Showing posts with label Whole Brain Teaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Whole Brain Teaching. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Our Morning Meeting

One of my favorite parts of our day is our Morning Meeting.  I have thought about letting it go from time to time (especially with the demands of testing season looming), but when I notice my students using elements of the meeting throughout the day (such as sharing compliments or concerns) I know just how crucial a piece it really is to our routine.

The goals of our Morning Meeting is to:


  • Set the tone for respectful learning
  • Establish a climate of trust
  • Motivate students to feel significant
  • Create empathy and encourage collaboration
  • Support social, emotional, and academic learning

  • At the beginning of the year, I lead the meeting an model the expectations, but I quickly hand over the task to a student.  I pick a new student each day to run the meeting (I just follow my class list alphabetically and then start over when we run through the list).  The components of our meeting are:

    1. The Rules.  I use Whole Brain Teaching in my classroom, so we go over each of the 5 rules using the hand signals.


    2. Our Mission Statement.  After the rules, we read our mission statement.  It is a modified version of our school mission statement, and it really focuses us on our goals for the day ahead.


    During the next portion of the meeting students raise their hands to participate in each section.  The person of the day chooses a student who is raising their hand and throws a soft ball to them.  The students are expected to only talk when they have the ball, and to actively listen to the speaker. I have the student of the day choose three students to speak during each portion.

    3. Compliments.  During this portion of the meeting, students compliment one another.  They might say things such as, " I would like to compliment so and so for being a good friend." or "I would like to compliment ____ for persevering during math yesterday." This year some of my students have taken to complimenting people outside of our classroom (i.e. family members, other staff members) and I have allowed it because they have been well thought out compliments.

    4. Concerns. Students share concerns they may have about our classroom, school, students, etc.  They have included things such as the water fountain not working to me not teaching Spanish (LOL!).


    5. I Am Proud of / I Am Working On. This is a time for students to share the things they are proud of and the things they are working on.  They might say that they are proud of reaching their AR goals, and they would like to work on mastering their math facts. It really keeps them accountable.  I have overheard students asking one another, "Do you want me to quiz you on your math facts since you are working on that?"

    6. I Am Feeling ___ because. This is an idea that I took from a Ms. Noonan video ( you can see one below).  We use it not only to share our feelings, but also to work on synonyms and vocabulary words.  I don't have many English Language Learners in my classroom this year, but even my  native English speakers could use some new vocabulary words.  We call them "Fancy Dancy words".

    7. Academic Content. I try to add Academic Content to each morning meeting.  Sometimes it is a round of skip counting, or some mental math.  Other times I might ask a comprehension question about our read aloud. 

    Resources

    My morning meeting is really a hodge podge of ideas gleaned from a variety of places, but here are a few of my go to places when I do my planning for this portion of our day:


    I love this book from Responsive Classroom!





     80 Morning Meeting Ideas is another book from Responsive Classroom geared towards 3rd to 6th Grade.



    I have also incorporated ideas from this video from Ms. Noonan.  I *may* have watched every last one of her videos and stolen tidbits from each one, because let me just say she is AMAZING!



    I also have a Pinterest Board dedicated entirely to Morning Meeting Resources that I add to when I find additional resources and ideas.    Follow Kelly's board Morning Meetings on Pinterest.

    Do you have a Morning Meeting with your class?

    Monday, June 30, 2014

    Monday Made It June 30th


    Summer is here, but that doesn't mean all of us teachers aren't working!  I think many of us work harder in the summer getting things ready for the upcoming year.  I know this because Monday Made It is always full of evidence of it!

    Here are a few of the things I have made this week:


    Ok, I have jumped on the spray painting band wagon! I have these containers where I keep all of my supplies, but the covers were getting a little dingy from all the little hands touching them. 







    They may have even been a little extra loved on and decorated.  Gotta love 4th grade humor right??? 

    Anyway... I had thought about bringing them home to scrub with some Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, but then I saw everyone in bloggy world spray painting the heck out of everything they could get their hands on, so I decided, why not?

    Before




    After.



    Luke also decided to join the spray painting party.  He had us spray paint his pegs for his bike (they were silver) so that it matches.  He may have gotten the matching OCD thing from me..


    I also managed to make my new Whole Brain Teaching 5 Rules posters to match my room.  The matching OCD thing..  I still need to cut around the laminate and hang them up, but they are made!





    And.. I managed to give my TpT store a little love with 2 new products! 

    Homophones Bingo


    and 

    Prefixes and Suffixes Bingo


    Both of these products were flash freebies this weekend, and I let my Facebook fans know about it.  If you aren't already following me on Facebook, make sure you do to find out about flash freebies like this one!



    And speaking of following, make sure you are following me on Bloglovin' as well.  I have a big 500 follower giveaway coming up that you don't want to miss!  I am already a bit over 500 followers on TpT and I am getting close on Bloglovin' I would love to be at 500 on both by July 5th (hint, hint).  



    Make sure you link up to 4th Grade Frolics and show us what you've made!  If you don't know how to link up, check out the tutorial on linking up to linky parties I wrote yesterday.


    Sunday, January 5, 2014

    Should Old Procedures Be Forgot... Reviewing Expectations After the Holiday Break


    Last day of the holiday and I can no longer procrastinate any longer - I have to get in the lesson planning mode again unless I want supreme chaos in my classroom tomorrow morning!  Speaking of supreme chaos - after two weeks away from school, I know that I am going to have to remind my kiddos of what our classroom expectations are.   I was absolutely inspired  when I saw this post from The Science Penguin to make my own True or False PowerPoint to review my own classroom expectations during our morning meeting tomorrow.  I will show the students the PowerPoint and have them use either a thumbs up for true or a thumbs down for false (or I might have them show me a T or F in sign language).



    We use Whole Brain Teaching in our class, so several of  the slides address the 5 rules.




















    Well, I'm sure you know what the answer is to that one!  LOL!  I have uploaded a file that you can customize to meet your needs as a FREEBIE on Teachers Pay Teachers.

    What things do you do to review expectations after the holiday?























    Tuesday, December 31, 2013

    The Best of 2013 And a Sale!


    Top Ten, Top 10
    Really Top 5! :)



    Since today is the last day of 2013, I thought I would share some of the best posts of 2013 from my blog.  I have learned so much from my fellow teacher bloggers, and I love sharing things that I have learned, things that I have tried, and things that honestly haven't gone as well as I would have liked, because, as I tell my students - mistakes are proof that you are learning!

    My number 1 Blog Post from 2013 was Whole Brain Teaching The Scoreboard.  Many teachers LOVE the results from this method of teaching that also includes behavior management.  I know I have seen significant improvement in behavior and engagement during lessons using many of Chris Biffle's Strategies.This post showed how I use the Scoreboard in my classroom and includes a FREEBIE!


    In the number 2 slot is The World Would Be More Awesome If post.  This post is how I turned an inspiring Kid President (my kiddos LOVE him) video into a writing assignment.

    My 3rd most popular blog post of 2013 was my post about Marzano learning scales inspired by a Pinterest pin.  Our school district has heavily adopted the use of Marzano learning scales for our students to self assess.  This post shows my old version of the scales, but I now have each student keep a copy of the scales in their notebooks.  I will post about this soon.


    In 4th place is another post about Whole Brain Teaching!  This one was about the 5 classroom rules and also included several links to some FREEBIE signs to hang in your class.


    And... last but not least the 5th most popular post of 2013 was my teaching subjects and predicates with Mr Morton (of grammar rock fame).  This one also included a FREEBIE!

    I am sensing a theme - FREEBIES and Whole Brain Teaching!  So, expect more of both kinds of posts (as well as a mix of others) in the New Year!  Thank you so much for visiting my blog, whether that means you are a new visitor today or you have been visiting all year long!  As a special thank you - I am having a sale!





    I am also having a sale today and tomorrow in honor of the new year!  You can get 20% off every item in both my Teachers Pay Teachers and Teachers Notebook stores.  While you are there, remember to Follow my Stores for a chance to win a $25 Gift certificate!  I have a giveaway for store followers every month :) Just a little thank you for being a follower! Thank you so much to Sheree from Peterson's Pad for the awesome sales button!  She is also having a 20% off sale at her store tomorrow as well.

    Tuesday, September 3, 2013

    Whole Brain Teaching - The Scoreboard



    The Scoreboard is THE classroom management tool piece of Whole Brain Teaching. Teachers who implement the Whole Brain Teaching method use tally marks for when the class is good and tally marks for when the class is not so good.  They are explicit about the good and not so good behavior and they have kids working for the teeniest little reward - and the kids love it!

    Last year I just used a little whiteboard that I drew a line down each day with smileys on one side and frownies on the other.  But... this year I decided to go fancy dancy with this adorable Scoreboard made by Nicole from Teaching With Style.




     You can download this freebie from Teaching With Style. Not only does it have the Scoreboard above, but it also has a variety of other styles and some teaching notes to help you out if this is your first time using Whole Brain Teaching. I just printed it out and laminated it so that I could use it over and over again.



    Using the scoreboard is a whole class behavior system.  The class works together to earn the reward.  If I spot a kiddo displaying negative behavior, I don't call them out specifically, I just add a tally mark under the frownie side and say, "Someone was blurting out, frownie." or "Waiting for someone to sit at the carpet, frownie."  Whenever I give a frownie, I try really hard to find someone modeling the correct behavior.  "I love the way (Child's name) is sitting on the carpet, Smilie.  If you are not sitting that way, please fix yourself so you can earn more Smilies for the class."

    One trick of the trade is to use the Scoreboard A LOT!  Way more than you think you need to.  I always keep in mind that just like math and reading, students need to be taught the type of behavior that is expected of them.  The more you remind them, the more they learn.

    Here is my scoreboard for just half the day:


    What do the students get if they win? In my class they earn 5 minutes extra recess or free time (You Tube videos are a huge hit in our classroom - even the educational ones!). If they lose, we spend 5 minutes practicing correct behavior or procedures.

    Prizes should be small and easy to implement - if you can get away with it let the prize be bragging rights!  My kiddos are a tougher crowd, but it worked last year for the first few weeks.

    My other tip - USE THE SCOREBOARD!  Sorry to yell, but it is that important.  I have noticed my students' behavior goes downhill when I don't use it as often, and is AMAZING when I  am consistent with it.







    You can watch Chris Bifle's video about The Scoreboard here:

    Do you use the Scoreboard in your classroom?  Do you have any tips or suggestions?

    This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.  
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