Who of the Week!

Every week we will spotlight a different student in our "Who of the Week" display.  On the Friday before your child is the "Who of the Week", they will come home with a Cat in the Hat bag with a letter in it.  The letter outlines what the special thing the  "Who of the Week" gets to do each day. 

On Monday, the "Who of the Week" gets to bring in the Cat in the Hat bag with a few of their favorite things to share with the class.  They also send in photos to put up in our display below.  

On Tuesday, they get to bring in a few of their favorite books for us to read during snack.  On Wednesday, their parents send in a letter about them for us to read during snack.  On Thursday, they get a special lunch visitor.  And on Friday the class writes about them in their "Who of the Week Journal".  They get to sit in the share square and we ask them questions and fill in a circle map about them.  Then we draw and write about them in our journal.  

Every child will get to be the "Who of the Week" sometime this year.  I look forward to learning more about your child through this fun activity!  

Whole Brain Teaching!

We have had so much fun learning some of the different Whole Brain Teaching techniques the past few weeks!  We are really getting the hang of it and wanted to share what we have learned so far with you. :)  

The first clip was of our five whole brain classroom rules.  

1. Follow directions quickly.

2. Raise your hand for permission to speak.  

3. Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat.  

4. Make smart choices. 

5. Keep your dear teachers happy!  :)  

Each rule has a gesture to go with it.  This aids with memory and also allows me to just use a gesture reminder instead of a vocal reminder during the middle of a lesson.  

The second clip shows how we do Class-Yes.  This is a whole brain attention getter.  However I say "Class", they have to respond in the same way with "Yes".  So if I say "Classy Class", they say "Yessy  Yes".  

The third clip shows "Hands and Eyes".  We use this when I have something important to share.  

The third clip shows "Teach-Okay".  This has been my favorite Whole Brain strategy that we have learned so far!  Researchers say that a child can only focus for as long as they are old.  So, the average kindergartener can only focus for about 5-6 minutes before needing a "brain break".  "Teach-Okay" is a way of giving them that brain break.  When I say "Teach", they say "Okay" and they turn to their neighbor and teach each other what I just taught in our lesson.  We use it with every lesson and it is so neat to hear them teach each other.  They have so much expression!  Adorable!  

The last clip shows "The Scoreboard".  Basically, we have a scoreboard up on the board with a smiley face and a sad face.  The kids earn points on each side throughout the day.  We work towards different rewards like extra recess, video during snack, etc.  When we earn a smiley point, I may say "Give me a ten finger WOO HOO!"  When we earn a sad point, I may say "Give me a BOO HOO!"  The kids love using the scoreboard.  In a few weeks we introduce different kinds of scoreboards to change it up a bit.  :)  

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the different ways we are using Whole Brain Teaching in our classroom!  Please let me know if you have any questions.  :)