Saturday, September 14, 2013

Whole Brain Teaching Scoreboard {Spark Student Motivation}

Good Saturday morning!! Anyone else getting some Fall like weather today? It feels amazing outside!! I'm taking pictures for a friend's wedding today, but before I head out the door I wanted to do a quick post to link up with Joanne from Head Over Heels for Teaching

I have a very chatty bunch of kiddos this year! For the first 2 weeks of school I found myself constantly calling them down and telling them to be quiet. This was especially true during our transition times. 

I decided to give the Whole Brain Teaching Scoreboard a try and I am in love!! 

I use the students vs. teacher scoreboard, so I introduced it as a game and they just loved that there were 24 of them only 1 of me! I teach 3 different classes, so I just sectioned off one card and use it for all 3 classes. 



Instead of daily rewards, I went with a weekly 5 minute reward if the kids win or 5 minutes of rule talk if I win. We do our rewards on Fridays and so far we've played limbo, sung the Gummy Bear song, and danced to Cotton Eyed Joe and Rocky Top. The kids are always so excited to come in on Friday and see what "fun" thing we'll be doing. It is amazing what they will do for 5 minutes of fun!

The first week I introduced it I gave hints about times when I thought I could win a point and after that they were so quiet and on task during those times. 

It has been a lifesaver for me. The kids come into my room on task and ready to start the day. I no longer have to call everyone down and then wait for it to get quiet. It has helped me focus more on the positive things that happen in the room. Instead of saying things like, "Quiet down," now I just say, "It looks like I'm about to get a point," and they know to check their behavior. 

I would really recommend it to anyone! You can click here to go over to the Whole Brain Teaching site and read about it. 

I picked up my adorable, free WBT Scoreboard from Teaching With Style. The pack include a lot of different scoreboards and some great ways to change up the routine of the scoreboard.

Do you use the scoreboard in your classroom? What is your routine?

8 comments:

  1. I am loving the fall weather as well today. It is wonderful outside! Thanks for sharing how you use your scoreboard. I really need/want to incorporate Class/Yes into my room-but I have a student teacher right now and she has started picking up more classes. I may wait until she is finished in October to try it. I'm still debating!

    Hunter's Teaching Tales
    Find me on Facebook

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  2. I use the WBT class/yes attention signal, but have never used the scoreboard. I've just read a little online about WBT (I'd love the actual training). My group is super chatty this year too! Your post sounds like a testimonial, so I'm up for it-implementing on Monday Courtney! I hope I have as much success as you! Thanks so much for sharing and linking up!
    Joanne
    Head Over Heels For Teaching

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  3. What a great idea to share! Like Joanne, I have been using the attention getters, but not this. I am going to try it too. Thank you!

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  4. OMG. You are going to think I'm such a copy cat! I wrote about the same thing! And I'm using the same Scoreboard. It's so cute :-)

    Sarah
    MissKinBK

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  5. This looks awesome and your scoreboard fits my three sections perfectly too! How often do the students get a point? Is it just anytime they transition quickly and quietly? I love this and am headed to check out the charts now!
    ~Holly
    Fourth Grade Flipper

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  6. I used the scoreboard with my last year's group when we started back at the beginning of the month, and it worked like a charm with my chatty boys. (I had 18 of them).
    I have had my new class for one week, and so far I have only used Class/Yes. They are a dream group. They listen right away and they work quietly with few reminders. I am not sure how much I will need to use the scoreboard with them.
    I found it difficult to have the board at the front of the room when I did use it, so I think I might make one to hang around my neck or put it on a clipboard that I can carry around so that it is more immediate when the points are given.
    I am definitely becoming a fan of WBT though. I wish I had known about it at the beginning of last year!

    Charlene/Diamond Mom
    Diamond Mom's Treasury

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  7. I am going to have to give this a try, I have quite the chatty/prefer to be off-task group.

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  8. Yay! So glad you love my Scoreboard pack and that it's working well for your class! :)

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