Hi! I recently attended the WBT Lousianna Conference and it was nothing short of amazing! I actually have one year of WBT under my belt, but still have a few questions in hopes that this year will be even MORE successful.

1. At the conference, Andrea mentioned sharing her parent letter. Does anyone know how to obtain this? I'm just curious how she (or any of you) explained the class behavior plan and how it works for those parents who want a daily record of their child's behavior. This will be my first year applying the practice cards, etc... I formally used the color card system, so the parents always recieved a daily "color" mark on their child's agendas.

2. How should I prepare for a Substitute?

3. When using teach/okay, are the students supposed to keep their same partner (and number 1 or 2) for a certain period of time? In Andrea's video, it is clear that the students knew who their partners were and which number they were assigned.

4. Last question...(for now) I vaguely remember Andrea talking about how she made Superspeed work most effectively in her class. Do the students have Superspeed folders or do they get a new sheet every time the game is played? Do they get a new partner, as well?

Phew! Thanks for bearing with me and ALL of my questions. Any input for any or all of the questions will be much appreciated...hopefully others can benefit, too!

~Catherine from FL

Hi there Catherine!

1. I generally explain my discipline procedure at Back to School night, but if you'd like a copy of my parent letter, please feel free to email me, I will definitely send it to you:)! for any parent that wants a daily record~ I would say the picture card note IS the daily record. The note home details what rule(s) were broken. No note home, no rules broken.

2. I'm kind of a nut and for my sub plans I give a synopsis of the basics of WBT (i also have that in hard copy form if you would like), and then I do alot of Say: ----- The students should say----- throughout the lesson plans. Needless to say I have very LONG sub plans. As a compromise, you could always give a "basic" rendition of WBT (Class! Yes! & HAnds and Eyes! to get attention; Lines, lines, lines and seats, seats, seats, ; scoreboard for following directions; and picture cards for "behavior problems" should be enough to keep your class "functioning" and is actually a benefit for the substitute~ although the subs will decide to take it or leave it:). To be honest with you, I've taken sick days and had a substitute observe me~ but that is just because I don't have a partner teacher and many areas of my room serve as multi-functional spaces which can be hard to explain to a substitute. Then I try to use the same substitute each time. Of course I've had emergencies and so I just leave the detailed plans and hope for the best!

3. I number off my students, but they are in rows on the carpet so that makes it easy. Basically red and green row are ones and orange and blue row are twos. I switch up my rows every three months, so only when a student is absent or we have just changed rows does re-numbering occur.

4. In my classroom, I use superspeed with the uppergrade buddies. Each student has their own folder. I recycle and bring out new pages every few weeks.

Hope this helps:)
Andrea

Hi Andrea,
Thanks for your responses to all of my questions! I especially like how you utilize your upper grade buddies for superspeed...great idea! As for the parent letter and sub notes, I would love to have a copy. (I tried several times to send you a message, but it wouldn't go through on my end...sorry!) Anyhow, thanks again for your help and for all that you and the rest of the WBT team do!!!

Blessings to you,
Catherine
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Hi There,
Last year I began using WBT and I made a "thinking sheet" that I liked using to help with behavior and communication. It was full sheet with "Dear mom/dad, I need to work on (5 rule icons)" The student circles the rule they broke (usually a few times by now) and draw or write about what they did. Then there is a line in the center, horizontally, and bottom half has "I can make my Dear Teacher happy by..." and a space to draw or write how to make a good choice. At the bottom, there is space to sign and date it for students and parents. And some Clip art to make it motivational. It especially helped those who needed a break or time to cool down. While they knew it was a "mom" note, it also included a plan to make improvements. I could also collect them for data for behavior plans.
Good Luck

Thanks Halliday! That's a great idea and what a wonderful way to make it positive Thanks for sharing!

I would like to have a copy of the beginning of the year parent letter, Andrea.
Thanks so much,
Micky Lavinder
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I would be very interested in seeing what you used! Where can I find a copy? Elcole53[spoiler]

A sample, beginning of the year, parent letter is now posted under the Goodies menu above. It was written by Jackie Pedersen, a WBT executive board member.

Are the icons for the rules available anywhere to copy and drag into the parent letter and the behavior note?

For the icons, I take a snapshot (on mac~ shift apple 4) of the pictures that are available on the website. For the letter & behavior note I'll see if I can see if I can figure out how to upload like Jackie did~ although for the people who emailed me I'm still going to send it that way too. Anyone else interested in email format can email as well:)

Hey there,

You know in the beginning we have a "back to school" night the week before school starts so I explain the WBT techniques then. I don't go into all the levels simply because I don't know when or if I will get to them. I explain the scoreboard, incentives, and the practice cards because those are the ones that will most likely get used! Everything else is explained as needed and if needed.

As for Superspeed...I used it with great success last year with my Kinders. I simply made binders for the Letters and the Sight Words and put each sheet in a sheet protector to keep it from tearing. It was a little pricey but worth it. I would use it as a reward for if they won the score board then the maybe the last 10 min of class we would play Super Speed...on rainy days and cold days when recess had to be inside we would play Super Speed...just pair them up and teach them the rules and monitor monitor monitor....I bought simply timers at the teacher store here and you would be amazed at how even Kinders can learn to set and reset the timer and know if they beat their "score" or not. They loved it and it helped with reading so much!!!


Farrah Shipley

K~ I'm going to see if this works:)!

Let's see if this one works, too:)

K~ so the rules note is "too big" to upload...so if anyone wants that, please email me:)

PS: TO Catherine and Micky: I emailed you both, as well:)

Andrea,
Just found your "Parent letter" With some searching. Please send along any more hints as I too am going into new territory going to kindergarten.

We use HM reading does it coorelate well with "Biffytoons"?
Help Sept. is coming,
Annette Warren
San Diego

I would love a copy of the rules. Could you email them to me?
Thanks!
Sara Murphy

I don't see it:(

Would love to see a copy of it too! Ellen

I got the letter loved it! How does the mandatory homework session work and what happens if the parent doesn't attend? Would love to see your weekly report! Ellen