Diamond Rule Update

Today's post will be short and sweet.  I simply wanted to share with all of you a change to the Diamond Rule that Coach B. unveiled at the National Conference.

Many of you will remember that the Diamond Rule first came out last fall:  Look at the one who is teaching.  This was a very important rule because in Whole Brain Teaching it is often the students who teach each other.  If you would like to know more about this rule, please see the separate post that I have written on this topic.

After almost a year of implementation, we all began to realize that there was something missing and this rule could be made even better.  The problem with the old Diamond Rule is that we don't always want our students' focus to be on the teacher or another student.  Sometimes we want them looking at a chart, a book, or a power point.  This is what led to the new and improved Diamond Rule:

Keep your eyes on the target.

Now when we ask or gesture for the Diamond Rule, our students will know that their eyes are expected to be on the target, whatever that target might be at the time.  I am excited to begin the school year with the new and improved Diamond Rule.  I hope that you will be too.

The Big Seven: Learning the Lingo

The posting of this week's blog will mark the one year anniversary of me finding Whole Brain Teaching.  It has been an incredible year.  I have learned so much and grown so much as a Whole Brain teacher.  I will never forget the first time I came across the WBT website.  Although it looked intriguing, I had no idea what Whole Brain Teaching was.  1st Steps looked like a good place to start, so I clicked on that tab and started reading what sounded to me like a foreign language.  I wrote this blog in remembrance of that first trip to the WBT website.  I decided to share with you what I am referring to as a mini-dictionary, defining some of WBT's most common lingo.  You will often hear these terms referred to as "The Big 7", because they provide the foundation upon which Whole Brain Teaching is built.  If you are newbie to Whole Brain Teaching I hope that you will find these definitions helpful to you.

The Big 7 of Whole Brain Teaching

Class Yes:  This is the whole class attention getter.  When the teacher says “Class!” the students respond by saying “Yes!”  Once students have mastered the basic “Class/Yes”, they are taught its many variations.  

The Five Rules:  All WBT classrooms have the same five rules:

            Rule One:  Follow directions quickly.

            Rule Two:  Raise your hand for permission to speak.

            Rule Three:  Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat.

            Rule Four:  Make smart choices.

            Rule Five:  Keep your dear teacher happy.

The Diamond Rule:  Look at the one who is teaching.

These rules are not just posted on the wall and forgotten about.  They are practiced and referred to on a daily basis.  

Hands and Eyes:  Whenever the teacher says, “Hands and eyes!” the students respond “Hands and eyes!”, fold their hands, and stare intently at the teacher.  “Hands and Eyes” is used whenever the teacher has a really big point to make.

The Scoreboard Game:  This is often referred to as the class motivator.  It is a reward system that students buy into and participate in.  There are many levels and variations to the Scoreboard.  This ensures that the students never get bored.  The latest version of the Scoreboard is the scoreboard version 2.0, which is patterned after a video game.  There are ten levels for the students to work their way through.

Teach Okay:  “Teach/Okay” is at the heart of all WBT lessons.  It provides a well -organized structure in which students can dialogue with each other about what they are learning.  It is similar to a "Pair Share", except that it provides students with very clear procedures for sharing with and teaching each other.  It is often used in conjunction with “Mirrors” and “Switch”.  

Mirrors:  Mirrors are key to involving the whole brain in learning.  Mirrors provide students with the opportunity to learn, create, and practice gestures that accompany what they are learning.  Gestures are at the heart of WBT teaching.  

Switch:  This is a strategy that students use during “Teach/Okay”.  It lets students know when it is their turn to share.  There are two types of switches.  The first is "High Five Switch".  This allows the students to take turns at their own pace.  When one student is done sharing he simply high fives his partner.  The other switch is "Uh Oh Switch".  This switch happens on a signal by the teacher.  She says, "Uh Oh Switch" and makes a motion as if pulling down a light switch.  The students repeat her words and motion, and then make the switch.

Please note that the Big 7 are at the heart of Whole Brain Teaching, but they are not all of Whole Brain Teaching.  They are intended to be a starting point.  Once mastered, teachers can dive into the world of WBT writing, the Super Improvers’ Wall, 3 star homework, Mind Soccer, The 5 step lesson plan, Super Speed Reading and Math, Prove It, The Crazy Professor Game… and the list goes on.

Remember, just like learning a foreign language, you cannot learn all of Whole Brain Teaching at once.  Don't get overwhelmed by the lingo.  Start with the Big 7, and then build upon that foundation as you are ready.  Before you know it, you will be fluent in Whole Brain Teaching.

The Diamond Rule and Solo Yes

You gotta love Coach B.  As the founder of Whole Brain Teaching, he is always hard at work thinking up more ways to keep us in teacher heaven.  This week, on his Monday night webcast, he did it again.  He introduced us to two new ideas, which I implemented the very next day.  They are both awesome!

The first is a new rule.  You heard me right.  Whole Brain Teaching now has six rules, instead of five.  The new rule is called the Diamond Rule.  Coach B. created it to help solve a problem that all of us as as teachers face:  How do we get our students to look at the person who is teaching, whether it be us or another student?  As Coach B. explained, this is so important because when students are looking at the person speaking, their visual cortex is engaged.  By looking somewhere else, they are disengaging an entire portion of their brains.  This is not acceptable.  After all, this is Whole Brain Teaching, and we want the students' whole brains engaged at all times.

This is where the Diamond Rule comes in.  It very simply says this:  Look at the person who is teaching.  The gesture that accompanies it is to point your first two fingers towards your eyes, and then point those same two fingers towards others.  As Coach was sharing about this rule, someone on line came up with a great saying:  "Diamond Eyes".  I could not wait to introduce both the rule and the catchy saying to my students.

Since this was a new rule, literally hot off the presses, there were no signs for it.  So as soon as the webcast was over, I got to work creating mine.  I have attached it below.  If you like it, please feel free to use it.  https://www.dropbox.com/s/tlp9og8s2qdwj51/diamond%20rule.pub?dl=0

I introduced the rule to my students using Mirror Words and Teach Okay.  In Mirror Words, students copied my words and my gestures.  Then, during Teach Okay, they taught their partners the words and gestures.  This was immediately followed by "Wrong Way Right Way" practice.  This is a staple of WBT.  Students are asked to practice the rule both the wrong way, and the right way.  By doing this, students know exactly what the rule should and should not look like.  It leaves no doubt as to what is expected of them.  My kids loved the rule, and I saw an immediate improvement.  Suddenly all of my students - even the easily distracted ones - had their eyes on the person speaking.  It was awesome!  One of the nice things about this being a rule is that if I have a student who is having trouble following it, I can invite the student in at recess for two minutes of rule practice.  So far it doesn't look like I will need to do this, but it is nice to have that option if needed.

This rule has really helped during oral writing, when the students are sharing with Mirror Words.  Now, when I call on a student to share, instead of just saying the students name, I will say, "Diamond Eyes on ________."  This reminds the students of the expectation and focuses their attention on the person who is speaking.  I love it!  It has also helped my students earned more tallies for fourth grade mirrors (See last week's post.)  After all, if students are looking at the person who is doing the mirrors, it is a lot easier to mirror them.

Finally, I would like to share with you another great new idea from Coach B.  It is called Solo Yes.  Solo Yes is just like Class Yes, but instead of doing a call out with the entire class, you call one student's name, and that student is expected to answer yes, fold his hands, and look at the teacher.  Nothing else is said, and the lesson continues without interruption.  This is a great strategy to address the behavior of that child who, during a lesson, is playing with his eraser, looking in his desk, tying his shoe etc.  It quickly reminds the student to focus on the lesson, without disrupting the lesson's flow.  It has been a great help.  I used it a lot the first day, but since then I have not needed to use it as frequently.

I spoke at the beginning of this blog about teacher heaven, and I have to tell you that these two strategies have definitely helped to get me there.  Like so many things in WBT, they are so simple and easy to implement, but the payoff is huge.  I would strongly recommend giving them a try.  If you do, please leave a comment on this page letting me know how they are working in your room.  I would love to hear from you!