Challenging Kids will always be around!

My friends, I can't tell you how long it has been since I have had this many challenging kids. My colleagues look at my class and marvel at how they all got in one room! Since the year began I have quickly been indoctrinated into the world of challenging kids....more so than ever. WBT knows challenging kids so I knew that I just needed to stay the course. Let me tell you...if you have challenging kids, you have got to use the methods of WBT because there are only two things that are going to make the year a success; one...the methods of WBT and two... Love `em.

The summer is winding down and I have begun to think, 47% of my thinking, about getting right at this great job we call teaching. The summer has been filled with missions trips, house projects and gaining another teen driver.

As I get back to thinking about school, I know that the Brainies, Oral Writing, and SuperSpeed Games are going to be an even bigger part this year. Brainies set the tone for the critical thinking that we all need to be doing every day in all subjects.  Of course oral writing with the Genius Ladder will start right out of the shoot also; most likely on Day 1. SuperSpeed games supplement any required curriculum that you must use so I use them generously.

The year will start soon, but I know that with WBT on my side, nothing can stop the learning!

7th Annual National Conference

Here we are once again in the fabulous South! The teachers have gathered at Louisiana College in Pineville, Louisiana to abosorb as much funtricity as possible. Over 1000 teachers are here learning all they can about Classroom Management, Writing and Lesson Design.

We have had some great conversations with teachers about getting kids engaged in class, writing complex sentences and setting kids up for success in the Super Improvers.

Check out #2014WBT and #WBTNation on Twitter and Instagram if you want to see some teachers having a great time.

Day Two in South Africa

My friends around the US you have some competition from the teachers across the Atlantic. These South African teachers are eating up WBT in a huge way! As mentioned in other posts, they have the same problems we do in the states with poverty, challenging kids, and schools not meeting the mark. They are digging in just like we all do and they are getting the job done.

Today we spent a fair amount of time on the Triple Whammy Writing and they saw a huge need for that. They even mentioned that they could use it in their "triple naught'/ 000 classes. That is a class that is two years below kindergarten...yes they start them early here in a semi-school program that helps kids learn the basics. What a novel idea!

So we are talking about Guff today, and a teacher asks what that means. So I tell her it is when someone gives you some back talk. She responded, in her best South African accent (which to Americans is similar to British) "Oh, you mean Back Chatters!" Yes my friends, what a great phrase it is. Try it out, back chatters! Say it again with a British accent!

Cheers

Lost in translation

Whenever you go to a different part of the country or world and you are presenting information that you know well, you may want to check to see if there is anything that may be said or pronounced differently. For example, I'm going through the whole Oral Writing part of WBT with a group of South African teachers and I am telling them about the three end marks that we are doing along with the gestures. I told them about the period and showed them the gesture and there were several blank stares. You know the kind, they want to be polite, but there is no comprehension going on. Soon after, a lady in the back raised her hand, and ever so politely said, "It's called a full stop here." Everyone laughed and it was quite funny. I now have a new way for the kids to learn about that back home.

Just in case you are ever South Africa, here are some phrases that you may want to know....
Boot...trunk
Robots...traffic lights
Knackered...really tired
Swim Costumes...swim suits
Bri...(long i) BBQ

Quick Jaunt to the Reserve

Have you ever wanted to sit close to wild animals and pet them? I had the rare opportunity here in South Africa today. It was an amazing time to see GOD's creatures up close and personal. The pictures don't tell it all, but they do give you some perspective. Yes I was that close....and they are real!

Headed out to a school tomorrow to talk more WBT...I'll keep you posted on how WBT works here in another part of the world!

Day 1 in South Africa

Today I learned many things about the nature of children. We take so many things for granted in the U.S. For example, I'm working with teachers today that can't access the internet because they are in a secluded enough location that they just aren't able. And yet...they are reaching the lives of children everyday. We can all learn from them as they struggle through the same things that other teachers across the globe all struggle with together.

They learned about the Core 4+ and the first few levels that will help them address the most pressing need that they have here in their types of schools...you'll never guess that need. Go ahead...try to guess!

OK you may have already, their most pressing need is dealing with Challenging kids! WOW...the same thing that we are facing in America and other parts of the world. We said it for awhile now, but it hit home today when I talked with these amazing teachers. Did I mention that they are all volunteers? Yes that's the best part, this is what they do because they are working so hard at making their communities better through the education process.

GOD Bless them all!

WBT in South Africa

I'm posting from the beautiful Black Eagle resort, www.blackeagle.co.za , in Johannesburg, South Africa. I'll be doing three conferences here this week and next and enjoying the surroundings! 

For the three of you that read this, hopefully you'll be in for a treat. ;-)  The teachers here are hungry for methods that will help them engage the kids in their classrooms. One thing that we do know for sure...there are challenging kids all over the world. 

I'll tell you this...when you come here, get a friend to drive you around because the driving on the other side of the road plus the steering wheel on the other side is too much to handle! 

Stay tuned for a story or two tomorrow about the underprivileged teachers of this area and how the are adapting to WBT.

Cheers 

It's Time...Practice Cards

Every year is different of course, but it has come down to this...I'm going to stay happy while teaching, so it's time for the kids to have more practice. Too often we get to this point and are frustrated because Sam isn't following the directions, or he keeps blurting out the answers while others are thinking.

Practice cards are the next step in a list of things that fill the WBT teachers back pocket. Check out our website for more on this, but I'm here to tell you tomorrow will be a great day for the kids and me. You see, I don't need to get mad, frustrated, red in the face...they just need to practice more. They practice at recess and then we send home a note that helps them practice more at home.

I remind them that they are not in trouble, they just need more practice! This way we all get what we want.

The newness is gone...so let's tweek it!

You know when it's time to change things up because the kids aren't responding like they used to in the beginning. That happened this week, like it usually does. This group of 4th and 5th graders are great, but they are also normal kids three and a half weeks away from Christmas break! It was time to "tweek" the scoreboard to get that same feeling we had back in September. With one small adjustment, it was all brand new.

We needed some extra practice with Rule 1 so that became our focus for this week. I wrote it under the Scoreboard so that they knew that this was the focus...and then...I revealed the big finish! I divided the Scoreboard in two parts, so that now there was a boys section and a girls section. The score is kept the same way, I'm just watching now for two groups. I would say "Class" and they would say "Yes" but there was some fidgeting going on by a few boys in the back, sad face mark followed by a groan. But the girls did it right, so they got the happy face and a cheer! That was all it took for them to see how this worked. It was on!

Of course the game was close all day and I still had some small rule breakers, but it was better. You see, it doesn't take a lot to refocus kids. Just the slightest tweek will do. Stay tuned for more tweeks to the scoreboard game as the year progresses! If you can't wait, you can check out the archived video library on the front page of wholebrainteaching.com and watch the Scoreboard video for more ideas.

Ahh...a new beginning!

The beginning is always so great! Sharpened pencils, new notebooks, crisp folders, and the smell of Crayola's. I love the first weeks of school because kids are so vibrant, and willing to do anything.

The past two weeks have been so awesome with the rules and procedures of WBT. Is it really possible to enjoy school this much? I do recall a time when I didn't know what to do in the classroom. The things that the University taught me had stopped working the third week into the year. What was I going to do now? I trudged on through the muck like everyone else. But alas, WBT began and I new teaching was what I was destined to do!

The beginning of the year has a new meaning for me now...a rockin' time of learning!

Stay tuned for more anecdotes of this teacher who can't get enough WBT in the morning!

Summer Conferences...Amazing time with Amazing Teachers!

The summer has been a time of relaxing with my family, and not doing any thinking about school. If you know me...summer, is summer. A time to sit around the pool, play cards with friends and do nothing.

The last few summers though, I've been with the WBT All-Stars traveling around our great nation spreading the WBT message in conferences from Louisiana to Missouri to northern California. Everywhere we go, we are seeing one thing...passionate teachers.

The last few weeks has been just like the other summers. A high energy time of teachers bouncing off the walls to please Coach B! What a time it has been. These teachers are pumped up to get in their classrooms, roll up their sleeves, and get the job done!

Power to the Teachers!

Post Testing Thoughts

Well, the testing season is over and what a time it was; we all made it! During the last post, I mentioned "Dressing for Success". I felt great about this idea, but it didn't fly well with the kids. I led by example and wore a tie each day, but that is where it stopped. Maybe next year!

As I reflect on this season of testing, the only thing I can think of is...WOW...what a great time it was for the kids! They feel super successful and I couldn't be happier. Prove It! was the answer to all of the issues, along with the other test taking strategies we used. Once we were done, I took a poll about the Prove It! game to see how many kids had fixed an answer because of this checking process. Fifteen kids said that they fixed an answer after thinking through the Prove It! process. 'Nough Said!

Test Taking Strategies...do they work?

It's been a long 4 months of prepping for the state tests...and we were ready! All of the diligent work on the kids part paid off because they sat for 2 hours and 35 minutes taking the test!! I had taken down the clocks so they couldn't tell if they were missing anything outside...I know, that was really low of me, but I wanted maximum focus. Wow did I get it! They used the strategies that we had talked about and they earned Super Improvers Stars accordingly.

Day two tomorrow and we'll go for the same result! Did I mention that I wanted them all to dress like they were going to church or a wedding? I thought that maybe the idea of dressing for success would go into their head and translate out into, "I can do anything because I look good!" We'll see how that works out...stay tuned.

Super Improvers Wall...A United Class

We've seen posts about the Super Improvers Wall...but nothing could have prepared me for what I have seen in the past two months. My students are all pumped up because they are moving up the wall with the goal of becoming a Living Legend. I now have 12 students who are Living Legends...and they are so proud...and frankly, so am I!

If you're new to this concept, you must be asking what am I giving these kids to be so motivated to improve? All I am giving them is a star on a piece of paper! Yes, that's what I said...a star on a piece of paper which transfers to moving up the wall after 10 stars. These kids are working so hard to improve in all areas of school; academics, personal behavior, better writing, whatever they need.

All I can say is if your not using this, what are you waiting for?

The Dreaded Benchmarks...Not Anymore!

You the know the feeling. The one where you know the kids are totally prepared for the benchmark test, and then they bomb, go back to the old ways, or forget everything you taught them!! Why is that?

Well, not this time my friends! Since the inception of Oral Writing and the Genius Ladder, I have been waiting for this day. We have been doing these two activities for the past 5 months and now I am starting to see some consistent fruits of my labor.

The task...response to literature, not the easiest of the tests. The kids stayed focused and organized in their writing and most all of them beefed up the paragraphs with many extenders. This is really where it's at...kids writing above their abilities! What a great reading session it was to sit down and read so many great responses!

"You Bet Your Homework Over the Break"

"You Bet Your Homework Over the Break" is what greeted the students today above our Scoreboard. The last thing in the world the kids want is homework over a great week long Thanksgiving break. Of course I told them what this meant and they were so focused that the day felt like the middle of September! Focused learning on a day that can typically make kids crazy! I saw many a classroom today a bit helter skelter...but not us, because the motivating power of the scoreboard!

The next time you need to have the kids focused, break out this version for just this special occasion. You may be surprised how focused they can get...while having an intensely fun time! 

The Rewards of the Scoreboard Game

One thing that I notice is the less marks at the end of the day, the less energy and following of the rules. This interests me quite often, because let's face it, sometimes you just have those days where you don't mark the score that often.

Well, let me just tell you...the marks are a crucial part of the energy each and every day. I can take a dull class to the next level just by getting some points on the scoreboard...positive and negative.

Yesterday we played for a bonus minute of Mind Soccer on Friday. They won and were so pumped! The most we can get on a Friday of Mind Soccer is three minutes, but now, maybe we could get four minutes.

The Power of the Genius Ladder

Okay so we have been doing the Genius ladder for several weeks now. I have been coming up with the Blah sentence and then of course the other ones also. Each time we spend a few moments with the kids working on each level. They add a new noun at the Blah level, they add their own adjective at the Spicey level and so on. This is all done orally and so we are getting many reps on grammar and good writing.

Just the other day, a student asks, "Are we ever going to be able to make our own Genius Ladder?"

Yes my friends...a student asking to do more work than what he has been doing! They want to write! Because of all the oral practice, they are now ready to write. Wow...teacher heaven.

My answer of course was, "We'll see...maybe in a couple of days." Inside I was excited because the kids all gave that low murmur of support when he asked.

We wrote their own the next day!

Three Star Homework...the Premier!

Homework traditionally has been a time for review of the work that was done in class. But let's face it, the kids usually don't bring it back and if they do it's done poorly...or not at all. With the WBT model of Three Star Homework, kids are motivated to do the work and the work that they are doing is high frequency work that is differentiated. WOW! Work that is motivating and will improve student work.

When I told my parents about this at Back-to-School-Night, they all felt like this was going to be great, for their kids and for them. (There is less haggling back and forth with this version of HW.)  One parent told me that her daughter would do the Three Star every night.

Later in the week when we were checking our homework, I asked that young lady about how it went. She said it was good, but I told her that I noticed she only did Two Star each night. I told her what her mom had said about her doing Three Star every night. She looked at me and said, "Mr. Rekstad, that's what my mom would do." And that was it...we'll see what happens next week!

Power to the Teacher!