Whole Brain Teaching...Getting Started

I have started to read the Whole Brain Teaching Book, which so far has been amazing and eye opening.  I must say, I wish that I started reading this at the beginning of August so I could jump in and get started sooner.  It all sounds so perfect on paper, and I can only hope it works as well in the classroom as they say it does.  I know going in that I am going to be making A LOT of changes in how I do things and it is going to be a lot of work up front "training" them.  I don't like using the word training, but in essence when it comes to routines, that is what we are doing.

 

 

 

The idea of WBT is to engage the child's whole brain in learning so there isn't any mental area left over for challenging behavior.  The book gives some pretty detailed explanations on how to do that.  On top of the book, which is awesome, they have an amazing website with a plethora of resources. One of the thinks that stood out in the introduction to me was when the author pointed out that no adult really wants to punish a kid, we punish because we don't know what else to do.  I don't know about you, but this is very true for me.  I get to the point where I am pulling out my hair and I don't know what else to do sometimes. I can't wait to try the ideas outlined in this book and put them to use this year.  I want to leave you one final quote from the introduction today.  This quote is so extremely true, and I need to remember this when I get to that frustration point at home and in the classroom.

 

Ps.  I took my little cuties camping last weekend.  Despite getting 8 inches of rain the two days we were there, we had a blast!