WBT Where to Start? Getting Ready

So we have been watching videos, reading the books, reading Facebook group posts and now it is time to get files downloaded, the printer going and planning book open. Time to get ready for the best school year ever!

So what do we NEED to get started with WBT? Here are my must haves to start the year with WBT

1. Need to have some basic knowledge of Whole Brain Teaching

Now more than likely you already have this but just in case you are totally new to Whole Brain Teaching I want to be clear that if you haven't visited WholeBrainTeaching.com and learned the WBT Basics , you should do that FIRST.  You don't need to read EVERY ebook and watch every video to get started but the tools like our Attention Getter Class/Yes will only work if you know the basics of how to use them. I also highly recommend grabbing Chris Biffle's books, especially the newest book, Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids-2nd Edition. You don't have to have the books to get started but they are all easy reads and great to have on hand during the school year.

2. Pick Rule Posters to download and print

I love the official WBT rules and the new early ed version! 

You can get posters for all the official versions of the rules on TPT here. I originally shared more about the 5 rules and the posters I made here. There are a ton of versions on Teachers Pay Teachers but be sure they are free and that they have the 2020 Rule 5 like the official ones or the Bitmoji version

3. Pick a place for the Scoreboard and make traveling Scoreboard

        

The scoreboard can be just a sad face and a happy face made with marker and the travel scoreboard just a 3 x 5 card. I'm excited to use the latest upgrade of the Scoreboard that is  shared here that is Turtle vs Hawk. The latest version features the sad Emo Turtle but you can also use Surfboard Emo. 

During distance learning and on my phone for a traveling scoreboard I used a digital scoreboard and I updated it to be Turtle vs Hawk

You can also make a simple traveling scoreboard to have on your lanyard 

4. Super Improver Wall/ Peregrine Falcon display

Super Improver is one of my WBT must do's. It is truly amazing how this will change your classroom. For me I do not start giving stars until a couple weeks into school but I want my Super Improver Wall and Peregrine Falcon display up before Day 1 if possible. I use a version with photos of real animals and organize the levels in a rainbow-ish order. You can get the posters I use HERE and here is one version of the cards. They are also in Spanish :) 

5. Create your Games List 

You want to make your Games List near your Scoreboard. You can just write it on your white board, use sentence strips with a pocket chart or use Google Slides and project it on to the main board.
Click on the Whiteboard set up picture below for the WBT First Days Cue Cards I am updating. You can print them on blank 4 x 6 cards or just project from Google Docs
The Games List is basically your schedule with what you are focusing on. Learn more at https://wholebrainteaching.com/day-one/ and by watching Andrea Schindler's Getting Started Periscopes from 2018 & 2019. The Periscopes are listed with some screenshots on the WBTKinderGettingStarted doc. 

  

6. Print or Download the Power Pix

Visit this post and this page to see why you need PowerPix in your life. 

As long as you have 1-4 you will be in great shape to start the year using Whole Brain Teaching but I hope you will find 5 and 6 as helpful as I do. I am updating a few more files that I will include here so check soon for updates

Throwback Thursday- Common Core PowerPix

I first started working on switching the official WBT PowerPix with CA state standards to Common Core standards in 2011. I want to be clear NONE of these PowerPix were created by me, they are all a part of the grade level PowerPix that are on the WBT ebook area. The original PowerPix reference the California State Standards and all of California and many other states are now following the Common Core standards. I used a digital scrapbooking program, My Memories Suite, to modify the  PowerPix to reference the Common Core Standards. The originals had the PowerPix and teacher notes in one file. In the files I made there is one file of the Pix for ELA and one for Math for each grade level to be printed in color and/or shown on your LCD projector. There is a separate file of teacher notes, one ELA and one Math for each grade level, that can be printed in black and white. I have my PowerPix in sheet protectors with the matching teacher notes slid in the same sheet protector so that I can hold the PowerPix up and read the teacher notes :)

Here is a little explanation of what is on each PowerPix. I have simply changed the California State Standards to the Common Core Standards and formated the Teacher Notes to be one page for each PowerPix.

You can learn more about using PowerPix from Coach B's webcast below and from wholebrainteaching.com 

 Below are links to the Common Core PowerPix I currently have finished. If you are at a school that does not use Common Core or teach upper grades that I have not finished PowerPix for be sure to check out this post for the JPEGs of the PowerPix. PowerPix are one of my favorite WBT tools and I hope that these updated PowerPix and Teacher notes are useful.

ELA PowerPix with Common Core Standards 

 Just click the picture to download the PowerPix and then grab the Teacher Notes from the Goggle Doc.

Kate Bowski has 3rd Grade Reading and Writing PowerPix HERE

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Math PowerPix with Common Core Standards 

 Just click the picture to download the PowerPix and then grab the Teacher Notes from the Goggle Doc.

Kate Bowski has 3rd Grade Math PowerPix HERE

WBT Wednesday Advance Must Haves

So we got the Classroom Rules, we are ready to use the Core 4, and  last Wednesday we covered the basics needed for the first days.  The 5 Rules, Scoreboard, Class/Yes, Mirror and Teach/OK make the foundation of the WBT classroom and really will change the way you teach forever. For me I can't teach without these WBT tools and the more I use them, the more I love them, the better my class is. If I have a hard day or a lesson does not go well then I can usually find that some thing with the Core Four was off. I didn't use the Scoreboard as much as I should have or I forgot to have the students Mirror or we didn't do enough Teach/OK.   If you are new to WBT, new to teaching or new to a grade level just start with these and you will have such a strong foundation to build your classroom learning on. You will be blown away by how awesome your class becomes just with the Core Four and the Five Rules but just like a house is not only the foundation, WBT is so much more than the Core Four.

Once you are ready with your WBT foundation, you are ready to build up the walls. These are the advanced WBT must haves that you will want to add to your classroom ASAP. Now ASAP will be different for everyone so don't rush, you may not use these your first months or even your first year. That said the great thing about these advanced WBT tools is they are all like brick walls, you can add a few bricks at a time, building on your foundation bit by bit. Today let's take a look at 2 Advance WBT Must Haves, the Super Improvers Team and PowerPix.

The Super Improvers Team is all about rewarding student improvement. This is Level 2 of the Scoreboard and replaces the card system or behavior clip chart. Instead of catching students doing wrong, you are focusing on catching them doing  right, making improvements. This was truly a life altering idea for me and a huge blessing to my classroom. The year starts with the Scoreboard and the Scoreboard keeps going all year but Super Improver Team is added into the WBT classroom and students are rewarded for individual and class wide improvement. Instead of racing other students, students race themselves, working to improve on their own personal best. The beauty is that each student can be racing toward their own goal and students can be working on an academic goal or a behavior goal. Students also work together as a team to improve on class goals, which also can be academic or behavior. WBT founder Chris Biffle explains the Super Improvers Team in Chapter 15 of the book, Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids and the Program 563 Master Class: Super Improver  webcast. The delightful Deanna Schuler did a great video as this tool was developed in 2012 that explains how to set up your wall and award stars.

If possible you will want to plan out your Super Improvers Team now, as you are setting up your room, even though you will not introduce it the first days of school. You will need a spot for your wall and you might want your levels to match your classroom theme. Last year I used photos of sea stars to go with my tropical theme but I am switching themes and haven't decided yet how I will set up my wall. There are MANY themes shared on blogs and on TeachersPayTeachers which should all be free. I try to pin them all on the Super Improvers pinterest board so check it out and hopefully it will help you find the perfect Super Improvers printable for your classroom.


Follow Whole Brain Teachers's board Super Improvers Team on Pinterest.


The second Advance WBT Must Have for me are the PowerPix. I LOVE the PowerPix and usually start introducing them the first week of school because they are a super way to introduce core content to students and are SOOOOOO easy to use. Really they are ready made lessons. The original PowerPix can be found in the ebooks section of http://wholebrainteaching.com/. To access the free ebooks you will need to register here, which is free :) The PowerPix ebooks have the California State Standards and are avalible for K-3rd grade, though many can be used for upper grades. Currently the PowerPix are on page 2 and 3 of the ebooks section.

Over the last few years I have been working on PowerPix with the Common Core standards and have a template for making Electronic PowerPix. You can find the most up to date Common Core PowerPix in this post here. I tried to make them printer friendly with one file of the pix to print in color and a separate file of the teacher notes to print in black. If you need/want to create your own PowerPix you can download my Electronic PowerPix Templates for PowerPoint for free HERE.

Nancy Stoltenberg has a great post with pictures about PowerPix. Click on the picture of her wall below to read the post and don't forget to make sure you are following her.

Since I am in a portable with limited wall space I project the PowerPix we are learning on the screen with the document camera or from my laptop. As we learn the PowerPix I add the printed version that is in a sheet protector to a binder ring and it becomes part of our review routine at the beginning of whole group lessons. I thought I had pictures of the binders but do not so I will take pictures and add them as soon as I can get into my classroom. Like Super Improvers I try to pin PowerPix displays and new PowerPix created by other Wibbiters to the  pinterest board. 

Follow Whole Brain Teachers's board WBT PowerPix on Pinterest.

I know I have just scratched the surface of pinning the wonderful posts about PowerPix and Super Improvers and I want to make sure we get all of them so please comment with links to your PowerPix and Super Improvers posts. If you are just starting with WBT I hope you are now excited to try these tools once you are ready and have what you need to get started. Be sure to come back for more Advanced WBT next Wednesday

WBT PowerPix without Common Core

Maybe your state or school is not using the Common Core Standards or maybe you want to use a pix from another grade level or maybe you want to create a new document like an PowerPoint to introduce a PowerPix. These are just a few reasons you may want these ELA  and Math Power Pix without the grade levels or standards.

For ELA we have a folder with JPEG files of all 106 ELA PowerPix, a blank ELA PowerPix and a sheet of the yellow sunburst labels. The PowerPix are basically in ABC order with the PowerPix for the 5 parts of a letter and 8 colors at the front.

View and download individual ELA PowerPix JPEGs by clicking HERE.

Download all of the ELA PowerPix JPEGS in one ZIP file by clicking HERE

For Math we have a folder with JPEG files of all 124 Math PowerPix, a blank Math PowerPix and a sheet of the yellow sunburst labels. The PowerPix are basically in ABC order but grouped by Math substrand. 

View and download individual Math PowerPix JPEGs by clicking HERE.

Download all of the Math PowerPix JPEGS in one ZIP file by clicking HERE

Are these helpful? Will you be able to use them?

 Remember you can grab the Common Core PowerPix for Kindergarten ELA and Math, First Grade ELA and Math, 2nd Grade ELA, 3rd Grade ELA and a beginning of 4th/5th Grade ELA from my WBT blog.
  All the links are HERE.