T’was the week before Christmas and all through the school…

Are anybody’s students getting a little crazy this time of year? Our energy level is waning, while our students’ level is rising! This is precisely the time to step up your usage of WBT strategies and tools! Andrea Schindler often says something like, “I want my students to be as tired at the end of the day as I am!”
Helpful tips:
• Be consistent with the rules. Now is not the time to flake out and be either too soft or too firm with our students. Our students thrive on consistency. They need to be able to count on us to remain consistent even when our schedule is not.
• Incorporate lots of gestures. The students cannot seem to sit still, so let’s use that energy to move and learn. If you do not have gestures for a concept, ask them! Believe me, they can think of some pretty wonderful ways to represent a concept.
• Use the scoreboard! In my class, when they earn a smilie, they say, “Jingle Bells!” When they earn a frownie, they respond, “Bah, humbug!” Whatever you decide to have your students say, the key is to use the scoreboard all day long, throughout subjects, play/song/program practice, transitions, and activities. What do your students enjoy? Have them work for that. I tell them in the morning what they are working for, and write it under my scoreboard as a visual reference. My students want to listen and dance to Feliz Navidad and other holiday songs. Some other ideas that have worked for me are: the privilege of sitting by a friend, using gel pens for an assignment, playing math game on the smartboard, watching a 2-3 minute video clip, first class in line for recess, and sitting on top of their desk (instead of in their chair) for sight word practice. Of course, they LOVE Spuper Speed and Mind Soccer! You can find directions for these games in the ebooks and they are available for FREE in the downloads section on this site. The most requested reward right now for my first graders is writing their name in cursive!!! So if the smilies are ahead, we practice cursive writing using our classmates’ names. The second grade teachers will be so happy!
• Micro lecture, teaching in brief segments, and implement the use of “Teach, Okay”. Break you lessons down into keys points, and students will be engaged in teaching those points to their partner. This is so hard for us, as teachers! We love to talk!

Well, we only have 3½ days left of school, but I hear that many schools remain in session right up until Christmas. How do you incorporate WBT to stay sane while your students are so “lively and quick?”
Can’t wait to hear what is working for other WB Teachers out there!
Deb Weigel
WBT Intern

Yes, I hear you. I am asking Santa for 7 more days of sanity this year. Kindergarten was an interesting place to be on Friday. Several of my co-teachers were coming to me and begging me for some ideas on how to control their classes. I just smiled and handed them my WBT notebook. Granted my boys and girls were struggling to keep it together too, but I just kept bringing them back with class-yes and the scoreboard. We did lots of teach-okay reviewing numbers, letters, and sounds. If we can keep them engaged we have a better chance of controlling those unwanted behaviors. Keeping it fresh is a must this time of the year. I am not planning to introduce anything new for the next week before break. We are just going to brush up on what we have already learned and revisit some things we did at the beginning of school.

And days of sugar, and presents, toys and the like dance in their wee little heads!

I agree time to step up WBT. . .
My Christmas present was finding this wonderful "power" and all my new friends, here is what has gone on so far:
.First year of using WBT
.Practiced all summer
.Got some of right
.Class caught on in the first months of school as a straight kinder class THEN we had to move students, gain some new ones and do a big switch. All five rules had to be re taught, as a new K-1 class.
.Big 10 finger wooo, they caught on
.Went to the Calif. seminar, and took a webinar, so fired up!
.HAVE ONLY USED THE SCORE BOARD SINCE SEPTEMBER- oh yeah!

and on the story goes!
Annette

Oh Deb you are such a HOOT!!!!

I love it!!! I totally agree with everything you said!

Let's see...2 1/2 days of school left...mmm...

Monday we decorated our tree and sang Christmas Carols and played mind soccer in between making ornaments for the tree...yes see I even got some review in there...

Tuesday we did a whole group reading exercise that took all morning..it was a long story and the kids loved it because the played for minutes of "free time" which really meant super speed games!!!

Wednesday (today) we have baked sugar cookies...(lesson: how to read directions, follow directions, and measuring)...and they decorated. We played Smoothy Bumper Planet for a while and then Super Speed again! We are looking forward to this afternoon when we eat our cookies and make hot cocoa and watch FROSTY THE SNOWMAN(kind of ironic since it is 70 degrees outside...how is a kinder teacher supposed to teach about WINTER when there is no WINTER!!!! LOL!


Thursday we are making our stockings which will require some basic fine motor skill development and in between each step we are going to have to answer review questions and play mind soccer and when a team makes a point they get to put something together on their stocking!

Friday is our Christmas party!!!!!!!!!!!!!11 Then two weeks off!!!!! HOOOORAYYYYYY!!!!!


So my week is packed with fun filled energetic exciting stuff...and still getting those review lessons in there!!!!

LOVE IT!!! Somewhere in all this I have to make time to do my second video!!!! LOL!


Farrah Shipley
2010 WBT Intern
Lubbock, Texas
Kindergarten

You're lucky that today is your last day! We have two and a half days next week yet. Great job on creating fun activities while still using WBT! If you really want to teach them about winter, come to PA. It is finally warming up into the higher twenties today! LOL. We thought it was cold until we got to be included in a Skype Video Conference with our 4th graders and the 4th graders in Alaska. Suddenly it felt like a heat wave!

Thanks for sharing your great ideas! Happy Holidays. Enjoy your break!

Happy Holidays!!!!! Thanks WBT and all you teachers out there for making me the most relaxed I have felt heading into the holidays...even with the challenging class I have! I love that I already can't wait for January - will be trying new things every day!

Oh my. . . We've made it through our first on stage Christmas performance (can you still say that)?
a class party. . .
making decorations. . .
and all the other excitment, all with only using the scoreboard for motivation and jingle,jingle, jingle of Yeah, and very few ba-hum-bugs.

Thank you all for the power of WBT, my greatest Christmas gift yet.
Annette