Whole Brain Teaching around the world...
Hello, Im a new member of the power teaching community. When I first learnt about WBT (maybe a week ago, by mere coincidence) I wondered whether what seems to be so successful in the US might also apply to Germany. So I watched the youtube-videos and found the concept really intriguing. But would it work in Germany? German mentality is a bit different. I always had the feeling that Americans are more emotional or can show their emotions better than we, whereas Germans are more reserved. So how would the kids respond?
So I decided to give it a chance and started using WBT with my English classes (7th, 8th, and 10th grade). I was overwhelmed by the result! Not only did the students love it - I also experienced a difference in the way I prepare my lessons. Now I organize my teaching in smaller steps so the students can "teach" their neighbors.
I had the best results with my 8th and 10th-graders, while I'm still struggling with the 7th grade. What appears to be strangest to my students is the gestures. They still have to learn to let themselves go (German reservedness!). But they are gradually learning, and the more students join in the gesturing, the less embarrassing it is for the others.
So as an "interim result" I have the feeling that the new method is a big success. Especially students' concentration, working intensity, and discipline have improved considerably.
so long - I'm going to keep you informed.

Your 7th graders might benfit from watching the 8th and 10th graders... maybe you could show them a video of your other students.

I had to do a lot of modeling with my 7th graders, we did practice teaches where I played a student, then the practiced boring ways to teach and exciting ways. I think they understood after that, a lot of them were still wanting to please me by being quiet and talking quietly and were thrown off that I was asking them to show their excitement.

With the gestures, make sure you acknowledge that what they are doing is inherently silly and treat it like a joke. Laugh at yourself when you mess them up, and come up with "woos" that make them laugh. You say that Germans are more reserved, and your age level is definitely reserved as well (scared to look "uncool" to their peers), so humor is your biggest weapon to get them to come out of their shells. Take Scoreboard points away for students that aren't participating, but be careful to keep the atmosphere light and positive (mighty groans help). This has been tough for me; I sometimes react angrily if a student isn't participating.

As for the larger question of Whole Brain Teaching maybe being a more American technique, I think there is no reason that the strategies can't be used in any culture. There may be some modifications made (as there are by all Whole Brain Teaching from city to city and classroom to classroom), but the things that help us learn are the same regardless of our language or culture. Our mood has a big effect on how well we learn, and the laughter and energy that come from WBT can't help but improve our moods. Using multiple parts of the brain to process information undoubtedly helps us learn better; gesturing and partner-sharing help to activate multiple brain areas simultaneously (speech, listening, visual, and motor).

Thanks for your replies. As you can see from my first entry, I'm optimistic about this approach, and tha fact that it has already helped a great deal can't be denied.

As you mentioned, it isn't always easy to swallow my anger when students don't act the way tey're supposed to, and especially in the first Whole-Brain Teaching lessons I held, it was my main difficulty not to follow the old patterns when things didn't go right, but just to say "thanks for the point on the scoreboard - I really love winning." Old habits die hard, and what was being engrained for more than 14 years can't be easily trown overboard in an instance.
Anyhow, I don't think that I really have that well-known problem with old dogs and new tricks, I'm always open for new (better) ideas. And I've got a very positive feeling about Whole Brain Teaching.
Michael

Hello again,

when the going gets tough, the tough get going ... and thus I went going with my 7th-graders. I decided that it might be the best idea to just make clear to them why we're making gestures etc. So I asked them what might be the reason, and they immediately replied that associating lesson contents with gestures helps a lot to keep them in mind.
From then on the students really kept in line and cheered on the hesitant ones.
besides, I'm getting more consistent with the scoreboard, which is also very helpful (at first, I often forgot to make points).

mistermolinero wrote:


This is a really key point. With older learners the more you discuss and explain why you do the components the faster they buy in.

mistermolinero wrote:


Sounds like you're coming along great. My wife just started yesterday, and I'm hearing the same stuff from her (it's hard to remember to do things, but getting easier). Keep at it!