Hello just to introduce myself I work in an inner city school in Derby which is in...Derbyshire! The school has many ell and direct entry children. I was wondering about WBT I understand the method but what about when pupils are on self directed less instruction led tasks? What happens then? I would see this happening once a day in the afternoon for an hour or so, children keeping their own journals, craft typpe activities et al. Thanks in advance. Tubby.

Hi Tubby Custard,
Welcome! What grade do you teach? When you say "direct entry" do you mean kids who have not had schooling in the US before? I don't work at an inner city school, but it is a Title I school with a high ELL population and high migrant population.

I teach kindergarten so our independent time isn't TOO long, but we do have some, several times a day, just at shorter time increments. I think most people will agree, but I'll just speak for myself. WBT is all about fitting it in to work for you and your group of kids. I am willing to bet that it looks different with the same teacher from year to year because not only are the teachers growing and learning, some things work differently with a certain group of kids.

I use the WBT teach/ok when giving directions to check for understanding. I will give directions. Tell them "Teach" they say "ok" and they tell a neighbor the directions". While they are working on independent work and I need their attention I use the class/yes. Depending on what they're doing I will use gestures with them individually. For example if a student comes up to me and shows me a writing piece they're working on with one sentence I will tell them I need more and do the gesture for more (point fingers towards each other and roll them around each other).

Keep asking questions and my biggest piece of advice is....start slowly!! I started my first week with just class/yes and the scoreboard. Week 2: the rules w/ gestures and structured seating to partner them up. Week 3: Mirror Week 4: Teach/Ok (they have always done partner work and discussions so I just added the words).

Hi thanks for that.It was very re - assuring and confirming. We are used to partner work but this is partner work plus one - great. Just what they need. Direct Entry means children who have not had schooling in the UK before as they are migrating from, in the main, eastern Europe. The class is for 7 to 11 year olds. So all direct entry children and early stage english language learners join the class. Hope this makes sense. Derby is right in the middle of England I suppose the term inner city means urban deprivation, large cultural mix.Anyway I will post when I start - in May/ Thanks again for your help. Tubby.

Hi Tubby,

Welcome to WBT!! It is a great way to teach. You and your students will love it. I teach Title I Reading to K-5th graders (5-11 year olds.) I have several small groups a day working on reading skills. Since you are doing early stage englich language instruction, I would recommend that you check out the free ebooks. Especially, the Biffy Tunes (high frequency words),the Power Pix (communication arts) books, and the Super Speed reading games are all great resources that focus on reading.

Hi:) yes you're right we need to 'nail' reading and I will look at these now they look great. Thank you for your recommendations. Will try them and let you know how they go. Thanks again.

Great. I will look forward to hearing about your successes.

Hi Tubby Custard. It's great to see someone else from the UK on WBT.
I teach in Northern Ireland, and have been investigating WBT for a while, and I think I will give it a go when we return to school on Tuesday.
I think like you I am concerned with some of the finite details involved, but I guess the best strategy is to jump in both feet first.

Welcome to WBT! To start, I would suggest that you download (from the website) Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids (under e-books). There is a script for you to follow. I found this to be extremely helpful. I would also recommend watching WBT videos on youtube. When I read a new post or watch a new video, I learn something new! I love it!

Karen

Hello yes feet first seems the way will do class yes and teach okay tomorrow.Thank you for suggesting the download it is very concise.Will write out a mini prompter for myself, feel quite rusty after 2 weeks off! Thanks again.

Hello I had to re-register so I am the old originator of this listing and just to say....gosh VERY successful. I taught a new teacher and a supply teacher the simple stuff, too. Highly recommended! Thank you for your encouragement.