My First Blog Award!!

Just got back from an amazing vacation, and found this special award waiting in my blog for me! WOW!  Thank you, Melissa at Mrs. Smith's 1st Grade Class.  Melissa has an amazing blog filled with valuable educator  materials.  

So, the purpose of this award is to highlight new bloggers with less than 200 followers.

Here are the rules:

1. Copy and paste the award on your blog.

2. Thank the giver and link back to them.

3. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. Farrah at Mrs. Shipley's Fabulous Firsties    Farrah has invaluable WBT materials that will motivate all educators to "step up their game"!
2. Deb at Joyful One   Deb will inspire you with her insight and great videos!
3. Miss L at Miss L's Whole Brain Teaching  Miss L's blog is a TROVE of current educational information!
4. Pinetreelia at My Whole Brain Teaching Blog   Pinetreelia shares awesome materials on her blog to illustrate the Power of Whole Brain Teaching!
5. Laura at Laura's WBT Journey   Laura has been an Intern for WBT this year and shares her personal thoughts and experiences!                     

Thanks again, Melissa!!!  Oh, yeah!!

End of the Year? NO! NO! NO!

It's the end of the school year...walls are bare...rooms echo back...lights switched off...keys turned in...driving into the sunset!  Well, not exactly...not in the Wonderful, Crazy, Extremely  Exciting World of Whole Brain Teaching!  WBT goes strong YEAR ROUND!!

WBT teachers are an amazing group of educators from around the World who don't know how to STOP hitting the WACKY FUN STAR BUTTON...even after the ROOM KEYS are turned in!  No matter where you travel this summer, WBT teachers are as close to you as your Smart Phone or Computer!

Summer WBT Educator Collaboration may mean attending an AMAZING WBT Conference or participating in a High Energy LIVE WEBINAR broadcast on the WBT site every Tuesday (see schedule of times for your Time Zone).  If you're not able to do that, remember to STAY TIGHT with  the WBT Forum!  It's LIT UP right now with amazing posts of WBT experiences from around the world!  The Video Library is packed with archived Webinars loaded with invaluable guides to using WBT...and it's FREE!  Hit that WACKY FUN STAR BUTTON again!!

If you are interested in becoming a WBT BOARD CERTIFIED EDUCATOR, be sure to TAP the TROPHY on my Blog, or on the website, www.wholebrainteaching.  You earn it at YOUR OWN SPEED!!!  Check it out, and let me know how I can help you earn those CP'S (Certification Points).  Coach has created the Coolest Certification Point Medallions ever!  Get yours now!!

SUMMER:  Shorts, Sandals, Sun Screen, BBQ's, and WBT!!!!  Can it get any better?!  Hit that WACKY FUN STAR BUTTON for the BEST time ever!!

PER ASPERA AD ASTRA  (Despite Hardships...To The Stars)

"Breaking down the Set..."

Doesn't it seem like we were just putting our Whole Brain "Stage" together for the year?!  If "Walls Could Talk!"...what stories to share!  As I remove the Power Pix from the Grid wall, I hear the echos of, " B7! What is a noun?  A noun is a person, place, or thing!" I see 32 students echoing and gesturing in unity!  The Genius Ladder...Spicy!!  Tears of joy as I read my little EL's letter to the Principal last week using the 5 parts of a letter with complete spicy sentences, capitals, Zoops, periods! The Super Improvers Wall is a piece of Art now with a rainbow of colors all the way to the Gold!  So many celebrations of improvement as we would gather and cheer for each student as they moved up another color level!  The Class Leader Wall with all the great "Silly Pals" pictures comes down to sighs and aww's, as students recall the day they got that picture taken! Oh, yeah!!  The Mind Soccer "nets" are all faded on the board now, but the spirit of the Game never will!  Who knew how hard students would work to earn minutes of "Learning" time, not recess!  So many wonderful memories of a great Team of students and the legacy they take with them for the next Season of Learning!  Letting go is tough, but so much satisfaction in knowing their "back pockets" are full of WBT strategies to help them climb the next big hill in life!  A Rolling Ten Finger Wooo with a Sizzle and a POP! POP POP! of fireworks to my AMAZING 2nd Grade Class of 2012!!!  You ROCK!!!!!

We Did It!!!

Testing is done!!!!!  Seems like we all just ran a marathon...but with the best time ever!!  I am so proud of each student's efforts to do his/her best!!  Yes, tears of joy!!  I can not stress enough the importance of starting testing strategies at the beginning of the year!  Get the Power Pix up and practice them daily!!  Super Improvers Wall is mandatory!!  I don't know my scores yet, but I know my class is All Winners!!

Showtime...Day One!!

Testing officially started in my classroom today!!  All the practice, review, "dress rehearsals", Super Improvers Post It notes on each student desk for "test strategy stars"  came together for THE BEST State Testing Day I have ever experienced in my many years of teaching.  I have never seen so much "heart" in my students' desire to give it all they have!  The Language Arts section started the day.  Yes, the dreaded PASSAGES!  But wait!  Everyone's underlining those important words!  Now they're reading the passage again and DOUBLE underlining!!  They are checking their test answers! Thirty minutes goes by and everyone's still working! The last test turned in at 45 minutes!  Recess and then back in for Math!  Can they do it again?!  Oh, yeah!  All those test simulation sessions worked!  The scratch papers are covered front and back with  numbers and calculations as each student works quickly to solve the problem before the next question is given.  I have to pinch myself!!  Students off to lunch and I'm dancing my way to Teacher Heaven...until the next tests tomorrow!  Go Team!!  To be continued...!!!  Whole Brain Teaching is the BEST!!

Double Linin' to Success

Watching your students open  those Big State Test Booklets can bring on mixed emotions!  Those Dreaded Reading Passages seem to "jump" right out at them bigger than life!  To help ease some of their anxiety, and mine too, my students have been required to read sample passages and attached questions twice and underline important words and phrases as they went along.  I felt confident that this would be the "best" strategy they could use to be successful.  Enter Stage Left...Coach B!!!  Oh, yeah!  It's the Double Lining Strategy!  My strategy was on track, but I had failed to get my class to the Finish Line!  With Coach's direction, my class now reads the passage a THIRD time looking for The 5 Most Important Words in the passage and giving those words a second underlining!  Having that specific goal has everyone reading those passages more carefully and 3X!!  Looking at questions, they check for Doofus, Trickster, and the ultimate Smarty answer.  Previously, they had to Prove their answer choices to their partners, but during Test Simulation, they have to prove it to themselves!  Our testing motto is, "Be the Tortoise, not the Hare!"  Take your time...do your best! Coach B, my class and I say, "Thanks!!!  You Rock!!"

For an extended explanation of Testing Strategies, go to www.wholebrainteaching.com and check out #521 State Test Prep in the Video Library.

Test Prep and The Wall!

Super Improvers Wall August

Levels

Super Improvers Wall March

In my last blog entry, I talked about the value of using the Super Improvers Wall with Test Prep for State Testing. My SI Wall has been one of several positive Constants in my WBT classroom this year. While it has unlimited uses for encouraging individual student improvement, it has been especially valuable most recently for encouraging positive test taking behaviors in test simulation. The instant reward of a Star on a card is amazingly powerful! Telling students a specific behavior you're "watching" for lets them focus in on a goal. Coach B has just posted a new video in the Video Library, #521 State Test Prep, that should not be missed. The Super Improvers Wall video (#503) is there also with a complete explanation of this tool and its many uses. In the pictures above, you can see the evolution of my Wall from August to March using the Rainbow colored levels labeled with dinosaur names. The goal is to reach Gold, T-rex! State Testing is 3 weeks away now, and it's exciting seeing all the students' hard labors coming together. As educators we want to think we've given them every opportunity to Shine. WBT methods have definitely improved the odds of success!