Whole Brain Teaching

Some of my colleagues and I have recently come across an intriguing teaching method called Whole Brain Teaching. If you look it up on Youtube, there are some great videos of this practice being used in kindergarten classrooms. At first, I found it to be very robotic and rigid, but I soon realized my group of kiddies truly needs this type of structure. I have only implemented a few of the techniques, including Class-Yes, Hand & Eyes, The Scoreboard Game, and The Five Class Rules. We also do Turn-and-Talk, which is sort of similar to Teach-Okay. These strategies have worked wonders in my classroom. Since implementing these new techniques, I have really seen a major improvement in my students' behavior and engagement. Click the link to check out more information on Whole Brain Teaching.

Each day we review the Five Class Rules orally, with visuals and body movements. Click here to download my version of the Classroom Rules. I laminated them and put them on a ring for easy access.

We also use the Smiley Scoreboard as a whole class incentive system. Each time everyone is working well together, participating, and staying on task, they win one tally on the smiley side. If they are not doing these things, they earn a tally on the frownie side. On Friday, if the smiley side is winning, the kids get to vote for extra recess, extra center time, or a movie. Just laminate the scoreboard so you can use a dry erase marker on it. Click here to download my Smiley-Frownie Scoreboard.