Week 8-Action Research, Assessments, and Learning Gains

Originally posted-March 3, 2013

Last week, I found a video Coach B. uploaded recently to his YouTube channel. This middle school science teacher gave me some fabulous ideas for new techniques or how to brush up on old WBT favorites. Watch the video to learn about cool facts, vocabulary candy, and magic potion. It was a neat video to view!

  

My students have just started learning about WWII, a topic they find fascinating. I have been using Mirrors/Mirrors and Words, reviewing daily with Mirroring, and even having individual students leading the reviews. I also used story telling (an idea from brain research) to make learning more fun. Teaching essential knowledge to students through storytelling combined with Mirrors and Words has made learning fun and has added an element of movement to learning this week. Through my use of observations, students are more alert, interested, and overall more interested about the topic. Preplanning and practicing my gestures to teach the kids has made a big difference, too. Teachers should never let the kids see them creating the lesson as they teach it. This takes up too much time, and, in middle school, lets the student see that you are unprepared. As noted in my previous blog post, three of my four classes are doing really well with the WBT strategies. WBT has allowed me to channel the positive energy of peer pressure. Students want to earn Scoreboard points, and they do not like it when someone or a group in the class breaks the rules. This has made a big impact on focus and on individual students that really needed something extra. On the other hand, a fourth class is requiring more. It's time to introduce levels with them, and I'm excited to see how level two of the Scoreboard will work next week. Many students need individual practice following several rules, and I think level two will do the trick. The Super Improvers Wall, I hope, will also encourage improvement in weak areas, like rule breaking. As far as assessing WBT and student growth, I used the WBT Behavior Assessment again this week. I am pleased with the gains made from this rating. Three of my four classes showed improvement from last month to this month. One class remained the same. It is important to know many of these students are leaders, and gains are not as noticeable. My results were are follows: Class One-January 21-3.5, March 1-3.8; .3 gain Class Two-January 21-3.5, March 1-3.5; .0 gain Class Three-January 21-2.6, March 1-2.9; .3 gain Class Four-January 21, March 1-3.2; .2 gain Total Average: January 21-3.15, March 1-3.35; .20 gain I am very pleased with these learning gains as I continue to work to assess the impact WBT has on my sixth grade students.When behavior improves, focus improves, and learning can be achieved more easily. If you have not used the WBT Behavior Assessment, it is an awesome teacher tool and one that has been proven useful to me as I think about each individual learner, one at a time. My students recently took a Great Depression Assessment Test, and overall test results were really good. Students performed better on this test than on previous tests, especially those taken during semester one. Could it be that WBTs CoreFour, Five Classroom Rules, and other strategies are the cause??? I think so! Can I get a Ten Finger Woo Hoo!!! Can I get a Mighty, Oh Yeah!!!

Week 8-It's Time for Levels

Originally published-March 3, 2013

Action Research Question “Does the consistent use of Whole Brain Teaching's CoreFour and Five Classroom Rules produce increased enthusiasm and improve learning outcomes for all students?” This next week, my focus will be on adding Scoreboard Level Two: Practice Cards. Will the use of Practice Cards improve learning outcomes for some students? Well, this past week proved to be interesting. Three of my four classes are doing really well with the WBT strategies I have implemented since January 2013, and one class, well, let's just say, "It's time for levels!" Now, the other three classes are not perfect, no class is, but I will say what I am doing is working. They are responding well to WBT, they are reminding each other of the rules, they get upset when I get a point, they are doing their homework to earn a point, and they love the free minute they can earn if they are ahead of me in the scoreboard. There's an old saying that goes, "It it ain't broke, don't fix it!" This is the case with three of my four classes, and outside of my continual 'tweeking' of strategies, I'm not going to add levels if I do not need to. But, for my fourth class, that is not the case. I have students that are making noises, up out of their seats, talking, and it drove me up the wall last week. So, I am introducing Scoreboard Level Two to this class. I'm a bit apprehensive about doing so, but something has to be done. Individuals need practice with the rules. If anyone has implemented the Practice Card level of the Scoreboard and are willing to share your set up with me (what works/what doesn't), please do so because I'm looking for ideas. I have watched Coach B.'s Scoreboard video and read from the WBT manual, and this is what I am planning: 1. Assign each student a card (in a pocket). 2. Give white practice cards (placed in student pocket) when rule practice is needed. 3. Students must come to me during 7th period (what we call connections class and Fun Friday on Fridays) to practice the rule for two minutes (saying and gesturing). 4. A note must go home for students to alert their family they needed practice following a rule. 5. If student brings their family note back signed the white practice card is removed, if not the card remains. (If the card remains, do I have them practice the rule again or not?) 6. If students are following the troublesome rule, they get a purple card, and a positive note will be sent home. 7. Green cards are used to place on students desk if they need a reminder of following a rule. If students have parents that do not send notes back, they may be assigned a 'foster parent' at school to share notes and have them signed so they can return them to me and the white practice card can be removed. Note: No more than two practice cards will be given per day. Here is my concern: I'm concerned families will think I'm singling out their child. I have a class during seventh period, so that means, they will be practicing the rule while I have students in my class. For three of these days, they will be practicing the rule among students who rarely break rules. A fourth day would be practicing among students in their class, and on Friday's they would be practicing at our recess time we call "Fun Friday" time. I guess I will just see how it works. I could have them see me during my second period planning time, but it would be the next day. That is an option, too. If you have had success with practice time or have ideas for making this work well in a middle school setting, please let me know! My plan is to start small and work my way up these seven steps. I will work to use the white cards first and see how they go. I am also going to introduce and back up Scoreboard Level Two with the Super Improver Wall with this class. I really do not see how it would be possible for me to complete the SIW with all 85 of my students, so I have decided to use it with this class as well. I have my bulletin board set up with our 5 classroom rules, the Super Improver Wall levels (compliments of Teachers Pay Teachers), and a nice bright yellow shield (my school mascot is a knight) with student names on them. I purchased lots of stickers from Michaels, and the wall is ready to go. I had students write down 3-5 ways (on an index card) they, as an individual, can improve on. They gave me the index card, and they have the same information on a Post-It note in their interactive notebooks. I know I need to tell them, specifically what I want them to work on. I think having homework could be a good one for everyone in this class, and many need to specifically work on one of the rules, especially Rules 1, 2, and 3. Does anyone have any suggestions for when to award stars, especially for me because I teach middle school, and every minute is important to learning? I do not want to interrupt 'prime time' for learning. Also, would it be ok to award multiple stars to one student for the same objective--let's say, because they did really well staying in their seat. So, I guess one of my biggest concerns is the time factor. Since I only see students for about 50 minutes per day, I'm concerned about time. With all that said, I'm so excited about the possibility of the Scoreboard Level Two and the SIW working together to help my students learn more and do better than ever before! Oh, Yeah!!!

Action Research Cycle-Week 7

Originally posted-February 24, 2013

Action Research Question “Does the consistent use of Whole Brain Teaching's CoreFour and Five Classroom Rules produce increased enthusiasm and improve learning outcomes for all students?” As I approach the middle of my WBT workshop experience, I decided to review and spend a little time thinking about my research question. The consistent use of WBT's CoreFour and Five Rules does impact excitement and learning. Coming from a teacher that tried to implement WBT before, being consistent every day makes a big difference. Here is an example. Several weeks ago, I was on an out-of-town trip, and I missed three days of school-a Thursday, Friday, and the following Monday. I had, thankfully, the same substitute all three days, but one of my classes had great difficulty not having WBT those days. I had not left WBT information, and that is most definitely something I need to write up for future use. There are WBT substitute handouts on websites like Teachers Pay Teachers. Students perform better and are more conscious of their work when I use WBT daily. I have observed this, and classes run more smoothly and are more energetic when WBT is in use. I see students quietly reminding their peers not to get up, not to talk, and to raise their hand. Sometimes, they don't even have to say anything. They will just use gestures to represent rules, or I will see students raise their eyebrows in disapproval of a classmate breaking a rule, and it works. I am getting ready to use the WBT Student Assessment tool again, and I can't wait to see the results. I am anticipating student gains. Sadly, one of my 'leader' students will be moving at the end of next week. This has made me very sad. He is such a model student and will be greatly missed by his peers. From Action Research Cycle-Week 6, I did make some changes to Mirrors that worked out really well. Thanks to Kate Bowski, a WBT for her clever Mirror ideas. My sixth graders now use Mirrors to just gesture, and Mirrors and Words to gesture with words. I also created a gesture to indicate gesturing is over. All of these subtle changes has made a big difference in student participation and focus. I added "FULL TURNS" to partners, discussing why this is necessary, and I told them they could earn or loose Scoreboard points for facing partners. Partners now stand with it is their turn, but (and here's the clever part) when using Mirrors and Mirrors and Words during Teach/Ok, only the standing partner can use Mirrors and Words. The other partner just uses Mirrors (unless helping out). I was noticing students were being 'silly' if there partner stumbled over words, and they were 'acting goofy' by verbally repeating everything their partners said. This change has made all the difference! Kate Bowski's WBT website may be found at katebowski.blogspot.com.

A Visit from the Principal-Week 7

Originally posted-February 24, 2013

So, this week I asked Mr. S to visit my classroom and observe WBT in action. This, I have to say, was a nice switch for me. Most observations are unannounced and preplanned by the principal. So, asking my supervisor to visit my classroom put a nice twist on things. It was a great lesson to observe because we were reviewing for a Great Depression test. I left a paper listing the six WBT items I wanted him to look for including: the Five Classroom Rules, Class/Yes, Teach/Ok, Mirrors, Switch, and the Scoreboard. I told the students he was coming ahead of time, so they would be prepared and work harder for points. The class did a fantastic job. During the review lesson, I reviewed several rules for earning points and what I would be looking for as well as the new rules I had added to Teach/Ok (including full turns to your partner and when it's your turn, you stand). The kids needed reminding, but this also gave Mr. S. an opportunity to hear some of the guidelines. Here is what my principal had to say: "I found it (WBT) to be quite interesting....a unique observation for sure. I hope that you will be able to measure student performance/progress using these new techniques. If found to be effective we may want to explore in-servicing the staff. Perhaps start with your team and work out from there." I am thrilled he found WBT interesting. I believe WBT at my school has never been used before. I'm excited for it's future at my school. I already have one teacher on my team telling me she wishes she would have taken the class with me, and she definitely wants to learn more about WBT. Another planning buddy of mine is also very interested. Brining in Mr. S was definitely a great idea. WBT here we come! P.S.-I printed out several simple handouts, explaining several WBT techniques, to share with Mr. S. I look forward to sharing my student successes and growth with him.