WBT

Do  you use pieces of Whole Brain Teaching? I used class/yes and the 5 rules last year. I also tried to talk less, use hand motions more and partner the kids up to teach each other the material. I want to go "all in" this coming year with my kindergartners. I know the importance of giving short chunks of information and having the students use that information in some way. I am so guilty of getting the kids on the carpet and talking WAY to long. Then they get frustrated and I get frustrated and no one is learning all that information at one time. This year I vow to talk less and really stick to doing mini lessons.... I know it will be hard for me, but it is my number 1 goal.

I read a blog post the other day by ?? (I am so sorry, I can't remember and couldn't find it. If it was you, please let me know!) she mentioned her principal told the staff to" do 5 things well" I needed to see/hear/read/digest that! I am the queen of having too many irons in the fire. I get really excited about what I am learning and I want to do everything right now! Is that a teacher thing? Anyway, for accoutnability sake, here are my 5 things I am going to do really well (at least I am going to try to do them really well!)
1. Implement Whole Brain Teaching
2. Daily 5 - scared to death about this one but I am committing myself to the process.
3. Daily 5 for math - I did lots of this in third grade but I want to get even better at pulling small groups in kinder.
4. Use pieces of Singapore math during my guided math lessons. I think it is SO important to really focus on number sense and S-L-O-W down where needed.
5. Blogging - I am going to try hard to really document my first year as a kindergarten teacher and write about what is working/not working for me. I am also going to try to create things for my classroom and share them through this blog.

I created a whole brain poster to match my classroom colors. I decided to make 2 different versions. One with the kindergarten rules as heard in this famous video below, and one with the "regular" rules. I made them in rectangles and circles for your displaying pleasure :) If you find any mistakes, please let me know!

Click here to get your copy

So, what are your 5 things? I would love to hear about them!