PowerPix JPEGs all ready to Go!

Decided to post on my main teaching blog about PowerPix and shared my latest, JPEGs of all the Math and ELA PowerPix with blank labels ready to add your own standards and grade levels to :)
Hop over HERE to grab these and be sure to share in the comments what you think and what you create :)

WBT Intro for Preschool-2nd Grade

I realized I have not shared the 2 Intro to WBT lessons I was able to create with the fabulous WBT Construction Kit found in the Free Downloads section of wholebrainteaching.com.
There is an Early Education version for PreK-Kinder and a Primary version for 1st-2nd. If you teach 3rd grade or higher I recommend using the original WBT Intro found at wholebrainteaching.com under Free Ebooks in the Common Core section.

The Early Education Edition is a zipped file with PowerPoint and PDF versions of an 84 page presentation based on work from WholeBrainTeaching.com. The presentation will introduce your students to the Five classroom rules and five of Whole Brain Teaching's basic learning techniques:
Class-Yes, Hands and Eyes, Mirror Words, Teach-Okay, and the Scoreboard.

One PowerPoint and PDF contains teacher note on slides to help newbies and experienced Whole Brain Teachers alike teach these lessons. There is also a PowerPoint and PDF that contains no notes on student slides and limited teacher slides for those that prefer.

The Primary Version is a zipped file with PowerPoint and PDF versions of an 103 page presentation. The presentation will introduce your students to the Five classroom rules and five of Whole Brain Teaching's basic learning techniques: Class-Yes, Hands and Eyes, Mirror Words, Teach-Okay, and the Scoreboard AND a lesson on What is a Sentence?

Please let me know if you like these lessons. Would use other similar lessons with the PowerPix incorporated?

Math Common Core PowerPix for Kinder &1st

Tonight I have Common Core PowerPix Math for Kindergarten and First Grade for you! Click the pictures to download.

I can't tell you how excited I am to be finishing up these Common Core PowerPix! These are one of my favorite WBT tools and I hope that these updated PowerPix and Teacher notes are useful. I want to be clear that these are NOT my creation but are edited from the PowerPix found under Free Ebooks at wholebrainteaching.com. The originals had the California State Standards and included the teacher notes and pix in one file. I have tried to tie each of the original PowerPix to the new Common Core Standards that so many states are now or will soon be using. 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 

ELA Common Core PowerPix for 3rd, 4th & 5th Grade

ELA is finished! Now upper grade teachers I am sorry I only have a few PowerPix for you but it is a start right? Please let me know if these are helpful and if you would also like Math. 

Second Grade ELA Common Core PowerPix

Here are the Second Grade ELA Common Core PowerPix and Teacher Notes :)

Common Core Power Pix Update

I finally finished updating the ELA PowerPix with Common Core Standards and have the kindergarten and first grade ELA ready to share today :) I'm sure there are errors but I think these are much clearer and better organized than what I shared in 2011 when I first started learning about the Common Core Standards. Just click the picture below to download the PowerPix and then grab the Teacher Notes from the Goggle Doc below.
Please let me know what you think and come back throughout the week for the rest of ELA and then Math :)

WBT Book Club Chapters 1 & 2

Have you grabbed your copy of Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids yet? I have had the free ebook for years now so I have to admit that I wasn't in a hurry to grab the new Amazon book by WBT co-founder Chris Biffle( Sorry Coach).  I figured I should know all of the stuff that would be in it right? I watched all the webcasts, read all the ebooks, have gone to a training so I should know this all. Well when they decided to have a book club for the book I knew I had to grab it and see what was new.  Well it is a must have friends! Even if you can just grab the Kindle version you will not be disappointed. This book really does give you the whole picture of what Whole Brain Teaching is today. There have been so many additions over the years that it can be overwhelming to start using Whole Brain Teaching and this book shows you where to start and how to successfully become a Whole Brain Teacher or WBT'er. 

You will want to join the book club once you get your book, you are ordering it now right? The best part of the book club is that it is not a summer book study but an ongoing book club you can join at any time! It doesn't matter if you got your book last month or get it next week or in 2015, you can join in. I have had my book for a couple months but am just now ready to share my answers to the book club questions. I will warn you that many of the questions/assignments are hard, especially if you are going for certification points, but all worth at least contemplating for your self. 

Click on the image below to read and respond to the Chapter 1-2 assignment and read on for my response :)

Welcome everyone! Today I want to start our year together with a 45 minute lecture and discussion on classroom management systems. I need you all to turn your cell phones into the basket in the middle of the table and give me your full attention. If you can not follow along and fully participate in our discussion you will need to write a one page essay on listening skills during lunch. OK are we ready to begin? Why don't you look excited? Doesn't a 45 minute lecture sound exciting? Don't you respond well to the threat of punishment? No? But we will have discussion time! Well you can relax because really today we are going to talk about classroom management but in a fun and much more engagement friendly way because I am going to be using Whole Brain Teaching.

The First Great Law of Whole Brain Teaching is: The longer we talk, the more students we lose. This applies not just to students kindergarten thru college age, but even adults in a staff meeting. I can give you a great lecture on the history of classroom management systems I have tried, complete with a 50 page Power Point but as soon as I have talked more than 15 minutes none of you will be hearing anything but “WahWahWahWah” like in Charlie Brown. Even if I add discussion time few of you will be talking about what I want you to be discussing. When I gave my first technology training to teachers I thought it would be great because I had so much built in discussion time but really I only had the attention of 10% of the teachers and the others were talking about everything but what I was teaching. We are going to make sure we watch how long we talk so we don't lose many students.

Now I could have called out those teachers that were not on task during that technology training and I could make you write that one page essay at lunch but punishing adults is just as ineffective as punishing students. When we are bored we all act out or tune out, no matter the age. So what can we do if punishment doesn't work? Here is the secret I learned from Whole Brain Teaching Challenging Students written by WBT co-founder Chris Biffle, if a student’s whole brain is involved in learning, there isn’t any mental area left over for challenging behavior. For our classroom management to work we need to work on engagement of the whole brain. I want you all engaged at staff meetings this year as much as I want our students engaged in every lesson this year so this is as much talking at one time as I will be doing all year.

So we have the First Great Law and the secret of Whole Brain Teaching but why are we talking about using it? What makes it work better than traditional classroom management systems? Orderly Fun! The main thing that makes Whole Brain Teaching work is because it produces classrooms that are full of orderly fun. WBT is more like a large, lively game than a traditional elementary school classroom management system. Just as in all games, there are penalties as well as rewards… but like “going to jail” in Monopoly ®, even the penalties are entertaining. We learn better when we are having fun so we are going to have fun in our classrooms and our staff meetings. Who's ready to really get started with our year now?

Bloglovin and G+

So with Google Reader shutting down July 1 I had to find a new blog feed and thanks to my teacher facebook friends found

It was super easy to import my Google Reader blogs within their groups into Bloglovin' and I get a daily email with my feeds. If you want the SUPER cute Bloglovin button

 on your own blog here are the directions from it's creator, Melissa Mazur at

For now you can still follow me with Friends Connect but I suggest you Follow my blog with Bloglovin just in case. Google says that Friends Connect is not going away, it is connected to Blogger Reader now, but it is not supported anymore so I'm sure it is only a matter of time before it goes in favor of G+

Speaking of G+ add me to your circles there too :)

I'm joining a great linky party hosed by Tori's Teacher Tips to find some great new (to me) blogs! Hop over and check out these blogs, many are having giveaways too :)

It's Book Club time and You're Invited!

The Super AWESOME Mrs. Stoltenberg has a special summer invite just for us! Check it out!

You’re Invited!

Summer, Funtricity, and the WBT Book Club

We have created the first Whole Brain Teachers Book Club! Our highlighted book for discussion is the newest WBT book from Coach B with all the latest and greatest strategies and techniques:

Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids http://goo.gl/gBNAW

Where: http://wbtbookclub.blogspot.com/

How: Go to this link and become a member! It’s Free! Grab the book on Amazon or Kindle! Start reading and join the posted discussions! Be prepared for some thought-provoking, energizing, moving, and always lively conversations with fellow WBT teachers from around the world!

You can also earn up to 700 Whole Brain Teaching Certification Points with your posts! We'll be exploring, chapter by chapter, our manual, "Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids." Follow these directions ... Step 1: Go to http://wbtbookclub.blogspot.com/
Step 2: Scroll down to "Members" on the left hand side. Click on "Join This Site" and become a member. You will need a Google, Twitter, Yahoo, Open ID, AIM, or Netlog account to do this. Becoming a member is a necessity to use the book club, as you have to be a member to post.
Step 3: Enter your email address into the box on the right hand side of the page (below Members). This will allow you to receive messages regarding new discussion topics and important info.
Hope you can join us!!

WBT Webcasts move to Mondays!

It has been a crazy busy year and I am so behind! Well I had to grab a minute to let you know that WBT Webcasts with Coach B are starting up again tonight, yep we are moving to Mondays! So please join me tonight! We are starting a new series on meeting Common Core the WBT way and tonight Coach B will share how to help kids reason accuratly answering the question "What is Evidence?"

Hop over to WBT TV tonight, March 11 at
 5 PM Pacific, 6 PM Mountain, 7 PM Central, 8 PM Eastern

See you tonight :)