How effective is whole brain teaching in tough schools?

My question is fairly basic: How effective is Power teaching with inner city/urban kids where oppositionality, defiance and severe disruptive behaviors dominate? Most films on classroom management (on websites touting their package) show fairly compliant students. While the presentations can be dynamic and get rave reviews, even in inner city settings, my interest is in the outcomes 3-6-9 months later in terms of student engagement, reduced suspensions, office referrals and outcome measures such as standardized scores or improved academic performance.

Which inner city, tough schools, have successfully adopted this strategy with lasting, evidence based results? My goal is not to be difficult and question so much as it is to look for solid, effective approaches to classroom management.

Thanks in advance to anyone that can help me here. I'm about to head over to he "Industrial Strength" section.

It has been very effective for a lot of folks Look through the basic information, and be sure and download Industrial Strength Whole Brain Teaching.

Also get in touch with Angela Macias, a recognized expert in this area. She can tell you what she had done with this approach in one of the toughest middle schools in Southern California.

Hi there,
sorry if you have been waiting too long for this. I just saw it. I am Angela Macias, who Jeff referred to.
I have taught in inner city "tough" schools for several years and WBT absolutely works well. There are several other brilliant teachers at my site using it. There are also teachers all over Riverside and Los Angeles working at schools just like mine using WBT.
I believe that it actually works very well with inner city urban schools because typically these students are very headstrong. This is a quality that WBT can utilize through competition and interaction. You can actually read a case study that I wrote after my firs year teaching in the "Teaching Challenging Teenagers" book which you can download free on this website. Check it out.
Feel free to email me if you have questions or need help.
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Hi,

I teach at an alternative setting school. I have been told my students are the lowest 10% of the lowest 10%.. They have all been expelled from the regular public school for behavior problems. Sometimes they call me "you fXXXXXX (insert color here) Bxxxxx and your mama too", I occasionally have students breakdown and throw books, flip desks, even they have flipped the teachers desk. Usually these breakdowns occur when I have allowed for downtime and they are not engagage.

WBT has allowed me to really keep the kids engaged, its amazing, potty moth kids turn into "professional studedts" as I like to call them. They know what is the correct behavior, and when they are busy in the lesson, and someone else is "leading" them, I have no behavior issues.

Just wanted to add my 2 cents worth.

Personally, I think it is BEST for situations like this. Be sure to check out Industrial Strength Teaching's e-book.

Hi, Ocalacna,

I have been using WBT this past year, but haven't really tried the "industrial strength" aspects yet. But my kids are getting more restless and unruly as we reach the last quarter...I'm thinking I need to incorporate something "stronger," but not sure where to start...Guff Counter? Power Chip Poker? Student Leaders? Was there a progression you used with your students that worked particularlly well?

(I'm using the Teacher vs. Student ScoreBoard, with a weekly incentive, but think I may have to go back to daily to get the level of compliance I need...)

Thanks,
Jen

Flyingms2,
I have used industrial strength a couple times and it was great. Here is how I did it.
First identify leaders as the industrial strength book indicates. Start with a lesson on what a responsible adult is like and let students give you attributes of positive and negative behaviors they have seen in adults. You can make a T-chart. Then tell them you are going to have student leaders who take on extra responsibilities and you want them to elect the candidates. You will select from the top candidates. Tell them to write the name of a couple students in class that they believe have these positive traits and you will choose 2-3 leaders. Pick a couple you trust. You can then have re-elections every couple weeks if you like. You will be surprised at how serious they take this process.
I would switch the points to all positive at this point. Tell them you think they are ready for a more advanced system. Then tell them that the teacher will not get any points any more. Now it will only be points for them every time they are showing excellent behavior and academic skills. You can even do double points for the leaders to really point out the responsible kids. Tell them that as soon as they get to 20 points (or whatever number you set) you will stop whatever you are doing and play a game. Stick to your promise! Then set it up so that they are working on something boring when they get to stop and play a game and they will feel very accomplished. It will allow students to get praise from their classmates by meeting the classroom expectations.

I would have to say that whole brain teaching is an excellent way to reach the tough kids in your classroom. I have a student multiple students in my classroom who have been disciplined multiple times in their few short years at my school. I have used whole brain teaching all year and they absolutely love it. At first, they thought it wasn't all that great. They are the people who love to do it the most now. I also use these methods in coaching my sports teams. It is a great way to have total and complete control over everything that each person is saying and doing.