whole brain post #1: rules, and babies

I love Whole Brain Teaching. I can’t stress enough how it makes the day more fun for me and that’s what important, right? I am going to do a series of posts this week about my journey with wbt and how I incorporate it daily. I will be working on certification this year and leading a PLC at school.
I started using a few strategies here and there in my last year of 4th grade. However, I really got down and dirty last year, which was my first year in second.
Today’s post is all about the 5 rules.
It can seem extremely overwhelming in the beginning. I remember nights when Drew wouldn’t sleep and we’d watch Whole Brain power teachers on YouTube so I could learn how to teach it! I start every first day of school {ok, the past two years, but forever after this too!} teaching my 5 simple rules. They really get a kick out of rule 5! Each rules has a gesture. We practice them every single morning for the first 2 weeks. After that, if someone breaks a rule, say gets up without raising their hand, I just stop mid-whatever and say “Rule Number 3”, the class chimes in “Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat.” and gives the stink eye!
I think what makes it work so well for me is the active participation. I used to make the rules with the kids on the first day. We’d have long discussions about it, make lists, defend choices. But, in the end, we always had the same rules I had in mind. Who was I kidding?!
Now, I also used the red, green, and yellow cards too. I am moving back to the clip chart this year for two reasons. At the end of this past year, we added a purple card that you could move UP to beyond green. I strongly feel those kids that try to be all they can be in class deserve some recognition. and Two, I made an adorable clip chart then uploaded it to Vistaprint. It’s just too cute not to use! You can download it below. I ordered it as a small banner. I will use magnets rather than clothespins though. 25 clothespins simply do not fit on Ready to Learn each morning!


Clip Chart
Now, how to use both the clip chart AND wbt? It’s simple really. With the clip chart, the rules can be whatever you like! If they “clip down” they will get a practice card. More on those in tomorrow’s post! 

oh yea, and the babies! Our quail we hatched in May were released at the park today! They are so big! I wanted to share a few moments of the release. It was a huge deal lemme tell ya. There were 6 people there! 4 were my kids and me!

these are the quail that were the size of a quarter! remember!

the water fountain shoots a tad bit far. They had a blast!