feel as though I am much more drawn to the management aspects of WBT as opposed to some of the instructional aspects such as the various SuperSpeed programs, Genius Ladder, Red Marker-Green Marker, etc. Although this will vary year to year, the students that I am working with are already coming into high school with the skills that many of the WBT instructional strategies are teaching so it makes sense that it is the management strategies that appeal to me. If this is the case though, what should I post about?

Bloggers Block, writers block comic, whole brain teaching


     I have been trying to brainstorm new post ideas, however, and here is some idea I've come up with:
1 ) Stories of how I've been using WBT in the classroom
     - Although I am not IN the classroom until mid-October
2 ) How WBT strategies fit/don't fit with various Manitoba curriculum documents
     - Here is an example of one I've wrote previously
3 ) Some of the theory behind WBT strategis
     - Here is an example of one I've wrote previously

     My question for you is, which one should I go with? I've hit a block and need some inspiration! :) If I had my own classroom this would be a lot easier I think!

P.S. Remember to enter my 200 Follower Giveaway!

4 comments:

  1. Would you be able to explain how to use the Super Speed 100 game? Specifically, how do the kids get personal bests...through the number of words they read or by getting to a new level?
    Thanks!
    Ms. M

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ms. M,

      Thanks for visiting! The Super Speed 100 game assists our students in learning sight words, rhymes, consonants, etc and I know that it is very popular among other Whole Brain Teachers. They even made a Super Speed 1000, Super Speed Rhymes and Super Speed Grammar now!
      Being at the high school level, however, my students already come to me with those literacy skills so I haven't ever used any of the Super Speed activities as they are tailored towards early elementary.
      I would suggest you download the Super Speed 100 e-book (its free!) from the Whole Brain Teaching website's free e-books section:
      http://wholebrainteaching.com/index.php/downloads.html
      There are also a few forum discussions that might give you an idea of how other teachers are using the Super Speed games:
      http://wholebrainteaching.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&view=topic&catid=110&id=11532&Itemid=203

      http://wholebrainteaching.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&view=topic&catid=3&id=11585&Itemid=203#12195

      http://wholebrainteaching.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&view=topic&catid=110&id=11532&Itemid=203#11943

      http://wholebrainteaching.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&view=topic&catid=7&id=11198&Itemid=203#11917

      Hope this helps & best of luck!

      Delete
  2. Thank you so much for your help! I'm definitely going to check out those forums :)

    Ms. M
    http://thirdgradegems.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No problem! Sorry I couldn't offer any personal insight but there are so many amazing people on the forum. I'm sure if you post any questions there you will get all the info you need :)

      Delete

Thank you for commenting!