The Scoreboard has often been referred to as the motivator. It is a reward system that replaces team points, clip charts, cards, names on the board etc. It is easy to implement; there is student buy-in and participation; and students are never singled out for wrong choices. To get started all you need to do is draw a two column grid on your whiteboard. On one side draw a smiley face and on the other side draw a frownie face. When the class, or even a few students, performs well, briefly tell the class what they did (ex. Great diamond eyes and folded hands.) and ask for a "mighty oh, yeah". Students will quickly clap their hands together and say, "Oh, yeah!" While they do this, you will make one tally mark on the smiley face side of the scoreboard. On the other hand, if the class does not perform well, you will briefly tell the class what they did (ex. Too slow.) and ask for a "moaner groan". Students will quickly shrug their shoulders and groan. You will then place a tally mark on the frownie face side of the scoreboard. It is important to note that children can be singled out for positive choices (smilies), but never should a student or group of students be singled out for negative choices (frownies). When using the scoreboard always follow the + - 3 rule. These means that smilies and frownies should always be within three of each other. As coach B. says, "If you reward too much, the students become lackadaisical. If you penalize too much, the students will become resentful." This is why the +-3 rule is in place. The reward can simply be the students knowing that they beat the teacher. Other options are an extra minute of recess, one less homework problem, Mind Soccer minutes, or a one minute dance party.
Last fall Coach B. introduced us to the latest version of the scoreboard, known as the Scoreboard 2.0, or the Video Game Scoreboard. It is referred to as the video game scoreboard, because students advance through ten different levels, similar to the way you would move through levels in a video game. Each level has its own name and brings with it its own set of challenges and rewards. Last time I shared with you about the scoreboard our class had just started using it. We were at level one, which is called "Base Camp". My students have since progressed to level three, which is the Double Bonus level. The concept of a bonus was first introduced in level two, "Ruleville". A bonus is a focus on a specific rule or behavior that you want to reinforce in the classroom. For example, if your students have trouble with Rule Two, "Raise your hand for permission to speak." then you might make Rule Two your bonus. The bonus is listed separately on the Scoreboard, because it is a behavior that you will be watching specifically for. When students are caught following this behavior they receive bonus points that count toward their overall score.
Level Three is known as the "Double Bonus". At this level students are given not just one, but two bonus behaviors to work on. Coach B. also provided another option at this level. You could choose to say that all we are working on are the bonus behaviors. These would then be the only behaviors that you would score for. I liked that idea. Overall I have a well-behaved class with no serious behavior issues. I thought it would be fun and very helpful to focus on two behaviors that can always use a little fine tuning: Diamond Eyes/folded hands and gestures/Brainies. Below is what my level three scoreboard looked like when we began.
So far level three has been very successful. You will notice the numbers one through ten at the top of the board. I put this there to keep track of the students' wins. It takes ten wins to move up to the next level. At the time I took this picture it was the end of day one at level three, and as you can see, the students won. They have been very excited about this level, and I have definitely noticed an improvement in how quickly students look at me and fold their hands. I have also noticed that some of my lower babies are trying a lot harder to use Brainies and gestures. I think that having just those two things to focus on has made a huge difference. I am really enjoying this level.
I am also looking forward to level four. It is called "No Traitors!" and looks to be a lot of fun. At this level the boys compete against the girls and there are no bonuses. A traitor is someone who scores for the other side, but you would never mention them by name. Both the boys and the girls earn smilies and frownies. The winner (boys or girls) is determined by who has the most smilies. I have decided that the winning side will get to line up first the next day. This should generate a lot of enthusiasm. A class win occurs when both the boys and the girls have more positive points (smilies) than negative points (frownies). I am really excited about this level and so are my students. I have hinted to them that something really big is going to happen at level four, but I won't tell them what. As a result, they are even more motivated to get past level three.
If you would like to learn more about all of the levels, then just go to www.wholebrainteaching.com. From there go to the drop down menu at the top of the page and click on "Goodies". The first choice under "goodies" is "wbt tv". When the page opens scroll down and you will find a video library of webcasts by Coach B. The Scoreboard is webcast 584. While there, please be sure to scroll through all of the webcasts in the library. There you will find a wealth of information on Whole Brain Teaching.
If you would like to learn more about all of the levels, then just go to www.wholebrainteaching.com. From there go to the drop down menu at the top of the page and click on "Goodies". The first choice under "goodies" is "wbt tv". When the page opens scroll down and you will find a video library of webcasts by Coach B. The Scoreboard is webcast 584. While there, please be sure to scroll through all of the webcasts in the library. There you will find a wealth of information on Whole Brain Teaching.
No comments:
Post a Comment