Coach B.'s visit to Las Vegas was awesome! I can't tell you how great it was to meet him in person and watch him in action. This post is dedicated to all of the "fine tuning", ah ha moments, and new ideas that I walked away with at the end of Coach's visit. Numbers one and two were my biggest ah ha moments. After that, they are listed in no particular order.
1. My biggest ah ha moment was in regards to Mirror Words. The first thing that I noticed was that in both my classroom and during both training days, Coach B. used Mirror Words even when he did not go right into a Teach Okay. This was huge for me, because for some reason, I had always connected Mirror Words with the Teach Okay. As a result, I only used it right before I did a Teach Okay. To explain why I thought this this way, I need to go back to the beginning. If you have been following my blog for awhile, you know that I was a self-taught Wibbiteer (slang for a Whole Brain teacher). I watched videos and everything that I could find on line about WBT. Most everything I learned about I felt like I understood pretty well, but Mirrors were confusing to me from the beginning. When I first started, I thought that the students had to repeat exactly what you said, along with your gestures. (I guess I thought of a mirror and it brought to my mind the idea of mimicking the other person.) Thankfully, through the intern program, I quickly learned that my understanding of Mirror Words was incorrect. The goal is for students to paraphrase what you are teaching them. This was very eye-opening to me, because since students didn't need to copy my exact words, I could give them more than a simple sentence to teach. I could actually say things like, "Explain to your partner ____________." It changed my lessons. They became so much easier to chunk. My teaching changed completely. Now I feel like I have the final piece of the puzzle. I feel like a free woman. I can use Mirror Words anytime I want to, not just before a Teach Okay! Thinking about it now, I realize that I probably should have known that. After all, I never felt like Silent Mirrors or Magic Mirrors were tied to my Teach Okay. However, the past is the past, and I am just happy that thanks to the modeling of Coach B., the light bulb has finally come all the way on.
2. I really enjoyed watching Coach B.as he taught step two of the five step lesson plan: the question. My biggest take away was that during Mirror Words we can do more than just simply state the question. We can say things like, "I have a question. A really big question. It's a ginormous question. Here is our question for today." We would then go on to state the question two different ways. It just made step two a lot more fun. Then, right before calling for a Teach Okay, we can either say "Mirrors Off" and ask students to share the question with their partner, or simply go right into the Teach Okay. I loved it, because it really brings that element of funtricity to what had not previously been a very exciting part of the lesson.
3. Coach B. talked about something that I think is super important. It will not change what I am doing, but it gave me more insight into why I am doing it, which will help me better explain WBT to others. He said that when we teach our students, we are really teaching them a foreign language. Words like numerator, denominator, hexagon, preposition etc. they have never heard before. When learning a foreign language, we can't just hear the language. The way that we learn it is through speaking it. After modeling the first two steps of a fraction lesson, Coach B. stopped and talked about how many times we had used the words numerator and denominator in the past few minutes. Repetition is key to learning a foreign language, and it is the repetition created by the first two steps of the five step plan that makes those two steps so powerful. That was a great take away for me.
4. My next insight was in regards to think time. He said that when we give kids think time, we don't know what they are thinking about. I had not thought of this before, but it made sense. However, I was not sure that this would work with my ELL students, who I feel often need a few moments to think about what they want to say, particularly right before oral writing. So I talked to Coach B. about this. I shared with him what I currently do: Right before asking students to think of a triple whammy sentence I have them put their heads down and hold up one finger for each whammy they think of. When three fingers are up, I know they have their triple whammy sentences. He thought that this was interesting and suggested that I try it both ways and see what the differences are in the students' responses. That is exactly what I am going to do. I am anxious to find out if my students can come up with triple whammy sentences without the think time. If they can, I am considering saying good-bye to my think time.
5. Coach B. talked about one of the most powerful things that you can teach your students: No two sentences start with the same word. If you are familiar with the Writing Game, this is actually found on the paper clip editing checklist. I have it typed out and ready to go on my wall, but I had not yet taught it to my students. I was going to, I just hadn't given much thought yet to when. I am happy to report that the wait is now over. Last Monday I began to teach my students this very important rule, and it is now hanging on my red/green writing wall.
6. Coach used a half finger Wooh with my students. It was awesome! He would say, "Give me an eleven and a half finger Wooh". For the half finger students bent one finger and very quickly and in a high voice said, "Woop". It was awesome! I use them all the time now. My kids say that Coach B. has really got me hooked on the half finger Woohs. I told them that they were right. I love them!
7. I learned a fun option for three-peats. As soon as students have followed a direction, such as blue folders, they raise both hands in the air and either cheer out loud or silently until you signal for them to stop. Another idea would be for them to snap their fingers. This keeps the students busy if you need a moment to help a student who can't find what you have asked for. I love it! I implemented it this week with my class - I chose the silent cheer - and I am happy to report that it is a success.
8. Coach also officially introduced as a strategy something that he has always done: Give me a _________. For example, "Give me an oooh!" or "Give me an aaah!" We practiced inserting these statements into our lessons, and it just added a little more funtricity to them.
9. It was a lot of fun when Coach B. came and played Mind Soccer with my students. He modeled a component of Mind Soccer that I remembered seeing on videos, but until he modeled it, I had forgotten all about it. When a team got a question right he would point to them and say cheer, and then he would quickly point to the other team and say moan. It made the game a lot more fun. I will definitely be doing that from now on.
10. My last big take away was to amp up the funtricity. I feel like we have a lot already, but watching Coach B., and the way that he was able to make everything fun, was contagious. The limbic system in the brain is so important to learning. If we can't engage our students emotions, they will not retain the information, which is truly what learning is all about.
I am so happy that I had the opportunity last weekend to work with Coach B. There are not enough positive adjectives to describe him. I, for one, am just very thankful for Coach B.'s passion for helping others. It is truly one of the things that make him so special. Happy Whole Brain Teaching!
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