Hello….. Is Anyone There?
Well its official, I can’t resist Google and have moved my blog over to Blogger as opposed to Weebly. Now don’t get me wrong, I liked Weebly. It was very “mickey mouse” and for someone that is not very tech-savvy it worked perfectly for me. I decided, however, that with Blogger I would be able to reach more people and make this blog even better for you!
One thing that I’ve mentioned before is that since I’ve discovered whole brain teaching I have found the WBT community incredibly supportive. I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to network with a lot of great educators through their classroom blogs and the WBT forum.
The thing that has been lacking, however, is a strong Canadian presence! I was able to get in touch with a WBT Intern from British Columbia but that is it. I know that this strategy originated in the United States so I knew not to expect as high of numbers in Canada, but I thought I would hear from a few more people that just one.
When I was searching for classroom management videos, WBT showed up on the first page of YouTube. Other people must be finding these videos the way I did, right? So why have I not found a WBT community in Canada? It makes me wonder what is it about whole brain teaching that attracts or repels educators? Obviously, you know that I am a fan of this strategy. My reasons for this are discussed in my past posts, my “About Miss L” page and in future posts.
So for right now, I am wondering what you think the pros/cons are of whole brain teaching as a classroom management strategy. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Check out these videos if you haven’t already!
It looks great!! By the way, I featured your 10 finger woo and It's cool post on the we teach video this week. Check out the discussion
weteachgroup.com/group/weteachblogswelove/forum/topics/featured-on-we-teach-management-strategies-for-the-classroom-and
Thanks Jackie! I'm heading there right now to check it out 🙂
From the videos of WBT that I have seen, here are what I perceive to be the pros and cons:
PROS
1. It's good for kinaesthetic learners. The gestures might help some other students learn as well.
2. It would also be good for students who can't sit still, or when the class as a whole is getting restless.
3. The constant actions and talk leave little room for disruptive behaviour.
4. Strategies such as the 10-Finger Woo, or a variation on it, might be good encouragement for some students.
CONS
1. It's probably not very good for intrapersonal learners, or those who are just shy to begin with. One might argue that WBT will help these kids to overcome their shyness, but I would argue that "plunging into the deep end" is not always the best way to overcome fear- some people benefit more by gradual immersion instead.
2. It might be hard for everyone to keep up the energy levels all day. If I'm tired, taking notes to learn things would probably tire me out far less than moving around to learn things.
3. The constant actions and talk leave room for little individuality since so much of it is scripted. Do students get opportunities to ask questions amidst all of this? Also some students might actually find the actions and talking distracting, as if their senses are being overloaded.
4. WBT seems very teacher-centred to me, especially Rule #5 ("Keep your dear teacher happy!"). I don't think it's very healthy for students to do what they can just to please some authority figure. It's highly likely that if you respect your students, they will pay you the same respect in return, without the need for this rule. In these cases, Rule #5 just undermines the students' own intrinsic motivation to be respectful.
delete rule 5….it limits the sencerity of the method….we are not training soldiers here
Thanks for the post Hienuri! I really appreciate getting feedback from a student and I find it interesting to hear about the structure of your classrooms and how they compare to classrooms in rural Manitoba. 🙂
I actually made a new post regarding Differentiated Instruction and how WBT would fit into that model. I try to address how I will accommodate different learning styles in my classroom, although it is just a brief overview, but maybe you would find it of interest .
Hi Miss L, I would be interested to read the post on Differentiated instruction could you point me in the direction of this post?
Loving your blog btw thanks for telling me about it through the WBT forum, I'm planning to use WBT during my practical next term (after Easter in Australia)