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 3 books, especially the newest book, Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids:FastTrack. 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 new official WBT rules!  

I shared more about the 5 rules and the posters I use here but I need to update that post with the newest, 2020, Rule 5: Make our dear team stronger. 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 2019 upgrade of the Scoreboard that is  shared here 
and if we go back to school in person will have 3 sections to my scoreboard, about 1 for each hour of class.

During distance learning and on my phone for a traveling scoreboard I used a digital scoreboard.

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/beginner/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 Periscope 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