I had been teaching a very long time (35 years!!) before I discovered Whole Brain Teaching(WBT.) Did I know how to capture the attention of young children? Of course. I knew and effectively used a whole variety of techniques from proximity control to hand clapping patterns to switching the lights on and off. I complimented Jenny and Jordan who were sitting so nicely knowing that it would likely motivate the same from Jackson who wiggled around between them. I collected and used cute little rhymes from Dr. Jean like
"Tootsie Roll, Lollipop, We've been talking, Now let's stop."
But when I accidentally landed upon some Whole Brain Teaching videos on YouTube, I was intrigued. After I spent some time on their website, I was ready to shelf those older attention-getting techniques. And I've never gone back in these past 5 or 6 years!
Why am I so impressed with Whole Brain Teaching? I like that it cuts down on excess "teacher talk" around giving simple directions. Just compare these two examples:
Traditional: Blue Table, please stand. Push in your chairs. Jose pushed in his chair. And so did Jason and Julia. We are just waiting for Jayden. Ok, good. Oh. Jenny, Jordan and Jackson are doing a nice job of standing at the red table. NOW, I see Joshua is standing, too. .... etc.
Whole Brain Teaching: Bodies up. Oh, yeah! ( clap once and tally a smiley face on the scoreboard) Chairs in. Oh yeah! (clap another time and tally a smiley face on the scoreboard) Blue table come join us. Oh yeah! (clap another time and tally a smiley face on the scoreboard)...etc.
Whole Brain Teaching techniques save time for actual instruction. Positive peer pressure motivates the class to work together.
I also like the use of Total Physical Response (TPR) in Whole Brain Teaching. I learned about Total Physical Response in ELL workshops as a way to improve comprehension and retention of material. By engaging hands and sometimes whole bodies along with speaking, I also see children paying better attention. When I say, "Hands and Eyes," and every child folds his hands together and looks up at the teacher, I know I have their attention.
And the third reason I like WBT is for its emphasis on and the structure it gives to partner learning. I love using "Teach! Okay!" to get partners to teach one another sequential steps for solving a math problem, completing a project, or remembering ordered information. I don't use "Teach! Okay!" for every fact I share, however. I don't think it is necessary for children to repeat everything they hear in order to learn it.
That being said, I should emphasize that I don't fully ascribe to Whole Brain Teaching. I use it for the attention-getting techniques, the scoreboard, and teach-okay when it is sequential information that I think the children need to rehearse. I do not use it for the rules--and I especially disagree with "Keep your dear teacher happy." No one is responsible for my happiness!
If you aren't familiar with Whole Brain Teaching, I strongly recommend you watch a few videos and try it out. Here is one from my classroom and links to others are below.
