Whole Brain Teaching & the Marine Corps

Since we have today off due to Veterans Day (thanks to all veterans and their families for their sacrifices), I figured now would be a good time to update everyone on how Whole Brain Teaching has been going in my classroom.  You might wonder how that ties into the Marine Corps, but you'll see in a minute!

First let me say that I LOVE Whole Brain Teaching.  Oh I wish I could take a video of my class and show you guys the stuff we're learning.  It's just hard to describe it using words only and no video.  So here's some things that I've really liked so far:

1.  Teaching vocabulary - WBT is fabulous for teaching vocabulary.  The kids really remember the definitions if you add the gestures and I love the "for example" part at the end!  I may not be able to take a video of my classroom, but I do have 3 kids at home that I can bribe into being my test subjects!  Here's a video showing a condensed version of teaching vocabulary words.

When I teach vocab words, I usually say the definition first (without them doing the gestures or saying anything) 2-3 times.  Then I do "mirror" and usually remind my students that mirrors don't talk 2-3 times.  Then I do "mirror words" 2-3 times.  We also talk about the "for example" part first and decide what example would be something we will all remember.  When I taught mammals to my class, we used bats as our for example.  But when I asked my kids, they decided that giraffe was the best example.   

I also just attended this reading differentiation workshop last week.  They talked about not only giving examples but discussing non-examples.  That's something I'm going to add into my teaching.  After we discuss the words and learn the gestures, I'm going to give an example/non-example and they can show me with a thumbs up or down (right in front of their chest, not waving their hands around) whether they think it's an example or a non-example.

2.  Class-Yes - This is a great attention getter.  Basically, you say class and they respond with yes in the same intention you used.  The key is to mix it up.  Sometimes say "class, class" or use a funny voice.  My favorite is to say "classity, class" and they respond with "yessity, yes".  It's amazing how fast it gets everyone's attention.

3.  Bodies and Chairs - My most favorite part of WBT is the procedures.  I absolutely LOVE that my whole class responds with their voices and bodies when I give them a simple phrase or even just one word.  It's seriously AMAZING.  I feel like a magician.  I say "bodies and chairs" and they respond with "bodies and chairs" three times while they stand up, push their chair in, and stand behind their desk.  Amazing!  We usually go to the carpet so I say "carpet" and they walk to the carpet while saying "carpet" 3 times.  This can also be used when I want them to go to their seats or line up.  Even my slower students who aren't always up to speed get it because everyone else is saying it so many times.  

Now here comes the Marine Corps connection.  As I was telling my husband and other Marines about Whole Brain Teaching, they ALL said the same thing.  That's the same thing Drill Instructors do to command whole platoons.  It got me thinking, and they're right.  My Drill Instructors (I was a Marine for almost 10 years) commanded the whole platoon through using WBT (albeit not a very nice version).

We've been trying to think of all the things we could remember our Drill Instructors would say and the platoon would respond in unison while doing a movement.

They would say:

Ears - and the platoon would say "open"

Eyeballs - And the platoon would say "click" while turning to look at the Drill Instructors

Platoon halt (when marching) - And the platoon would say "step freeze" 

I've tried to find a good video of boot camp to show you guys, but I think it might scare away a lot of followers!  LOL.  So I'll just let you imagine it!

So basically my point is, I love the Whole Brain Teaching.  I'm excited to do more and more.  I think it helps keep the students more engaged.  And I feel like I'm doing less talking than I was before.  All pluses for me!

I have also been busy making some new stuff for my students.

If you're looking for some Thanksgiving Math Centers, I made these differentiated centers that are Common Core Aligned.

And a sweet follower asked me to make a game focusing on Short E and Long E (ee) patterns.  So I made this Long E Sweets game.

And speaking of the Marine Corps in this post, I HAVE to give a shout out to one of my oldest Marine Corps friends.  He's married to this super creative lady who makes the coolest stuff for her cute shop, The Summery Umbrella.

She has these really great signs that would be PERFECT in my house.  I've been eyeing this one.

There's a lot of her signs that would make some really nice wedding gifts.  Like this sign.

She also has a cute blog that you can follow {here} and a Facebook page {here} so you don't miss out on anything.

Crayon Initial (freebie template)

I know you've seen them all over Pinterest, because Crayon initials are super cute!  It seems like most of the ones on Pinterest are for teachers (and I sure wish someone would make me one), but I also like making them for baby gifts.  One of my best friends is expecting her first child in October.  It's a girl!!!  I'm super excited for her!  Since they've already picked out the name (let's hope they don't change their minds now), I made her one for Mother's Day.  The baby will be called Shakespeare, and I think this will be super cute in her room.

I thought some other people might want to know how to make a Crayon initial.  They do make super cute teacher appreciation gifts, end-of-the-year gifts, and baby shower gifts!

Here's the materials you need:

You also need a sharp knife (but I forgot to add that in the pic).  I got my shadow boxes at Michaels.  They had a pack of 3 for $9.99, and teachers get 15% off!

*One other word of advice, you may not want to leave the tube of Tacky Glue in a plastic bag where your puppy could dig it out and get glue all over herself (right after a bath), a dress, and a robe....just FYI.

Here's the template that I used.  It's a powerpoint file that I'm attaching.  I used the Curlz MT font which can be found here for free.  If you don't have that font, it will show up as a different font on your computer.  You can change the font to whatever you want.  The S is the AbcPrint font which can be found here for free.

Click on the template to get your own free copy.

Here's some tips that I learned from the 3 of these that I've made so far:

1.  Make sure you spell the name right BEFORE you glue half the crayons down.  I learned this the hard way.  :/

2.  My shadow boxes were smaller than a typical frame, so I had to cut the paper down to fit.  It was a little difficult to get mine just right.  The back of my shadowbox had these little curved sections that I had to cut around.  Much easier to do that BEFORE you glue a bunch of crayons down.

3.  Curved sections (especially an S) can be real tricky.  You may want to cut out the crayons and lay them down before you glue.

4.  Check to make sure that you when you put the final product back into the shadowbox that it's not too high or too low.  I also learned this hard the way after I made mistake #1 of spelling the name wrong.  

5.  If you make a mistake after the crayons are all glued down on the initial, it is possible to cut the initial out and glue it onto another piece of paper.  

6.  Try to make sure your crayons cover the template initial completely.  That's also why I made the initial gray, so it's not so easy to spot.

If you want to see how other people made these or look at different initials, I made a WHOLE Pinterest board of nothing but Crayon initials.  You can find it here.  There you go, happy crafting!!!

Crate Seats and Cheap White Erase Boards

I saw this super cute idea on ProTeacher and just had to create some myself. You can click {here} to the original post and pictures. I set out today to make my own set. Here's the what the final set looks like (please excuse the picture quality from my Iphone).  P.S. I know the spacing is a little funky but Blogger is not cooperating with me at all tonight. :/  

                                                      
Now onto how we (my hubby and I) made these today.

I headed out to get all the supplies I needed. Let me start by saying that dragging 5-year-old triplets along to shop

for cutesy stuff for your classroom does NOT make for the best shopping experience for yourself or the other customers. I found my crates at Target for less than $4. They had black, lime green, aqua, and pink ones. You're also going to need cute coordinating ribbon, some board, something to cover the seat, adhesive glue, and some little tacks.

To cover the seats, I used bath mats that I found at Target. I found these at Target for about $4 a piece. My husband found a nice piece of board at Lowe's that was already sanded on both sides and big enough to make 3 seats for about $13. He was kind enough to cut each piece to fit right inside the crates and rest on the inside lip. I used these pieces to trace the correct size onto the mat and cut the pieces out.

We used this adhesive spray to attach the mats to the boards. Be warned that this stuff is SUPER strong spelling and should be used outside.

To be extra sure that the mats stayed put we used these little fabric u-shaped nails to secure them to the board.

We used those same u-hook fasteners to attach the ribbon to the bottom side of the boards.

And that's all there was to it! I plan on my students using these for independent reading time throughout the room. I haven't decided what I will use the storage area for yet.

On another note, did you know that Lowe's sells marker board that they will cut into pieces for you? I had heard other teachers mention this but hadn't gotten any myself until today. The marker board was less than $12, and it was big enough to be cut into 8 pieces that are about 16 x 12 inches in size.