Getting started with Whole Brain Teaching

There are so many parts to Whole Brain Teaching. In this post I am going to focus on the behaviour management of the classroom that uses the two strategies called 'Class-Yes' and 'Scoreboard'.

Any one who has been teaching for more than one week knows the importance of managing the behaviour of the students. You cannot teach anything if the class is disruptive and out of control. As a teacher I have also learned the value of creating the right environment for children to be able to effectively learn.

The best thing I have heard recently about creating a welcoming classroom was on the Conversations interview that Richard Fidler did with Chris Sarra.

"Chris Sarra was the first Aboriginal principal at Cherbourg State School in Queensland. The school was chaotic and wild, filled with kids with low self-esteem who didn't even turn up half the time. But by the time Chris Sarra left it was filled with kids with a sense of purpose and a deep sense of pride in being Aboriginal." Conversation Hour, 6:12 ABC Radio, October 2007.

Introducing Chris Sarra in his April 2014 interview, Richard Fidler said that attendances at Cherbourg went from 62% up to 94%. The following is a transcript of a section of the interview in which Chris tells listeners one reason that attendances did increase.

"I'm happy to get out and chase kids to school. I'm happy to talk to parents and the council about getting kids to school. But what I want from you (the teachers) is some guarantees that this is a school worth coming to. That your classrooms are engaging. That your relationship with them is high expectations. That the things that you offer have intellectual integrity. I'm not going to go out and chase kids into a school where they sit around and do photocopied worksheets or colouring in or whatever. We need to be a school that offers intellectual integrity, good relationships, safe place. That the environment is predictable and loving." Chris Sarra, Conversation Hour, 6:12 ABC Radio, April 2014.

This really confirmed in me the importance of the emotional environment I create in my classroom. WBT is also very concerned with the emotional environment teachers create. "Class-Yes" and "Scoreboard" was my first step into changing my classroom.

What is Class-Yes?

Class-Yes is a behaviour management technique I use when I want to get the attention of the whole class. I use this technique when I need to give an instruction or I need to say something that the class needs to pay attention to. 

As teachers, we all know the frustration of trying to get an entire class silent and paying attention. Over the years of teaching I have heard of and tried a variety of 'attention getting devices'. Some have worked, some didn't and some only worked for a short time. Class-Yes has, in my experience, worked for me since I started using it two and a half years ago.

What do you do?

When I need to get the attention of the class I say, "Class." The students respond by saying, "Yes" in unison and using the same tone of voice that I used. As the students say yes, they must turn and look at me, with their hands on their heads. I have focussed their brains so that they are ready to hear my instruction.

That doesn't sound like much?

You may think that, particularly if all I do is say 'class' and they respond 'yes'. But WBT has taught me the importance of having fun and tapping into the emotional part of the brain. To do that I vary the way I say 'class' as well as the tone and pitch of my voice. The students have fun copying me. I also say 'class' in a variety of ways such as, 'class-a-doo; classity, classity; class-a-doodle-doo; oh class; etc. The variety of ways is limitless but the attention getting response is the same.

What is Scoreboard?

I have never been a fan of reward systems that many other teachers use. I could not see the point of buying heaps of little items to fill a 'shop' or hand out tickets for a lucky draw at the end of the week. It seemed to me that students were learning to perform for a physical reward. It was also my experience that students very quickly tire of the pencil or rubber reward and start expecting bigger and better. Who hasn't heard, "What's in it for me?"?

As I had committed myself to implementing WBT strategies in my classroom, I was going to have to bight the bullet and introduce a 'reward' system. 

Enter the 'Scoreboard'.

I put a small whiteboard at the front of the room and drew a T Chart on it. On one side I wrote Mrs D (that's me) and on the other side I wrote Class. Whenever the class gets a point I put a tally mark on their side of the board and they (in unison) give me a mighty 'Oh yeah!' with a fist pump. Their reward is a visual tally mark, a vocal affirmation and a physical gesture that they all enjoy. Whole brain? You bet.

Whenever their behaviour 'gives me a point', I put a tally mark on my side of the board and they give my a mighty groan. At the end of the day we add up the tally marks to see who won.

One day a teacher aide in my classroom asked me what the class would win. She was used to the physical reward systems seen around the school. I told her that the class won 'bragging rights'. Then she wanted to know what I would win. I told her that I also get bragging rights. I love to go home and tell my family that little bitty me managed to defeat a whole class. If the students should win they can't wait to tell their parents that they beat me.

I use the Scoreboard in conjunction with Class-Yes. If I feel that the class did not stop and look at me quickly or silently enough I put a tally mark on my side of the board. If they do stop instantly and silently, they get the tally mark. The Scoreboard can also be used throughout the day for many other reasons.

How does this tap into the emotional part of the classroom environment?

The class work together as a team. They feel good about their behaviour. They encourage each other to participate in a positive way. They give themselves a positive, emotional, instant boost when they shout out, "Oh Yeah!" They don't have to hear me begging and pleading with them to be quiet and pay attention. We don't waste time waiting for the class to all stop what they are doing before I can speak. When students look at the Scoreboard and see a mass of tally marks on their side of the board they feel great about themselves.

So there you have it, my first two WBT techniques in a nutshell.

If you are interested in the work of Chris Sarra I recommend the interviews that can be found on 6:12 ABC Radio, Conversations. Look in the archive for his name.