Dissolving Math Word Problems

Everyone is a genius. 

But if you judge a fish by his ability to climb a tree, he will live his whole life believinghe is stupid.

Albert Einstein

I've seen this quote twice this week.  Each time I thought - that's the one I need to post - I've felt like a few of those fish in my lifetime.

An interesting day. 

First, I missed school today to attend a district workshop on the importance of vocabulary.  It was an informative workshop and I walked away with quite a few ideas.  My thoughts wondered throughout the workshop to how I might incorporate the new concepts and ideas and how I might change them to fit within my WBT framework.  I always love learning new stuff and ways of approaching teaching and the presenter was well informed and quite experienced.  All in all, a positive learning day.

Then, I came home and began the Halloween countdown, ate dinner with the family and then settled in to my WBT weekly webinar.  It amazes me each week how I walk away from those sessions, which are usually under an hour, and feel stuffed with ideas.  I'm grateful each week for the WBT community and their enthusiasm.  Not only do I end the session anxious to go to work the following day so I can implement it, I somehow also leave hungering for more, impatiently waiting  for next week's session.

Now on to math. Math can be scary, uncomfortable and overwhelming. I've seen students shut down before they even begin.  I think part of it might be the fact that if you don't keep up with math - it somehow gets ahead of you and you feel like you are always playing catch up.  If you miss some big chunk - you feel lost from that point onward.

When students are given math word problems, they are being asked to complete three seperate skill sets that isolated can be challenging.  Together, reading comprehension, problem solving and math facts, must logically intertwine and crest together to bring perfect understanding and ability to tackle the problem.  That crescendo moment happens rarely if not properly preparing students how to take down their math monsters.  We must teach them the isolated skill sets they need and then teach them how to bring them together so they know what is being asked of them (reading comprehension), what to do (problem solving) and how to answer the problem (math facts).

In this week's broadcast, number 534, Coach Biffle walks us through a series of steps that we need to teach in order for kids to be successful with math word problems.  The first of these is knowing what is being asked.

Begin by having students paraphrase the question and state it in a dramatic way.  Students cannot paraphrase if they don't understand what the text says.  It is an excellent way for math partners to work together to make sure they understand.  By incorporating the dramatic effect, they are having fun and staying engaged.  Not the usual math class.  We need to give students plenty of opportunities to practice paraphrasing word problems in a dramatic way.  This alone is an isolated skill that needs to be mastered.  In the beginning, don't worry about having them answer the problem.  Just practice learning how to read the problem. 

Once students feel successful with this concept, have them identify the key numbers.  We need to slow kids down on word problems and just by identifying the key numbers, it will help them identify the operation and will make more sense when attempting to solve the question. 

Next, students will need to identify the key words.  This can be done by finding the key words or, the same skill can be practiced by asking students to mark out everything that is not a key word.  I can't wait to try that.  It will make them think twice before marking words out as they won't want to mark out what they might still need.  It's an excellent way to identify what is important.

The operation must be identified and steps taken to answer it (problem solving).  By putting the operation  in the forefront of your thought process, you are being clear about what your next step will be.  After identifying the operation, students are ready to move on and solve the problem (math facts).  They need to be able to explain their answer and to be confident in what they have done and the best way to ensure this is to have students complete the final step and that is to prove it. 

We talk a lot about inverse operations and if it is an addition problem, they can prove it through subtraction and vice versa.  If it's a division operation they are working on, then they can use the inverse operation of multiplication to prove it.  Either way, they must prove their answer.

If we can teach kids these steps and to really use them, they will feel more confident in bringing together all that they know and be successful.  I can't think of any part of my schooling history that I hated more than math word problems and I hope to dissolve that apprehension and fear  for my students.  If I can make word problems easier, I am making learning easier for there won't be any other challenge asking as much of them as math word problems will.

Here is the link to Coach's webinar on Dissolving Math Word Problems.  I highly recommend it!  You will be as excited as I to bring his great ideas to your classroom.

http://wholebrainteaching.com/

Scroll about half way down the screen to video library and select program 543.  Enjoy!

Bells



 

Triple Golden Sentences

If you would thoroughly know anything, teach it to others.
Tryon Edwards

 

 

Why is it so difficult to teach children how to write?  It's a question that many have asked.  As a matter of fact, I was asked this question today by members of our school's leadership team.  They are trying to gather information explaining why our writing scores have dropped this past year.  Hmmm..... Why did they drop?

 

 

Was it the new mandated curriculum that we implemented that focused more on genre's than teaching technique?

 

Was it the new pace we were asked to maintain generating rushed pieces every week?

 

Was it the lack of time in our schedule as administrators and district coordinators fail to communicate honestly asking too much be taught with too little time.

 

I guess it doesn't really matter - we have to find a way to make it work and to teach kids how to write... enter WBT and the Triple Golden Sentence.

 

The Triple golden sentence is simple.  It's a method of helping students organize their verbal thoughts. 

 

Students will be asked to write a sentence with three distict points.  An example would be as follows:

 

This past summer I had the opportunity to visit Disneyland, Hollywood, and the beach.  They have to be completely seperate thoughts. Students then use their three ideas to begin the pattern.  They write one sentence about each of the three areas.  They conclude the paragraph restating their opening sentence.

 

With color coded strips, you would then show students that their second paragraph would be about Disneyland.  The third paragraph would focus on Hollywood and the fourth paragraph would discuss the beach. 

 

It seems like common sense but students really struggle staying on topic.  If they could see the color coded chart, then they could see it all falls back on writing one efficient triple golden sentence.

 

I've heard one fellow wibbetter suggest that the color coding might occur through sentence strips, allowing students to see the colored strips and place them in their correct positions.  Another option might be to provide scaffolding charts to help students see the connections.

 

By giving our students a method to organize their verbal thoughts, we aren't just  helping them be better writers but rather better thinkers.  Students have much to say, they are great thinkers but at times it's difficult to nail those thoughts down so they can share them in a logical methodical manner.  I'm excited to have another tool to help students improve and improvement equals success. 

 



Superspeed Math

By learning you will teach;
by teaching you will understand.
Latin Proverb

 

 

 

I have been waiting for my weekly therapy, excuse me, Whole Brain webinar session to focus on math since I'm teaching two sessions of math daily.  It was such a disappointment to hear the big day was happening on my mother's birthday which caused me to miss the webinar, therefore the fun dialogue that accompanies it.

 

 

I am having to settle for watching the session online but in a way, it is allowing me to focus more on the content instead of the witty companionship of my fellow wibbeteers.

 

 

Coach began with addressing the reason that students are struggling in mathematics.  He stated four basic reasons.

 

1.  Lack of repetition

 

2.  Errors corrected too late

 

 

3.  Zero fun

 

 

4.  Non-Motivating Rewards

 

 

The answer is Superspeed Math.  This addresses all four reasons that cause students to struggle with math.  Superspeed is an easy program whereby students drill one another, making immediate corrections while having a load of fun and feeling empowered through their improvements.

 

I've been using Superspeed math as one of my rotating math stations.  I'll agree, kids love it!  They love the opportunity to beat themselves and the  time commitment is so short that they don't feel discouraged.  I realized however, that I need to tweak a few aspects of my implementation of the program. 

 

After students improve one time, they are supposed to move down one line as the next starting point.  I have not had my students doing this which means they have not been increasing the difficulty of their sessions.  I plan to up the ante this week.  By increasing the difficulty level, students can progress through the various components which will continue the challenge for them, especially the more apt students. 

 

I also don't feel that I am using the program frequently enough.  I am being forced to use a program called Fast Math for students to practice math facts.  I have felt somewhat resentful at how much time that program will take and have not been willing to give any other instruction time to facts but I believe that brief practice frequently used will heed better results.  This week, I will participate in my FM obligatory requirements but will then use SuperSpeed on alternating days.  I'm excited.

 

Coach continued the math discussion introducing Chocolate Math.  The concept is simple, as it should be and can be used for a multitude of mathematical situations, which is effective.  He has created a 100's chart in the form of chocolate pieces and showed with that simple tool, how you can use it to have students prove mathematical concepts.  Students would draw lines in various colors on the laminated charts to prove word problems and story concepts.  The simplicity is what will make this successful.  The chocolate (even though on paper) is what will hook kids.  I can't wait to give it a try.

 

 

All for now,

 

Bells

 



Baby Shark

  I've been struggling trying to find the perfect short celebration for the scoreboard game.  It seems if I choose the famous one minute party - my kids go crazy.  I'm not confident enough yet and haven't built up my reserve of questions for mind soccer.  I don't have a lot of time to give towards this endeavor and coming up with a new idea daily was wearing on me.

Enter BABY SHARK. 

This weekend, I stumbled across the Youtube video and thought this might just be the answer.  On Monday, I told my kids that we would keep the same celebration for a week.  That way, they know what to expect and I'm not trying to think of something new each day.  Baby Shark is a camp song that builds on itself and has a catchy little tune with hand gestures.  A perfect marriage to my WBT teaching. 

If they win, I can turn on the video - stand in front of the class - do the gestures and giggle with them as even the toughest of kids begins to laugh while making Grandma Shark gestures.  I couldn't help but smile Monday afternoon when kids were leaving singing the baby shark song. 

And... did I mention our school theme this year is, "Diving into Learning?"  Perfect!

Now ... what about next week?

Any ideas?

Bells

Writing Part 1

"Whatever you want to teach, be brief"  Horace

Tonight's webinar was on the topic of writing.  Since I'm not "teaching" writing this year, I only partially listened.  This means, my initial participation in the webinar was limited until I casually through out the quote, "I'm not teaching writing this year." 

My fellow wibbeters jumped on that statement faster than I could reread what I had written.  They reminded me (all of them) that, yes indeed I do teach writing and that I need to be including writing instruction in all I do.  My thoughts - oh no - what have I missed while I was busy thinking this session was not for me. 

Fortunately, I could re-watch the episode and I quickly readjusted my observation intensity and learned that the secret to teaching writing is actually teaching small microskills with an enormous amount of oral practice.  Coach began by discussing complexers tonight.  Complexers are any words that add detail and complexity to a sentence.  Some possible complexers:  are and, or, but, though, as.  They are little bits of language that make a sentence complex.

Coach went through so many other wonderful ideas tonight.  Honestly, there were just too many to digest, or(complexer), I was too tired tonight to absorb them. I think I will introduce complexers tomorrow along with the idea that every noun, when speaking, requires an adjective.  It should be a fun day. 

The constant learning is just one of the many reasons I love WBT.  If left to my own devices, and without support, I would probably have given up by now.  But thanks to my weekly motivation (learning) sessions and the oppportunity to reflect each week, I am still forging ahead. 

I have noticed a few areas that I need to bump up a notch.  I haven't been giving enough points on the scoreboard.  I have not been ensuring my praise is distributed throughout the week by keeping track.  I haven't been recording information for Mind Soccer.  I haven't written the new kids names on my Super Improvers Wall.  I haven't found my rythm teaching math yet.  I have yet to feel organized. 

Yet, with all of the areas that I need to improve, there are some successes too.  I go home every night tired and happy with a feeling of accomplishment.  My students are enjoying school and learning.   They are building confidence and strength as learners and risk takers.  They are taking control of their learning.  Some of our students who struggle behaviorally are engaged and trying to learn. I couldn't ask for more from them and am giving my students and their families all I have.  We as a class entity are making plenty of mistakes, but as coach taught me, and I taught my kiddo's, "it's cool," and it is so cool - mistakes and all.

Bells

Week 1 Hits and Misses

"I didn't have a good weekend because I couldn't wait to come back to school." 
Student 24- Bell's Room 2012

We have officially been back to school for one week. The first two days were wedded bliss with me implementing the whole brain approach.  Now, the milk is settling and the creme is rising to the top.  It's time to begin the student improvers wall.  I will begin this process tomorrow, on a Friday to give the students and myself something to look forward to next week. 

While I am loving the approach to behavior, I am having to really think out the process for teaching.  Some parts of the wbt lesson plan have become second nature already but others I have to create on the fly.  Here are the lesson- steps.

1.  Class - Yes
2. Ask a Question
3.  Give the Answer with gesture
4. Teach - Okay

Where I get in trouble is with always asking a question and having a gesture ready.  To be honest, I also am struggling with how much I speak.  We are only supposed to give short bursts of information but I am noticing how much I talk.  I really do talk a lot.

The other area that requires serious thought is the gesture. I am having a tough time figuring out when I will need a gesture until I'm up in front of the class teaching it and then I have to magically pull it out of the air.  I definitely hope to get better at anticipating the gesture ahead of time.

My gesture success this week is place -value.  While having kids place both hands out in front of them, I have them wiggle their pinky on the right hand for the one's position.  They then wiggle their right hand ring finger for the 10's and so on, moving over to the left hand for the thousands and millions.  I believe it helps them see place value and hopefully understand.

I am teaching two classes of math this year, one science (4 times), and one reading class.  I am going to primarily focus my wbt approach in math.  It feels like the natural area where I want kids excited and pumped up about learning. 

Until next time,

Bells

Day 1 - The Real Deal

What an amazing first day!  The kids were fantastic and we all had a great time learning the rules. I was so worried about the tempo of the class and if I would be able to maintain the high energy all day.  But there was no need to fret.  I had a blast!  My principal came over to visit with me at recess and I spontaneously hugged him because I was just having that great of a day.

I managed to teach to two different groups of kids - the core four and learn their names.  We shall see if I can do it again.  I will take a picture today of my super improvers wall that is up and rarin' to go.  I would like to see how long I can hold off before I put that into play.  The scoreboard seems to be really effective right now.

Onto day 2

Bells

The First Week

Nine-tenths of education is encouragement.
Anatole France

I just finished watching the webinar tonight entitled, The First Week.  Chris Biffle and his alias, Coach, went through ten goals we should achieve by the end of the first week.  I've become familiar with several of these concepts, but he introduced some tonight that were totally new for me.  I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by it all and honestly, I just want to get in there and get started.  I haven't felt this anxious in years.  There is just so much information for my mind to consume, that I'm afraid I will forget it all before I put any of it into play.

The First Week

1.  Teach the 5 rules with gestures.  Practice Practice Practice

2.  Teach procedures. 

3.  Learn student names and information about students.

I like, I have, I want

4.  Praise Talk with each student.  "NO LOST KIDS."

5.  Teach Core 4

6.  Oral Writing/ Red - Green Marker Writing

8.  Power Pix - Have a minimum of 4 on the wall

9.  Recess Practice (only if necessary)

10.  Classroom Management Average

 Several of these goals are being reinforced from what we have learned and written about in the past few weeks.  There was one goal however, that I know very little about and two goals that we discussed this evening that are new and exciting and true, "gems."

The writing piece is an aspect of Whole Brain Teaching that I am not yet comfortable.  It sounds fantastic and I will use the oral writing component as soon as I can.  Right now, I need to devote more time to understanding the wbt process and implenting the core 4 before attempting anything else.  I am totally clueless as to what the red/green piece is, but can't wait to learn about it.  It's wonderful to know there is so much to this program and that it offers so many resources.

My favorite goals tonight were goal four, praise talk and goal ten, classroom management average.

Sometimes, it's the simple ideas that are the most effective.  Of course we want to praise each child and as teachers, we have every intent of doing so.  However, I'm sure that there are times, that I forget those middle of the road children who sit there doing their job, neither superbly nor with struggles with whom I forget to praise.  Coach is adamant that we will no longer have lost children who are forgotten and who do not receive our praise and encouragement.  He suggests keeping track on something similar to an attendance sheet to ensure we spread the wealth of kindness. 

Our school implements PBIS which is intended to increase the positive behavior of students, partly by increasing the positive behavior of teachers.  Teachers are asked to hand out tokens of some kind to students who are "caught" doing the specific social skill being taught.  There are two groups of students who usually get the tokens.  The social elite, and the strugglers who we are trying to move in a positive direction. 

I'm not discounting PBIS.  On the contrary, I believe it provides tremendous support for school-wide behavior, a universal language for all to use and common expectations.  But do all kiddos receive recognition and praise.  I don't believe so.  If you are tracking your praise, you will ensure equality.

The second goal that really excited me tonight was the classroom management average. Brilliant! The concept is simple.  Once a week, you sit down and quickly and holistically, evaluate your students based on their behavior.  A five would be the top score indicating leadership with a one being those students who need to advance in levels on the behavior ladder.  To average your class, you will add all the scores and then divide by the number of students giving you a Classroom Management Average. 

The amount of information you receive by completing this five minute task is huge as it determines the overall trend and direction your class is taking.  You may not feel sometimes as if you are making a difference and that serious behaviors are improving.  If you can watch your trend line increasing, you know the system you have put in place is working.  However, if you notice a dip, or a flatline, it allows you to target the specific area or student who needs extra attention.  It once again reinforces improvement.  Improvement for individuals and now improvement for the class entity.

Speaking of improvement, perhaps the biggest idea of all this time was the concept of no longer praising children based on their achievement but rather on improvement.  Our goal should be for students to always be improving.  It keeps high achievers from going stagnant and and allows those who struggle to be successful.  It is not effort and handing out kudos for trying.  It is praise for improvement.  A marked difference from where you began to where you are now.  I can think of no better way to honor students and while improving is simply learning, it is often not what is recognized.

To quote an educational revolutionary, "Praising improvement destroys student aristocracy and builds student democracy."  Thanks Coach.  It's an honor to have joined the revolution with you!

Bells

The First Day

The important thing is not so much
that every child should be taught,
as that every child should be given the wish to learn.
John Lubbock

   

 Today has been a day full of educational endeavors for me.  I began my morning with some personal reading on brain research; spent the  bulk of the day at a math in-service; and have now capped off my evening with a wonderful webcast on what to do on the first day of school, beyond the first hour.  Never have I been as excited for school to begin as I am now, and this after twenty years.

The major objective of day one should be to teach Rule 1, follow directions quickly.  It should be weaved throughout the rest of your instruction as you learn names, complete required first day, school to-do's, and just plain have fun with your kids.  If I can accomplish this one rule of following directions quickly, then I will have saved myself an incredible amount of time and effort often lost on procedural learning.  I love the idea of completing all other tasks by practicing Rule 1. 

 

 

 

As I mentioned the other day, I will have several different classes coming and going throughout the day.  I will be teaching math to two different classes, an RTI class, and a science class with students from rooms other than my own.  I plan to really focus on Rule 1 and then will have to let the students dictate the pace by how well they are grasping the process. 

For me, I would like to have a list of the items to be introduced and move through it as I deem necessary.  I wouldn't share the list with students,  nor would I have too much on the walls to give away what we will be learning.  I am of the mindset that anything placed on the wall or bulletin boards should be done with students to reinforce learning.  Therefore, after we learn Rule 1, I will place a poster or sign on the wall with them as a reminder and will do this for all of the pieces I introduce.  It makes for a boring classroom in the beginning but gives meaning to the information on the wall.

The big question that I haven't decided how to answer is about all the fun, cutsie, getting-to-know-you activities I have done in the past.  I can't decide if they are necessary.  In many ways, we will be creating community through the wbt process.  Do I need to do additional activities or can I move into curicular content? I would love the opportunity to get going with teaching the oh so large amount of material required.  I know that a safe, fun learning environment is incredibly important; but I also feel that introducing wbt might satisfy those objectives and allow me to really start teaching specific content earlier than ever before. 

I feel that I am going to just have to walk through it this year and trust my experience to gage when students (not to mention me) are ready to progress.  Here is my ordered list of wbt concepts I will introduce:

1. Class - Yes
2. Rule 1:  Follow directions quickly
3. Scoreboard - mighty groan - mighty oh yea
4. Student names
5. Mirror (silent)
6. Teach - Okay
7. Practice handing out papers - three/peat
8. Practice lining up - three/peat
9. Practice opening books
10. Hands and Eyes
11. Rule 2:  Raise your hand for permission to speak
12. Rule 3:  Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat
13. Rule 4:  Make smart choices
14. Rule 5:  Make your dear teacher happy
15. How we answer questions
16. Oral writing - what is a sentence

Countdown:  16 days to FDoS

Bells

The First Hour

A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he has said or done otherwise shall give him no peace. ..................................... Ralph Waldo Emerson.

I believe all teachers have a similar before school process.  We are excited by the idea of our new students and anxious to meet them.  We clean and ready our rooms.  We spend hours sitting in meetings learning the newest teaching methodologies to use and the new administrative duties required for the year.  We feel ready!  We head home feeling exhausted, yet excited for the first day of school.  As we tuck in our own children and climb into bed, the reality hits.... "What will I teach those kids tomorrow?" 

I know I'm not alone in feeling that I prepare and prepare and somehow the most important aspect of the first day of school gets pushed aside.  Not this year thanks to Chris Biffle and WBT.  I just watched my first webinar with Chris and loved the topic of the first hour. It is where we set the stage for the entire school year and I've never felt that I did that first hour justice.

I always want student's first impression of me and my classroom to be positive and safe.  I have done the bioglyphs, getting to know you games, building classroom projects and any other number of first day activities.  I've never started teaching in the first hour until now.

Coach Biffle suggests starting outside of your classroom to greet students and introduce yourself.  Make sure you let kids know you are happy they are there and more importantly how happy you are to be there too.  Nobody wants the teacher who is not excited about the first day of school.

Seat kids quickly.  They do not need to be in their permanent locations.  Begin right away with, "class-yes." Practice the most basic of WBT strategies with different voices and rythyms.  Make this a fun and yet powerful experience for you and the class.  Within minutes, you have their attention and they are waiting for you to show them the road that you will travel together.

Introduce rule one, follow directions quickly, to the class.  Practice saying, "rule one," while students respond, "follow directions quickly."  Show the hand movements which are  both hands in the air moving back and forth.  Have students repeat this in a variety of ways.  Practice them following directions quickly.

Next, introduce the scoreboard.  Teach students the mighty groan and the mighty oh yea.  I'm so excited to teach students how to groan.  They want to do it and now I will be giving them the opportunity to, but within my boundaries.  Practice the class-yes response, and rule one, using the scoreboard. 

I will have to go through this process three times.  I will have a second math class and then a separate science class with different students, as we are departmentalizing this year.  I will also need to integrate the discussion of our pbs behavior matrix and how students are expected to act in all areas of the school. It seems tedious and boring for students but it is required.  I will try to have that discussion using the wbt three step lesson delivery model to make the process relevant.

It feels fabulous to know I have the first day planned before the meetings, before the room is set up and before I have set foot in the building.  It may really be a whole new kind of year.

22 days to FDS (first day of school),

Bells








                  

Frustration, Learning and Kids - Red Tape

After returning home from my amazing two-day, Whole Brain Teaching conference, I began wondering if I could get professional development credit for it.  After all, it was sponsored by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary education and they notified me saying that they had verified my attendance and had a certificate of attendance ready for me. 

My district has cracked down on what they are willing to accept for professional development (pd) credit but due to all the reasons already mentioned, I thought it was worth a try to ask the powers that be; after all it was two full days of my summer. 

I was told that since I had not made the request beforehand, that I could not receive in-service hours for the conference.  I'm not that upset since I went for myself and to further my own learning.  I had no problem paying for my own hotel, buying gas for the car and food to eat.  What upsets me is because I did not follow protocol, or the rules that I was unaware of that it somehow lessens my experience in that my professional community (school district) doesn't recognize it. 

Even that doesn't really bother me but it made me wonder about my students and their learning.  Do we, as teachers, recognize their learning even if it doesn't fall within our predetermined procedures.  Further, are they truly aware of the procedures they need to follow? 

I would love to hear your thoughts. 

Thoughtfully,
Bells

WBT Conference

I'm home from my visit to Union, MO. where I attended my first Whole Brain Teaching (WBT)conference.  It's late and I'm still up as I imagine many fellow conference attendees to be.  I'm sitting in the dark with my laptop keeping me warm while my brain is trying to remember, organize and file all it learned in the past two days.  It was an intense conference which has left me exhausted, excited and even somewhat intimidated.  

The conference began with over 600 participants gathering in the small town of Union, Missouri.  A teacher friend and myself left bright and early Tuesday morning and drove the two-plus hours it took to get there with great hope in our hearts.  I am always hopeful of finding the key to teaching, the piece that will allow me to reach each child and manage every behavior.  Even after 20 years of educating children, I am still thrilled to improve my craft and welcome new ideas.

I'm not sure that all of the material presented was new.  We have been talking about the brain for quite awhile now and are aware of the fact that we need to modify how we teach to reach certain students and that not all children will learn with one stylistic approach.  However, even with this knowledge, most educators have been unable to really overhaul their method of delivery. 

Enter Chris Biffle, his alter ego, Coach B. and WBT.  As a psychology instructor, Chris found himself using lecture as a primary mode of information delivery; which was ineffective for most of his students.  After some realization, reflection and research, he devised the Whole Brain Teaching method of management and instruction.  This method activates all the primary regions of your brain, assisting student learning by making the input and retrieval of  information easier to manage.  It's the type of instruction that children deserve.  Instruction that works for all students and not  just the few. 

I mentioned that the conference was intense and it's true.  Coach B. is energetic and loud.  He speaks firmly and with passion.   He gets your attention and keeps it... for hours.  He demonstrates rather than explains what Whole Brain Teaching is comprised of and requires that all teachers participate in the learning process.  He was able to show us what we should expect from our students by the expectations he set for us.  I won't lie... he intimidated me a at first.  The intimidation I felt though diminished quickly as I was inspired by Mr. Biffle.  He showed me a whole new way of thinking about teaching and now I'm counting down the days to the beginning of school and becoming a Whole Brain classroom teacher.

Excitedly,

Bells

p.s.  28 days until the first day of school