Saturday, July 28, 2012

WBT 1st Hour - Cue Cards are HERE!

The Cue Cards are finished.



Right now they are available on Teachers Pay Teachers!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Whole-Brain-Teaching-First-Hour-Cue-Cards

This is my first posting to TPT... so let me know how it works for you!


Friday, July 27, 2012

Did someone say giveaway...

Did someone say giveaway...  YES ... I did in my last post!

It seems that Julie is the only one interested in my give away... so she automatically gets a copy!

However, I want more people to guess my classroom project mentioned in my last post.

So, here are some pictures of the give away project. I thought of this idea during Tuesday's broadcast (Program 532) about the First Hour of the First Day! So many people kept saying they were afraid they would forget something. So here is my solution. I haven't finished yet because I keep watching the video to make sure I didn't forget anything. When I am finished I will post the finally product on Teachers Pay Teachers... for free of course! This will be my first product on TPT!

However, anyone who guesses my BIG project will get a printed copy mailed to them! WAHOO!





Thursday, July 26, 2012

Guess my new project!

I am getting ready to start a wonderful WBT project for my classroom! Can anyone guess what I am making just looking at the picture of the supplies I am going to use?



Make your guesses here... and you might win another fun WBT project I am working on! (This freebie is actually ANOTHER project I am working on!)


Sunday, July 22, 2012

Summer Preparations ... part 1

I have been busy this summer with little preparations for my classroom both WBT and otherwise. I am going to outline in this post what I have done so far this summer.

Before I even left school in May, I copied the SuperSpeed Math. One set (blank and with answers) for each student. I then purchased enough 3 prong folders for each student. The copies were placed in page protectors (with my mom's help). I went into to this wanting all the same color (one that most students wouldn't buy themselves)... and I have come up short... so I am still searching every Wal*Mart for more of this style and color! Below is a picture of five of the folders. I have 22 completed so far.

SuperSpeed Math Folders

Attending WBT conferences has been the most important thing I have done for my classroom this summer. I tried and TRIED to get a huge group of people to go with me but I finally decided I would go no matter what.

I attend the Reading and Math Conference in Jackson, MO by myself. I meet two new friends at this conference, Susan Floyd and Staci Glass. They are Co-Directors of Whole Brain Teaching Missouri and will be hosting six Saturday WBT workshops throughout this school year. Jackson is just a SHORT (LOL) five hour drive from my town, but I will still be making the drive to help these wonderful ladies with the workshops! 

I will be traveling from just east of Kansas City to right about where the hwy 55 symbol is located.


At this conference, I became more aware of the importance of the scoreboard and how to tie it into ALL aspects of the day.  We practiced over and over to become more natural with including the scoreboard and various forms of Mirror.

Reading and Math handout with copies of the WBT Lesson template




In between conferences, I decided to print off the Power Pix at my local Office Depot. This was a significant cost because I had them printed in color on cardstock. Each Pix was also printed twice. The first printing was on a full sheet (for when I introduce the topic) and the second was a half sheet for placement on my Power Pix wall. I didn't use Power Pix last year except towards the end. I really look forward to using these powerful tools.

I am also working to transfer the third grade math power pix to the common core standards. That involves relabeling the pix and MAKING new ones. Thanks to scrapbunny ( http://scrapbunnywbt.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html ) getting this started and for creating a Power Pix template!

My second conference for the summer took me to Union, MO. This time I had the pleasure of bringing along two co-workers. Our librarian and before/after school care director came along. Also at the conference were 12 co-workers from another building in the district. EVERY fourth grade teacher from that building attended!

At this conference I was able to join Coach B in the ADVANCED WBT sessions! So exciting. Once again I was able to practice the Five Step Lesson Plan, Class Yes, Score Board, and Mirrors (I even learned a new version of mirrors... check out my other blog on the subject http://pawsitivelywbt.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-four-mirrors.html) At this conference, Coach B introduced me as an intern! I was so excited! (Imagine my excited hands gesture here!)

Scoreboard page in Classroom management handout on the right. WBT lesson plan format on the left.


From the left: ME (Deanna Schuler), Jeff Battle, Chris Biffle, and Chris Rekstad.

I had barely settled in at home before I realized that I needed cardstock for my Super Improver Wall. I went to Michael's and bought LOTS of cardstock.

I have been trying to decide on the colors. I think I have decided... what do you think? My second color HAD to be green, because of my experience with the SIW this year. (I will include this story on my other blog soon). Of course the STAR level has to be yellow! :)

My SIW level colors.

This is all I have right now...the power pix is going to take a lot of time. I will post again next week as I continue the countdown to the classroom! Stay PAWSitive!







Friday, July 20, 2012

Common Question

The most common question or concern I have seen on the WBT forums has been how do I start... what do I do next? As I was making myself a chart for how to implement various WBT strategies and tools in the first two weeks of school, I realized that other teachers could benefit from this information.

I am still new to the WBT scene so I am not an expert... but I will be an expert on how WBT is working in my classroom. I have another blog (PAWSitively Wild for WBT), however that is a place for me to go into detail. This blog is going to be a SHORT and sweet timeline of my first FULL WBT year. Last year I used the Core Four and Big Seven all year. This year I CAN'T WAIT to use Super Improver Wall, Genius Ladder, and Crazy Professor Reading Game all year (rather than the last month of school). I also plan to use Super Speed, Red/Green Marker, Writing Game, Prove It, and SO much more!

My first official day back in my classroom will be August 10th (that is the first teacher workday). First Day with kids is August 14th. I plan on being back in my classroom working by August 3 (fingers crossed for August 1st).

As I do things to prepare for the year I will post what I am doing. I have already done a couple of things this summer. I will make my next post about those preparations. Stay tuned for a PAWSitively awesome year!