"Oh the Places We Will Go"

I have become obsessed lately with the idea of a Student Data Wall.  I think it will be extremely valuable to the class to know where they are and where they need to go. 
I love goal setting with my students.

I also love the idea of keeping the whole class accountable to each other.

A sort of ..."we are responsible for each other"...mentality.

I don't want it to be a "I'm better than you" idea...but a "hey, you look like you could use some help....I'd love to help you study your spelling words, or your math facts...etc.".

But the line is very fine when you have an element of competition. How can I do it without students feeling embarrassed or too big for their britches?

I love the Super Improver Wall with Whole Brain Teaching.  Read more about that here:

http://www.wholebrainteaching.com/

Basically it is a process where students work to improve their personal best in whatever way you decide. 

I love the idea Mrs. Craig uses at http://elementaryliteracyresources.blogspot.com/ of improving Spelling scores by using a chart like the one below.


What do you guys think about displaying student progress as a class on the wall?

Hopefully I will be able to get in my classroom in the next few weeks and start putting my Data Wall together.  I am excited to see how it works!  I'll keep you posted....

And remember....the door is open, come on in!

~Mindy

Starting Whole Brain

So over the Christmas Break this past year I discovered a revolution which had my teacher brain jumping up and down with excitement.... Whole Brain Teaching.  WOW!  Have you seen some of these videos?!  I want to be THAT teacher is all I could think. 

So I researched and watched videos and really embraced everything I read. 

You can check it all out here:
http://www.wholebrainteaching.com/

Then we came back from break and I was ready to introduce some WBT elements into my daily teaching.  The amazing thing was how effortlessly it worked its way into my teaching.  I didn't add a lot because it is so hard to introduce a whole new creature to the class in the middle of the year.  Not to mention we were just returned from break.  So...baby steps, right?!

I decided the easiest thing to start with was Class/Yes and Teach/OK.  And...WOW!!...they took to that like gangbusters.  Then I kept adding in new things like, mirror and mirror/talk, and switch! Quickly they found their way into my everyday teaching.  And what WBT classroom would be complete without the smiley and frownie?! 

This year, I plan on starting the WHOLE year off the WHOLE brain way.  With a little bit of my own twist.

Today I worked on the rules for my class...I can just hear them now...."RULE #1...." in their sweet little voices!

Here are the rules I plan to use:

And my little twist...instead of "keep your dear teacher happy"  I decided the rule leader will ask, "Why do we follow the rules?"  and the students will answer, "To keep the WHOLE class happy!"

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy.  Click on each picture above to download a copy.

The door is always open, so come on in!

~Mindy