I have just come across WBT and plan to use it for the upcoming fall in my 7th grade math class. I've read Teaching Challenging Teens and WBT for Challenging Kids. The two books seem to imply different orders of levels for the scoreboard. The "kids" book seems to follow: 1) scoreboard; 2) practice cards; 3) Guff counter; 4) Independents; 5) Bulls Eye. The "teens" book seems to follow: 1) scoreboard; 2) independents; 3) ????.

I can see how it might make sense to do levels in the following order: 1) regular scoreboard; 2) independents; 3) practice cards or detention cards; 4) guff counter etc... This works from larger to smaller I believe.

Have any of you found success using the "kids" order of levels with middle school students or is there a different order? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

OK, I'm no expert (yet) in WBT, and I have yet to use the Independents level to the ScoreBoard, but.... the way I understand it, after going to the National Conference and hearing Angela Macias explain it .... "Independents" is really a strategy to help break up a rebellious clique - especially a situation where you have one strong, rebellious leader with a couple of "fence-sitters" who tend to follow his/her lead, thus creating class disruptions. You would use the "Independents" to try to isolate the rebel leader by separting the fence-sitters away from him/her.

"Guff counter" is something I HAVE used - mostly to handle the odd "smart" remark - not necessarily to break up a clique. (If I have a student who persists in being disrespectul, I give a detention, rather than a practice card - since I teach high school). I suppose if I ever have a student who appears immune to detentions, then I would move on to the "Bulls Eye" game.

I guess what I'm saying is that the Levels aren't necessarily a linear progression, but they *MIGHT* be if you have an extremely challenging individual. (For example, I could see completely bypassing the "Independents" stage if I had a an extremely challenging/rebellious individual who didn't rely on any entourage....)

And again, not every Level would be a classwide strategy.

- Jen

At the Nat’l Conference I understood that the “levels” where to be implemented to reach all of your students. Like the idea of a funnel. Therefore, the order is important.

So let’s say you implement the Scoreboard(whole class) at the beginning of the year, you want to use this method of reward for as long as possible. At the same time, rather than using practice cards (individual behavior), you will practice the rules with students that misbehave. There were multiple scenarios given for timing, it is really what works best for your situation. Soon after, you introduce the Guff Counter which eliminates back talk. You never really take points away. When you begin to notice that the board is not reaching certain kids, you add the Independents section( rebellious cliques). This should break up the clique and allow those who were followers of the main instigator to be monitored by the Scoreboard again. At that time, you may need to use the Bullseye Game for that student who was leading the clique, the one immune to penalty or punishment. The Bullseye Game is designed for teacher/student involvement, and the Agreement Bridge is a collaborative problem solving game.

Level 1 : Scoreboard
Level 2: Practice (older kids, no card was mentioned, this was done after school, detention...)
Level 3: Guff Counter
Level 4: Independents
Level 5: Bullseye Game
Level 6: Agreement Bridge

Rememeber, it’s a looong year. Don’t give away everything within the first 3 months.

Hope some of this helps,

Roxi
WBT Intern, 2011-2012
wholebrainwithroxishayne.blogspot.com

A big thing to keep in mind is that WBT is flexible. You can use the components you need at any given time. I teach a self-contained class for students with Emotional Disabilities. Starting day 1 we are tracking individual behaviors with them, so we start with the regular scoreboard and the Bullseye game, but not the practice cards, guff counter, or independents. In fact, I have so few students that I'll probably never use independents because I'll never have that situation.

Use what you need.

WBT Intern 2011-2012

I have used this in HS and actually never needed to go to independents. I used the scoreboard and the practice cards. I did modify the Cards as display space was virtally nonexistent. But, students had detention and "practiced rules" I honestly can say that I have never had so much laughter in a detention. I had students practice the rule they broke, (1 minute for each rule broken) We had lots of windows in our class, so of course there were curious observers... My students would ask if they really "had" to do the rule. My response, "well, you could serve the 30 minute detention...which do you think will help you follow the rule more tomorrow?" They would laugh and practice. IF they had to repeat detention for the same rule, the time doubled... 3D...no student stayed for more than 3 detentions for a particular rule. Some students were actually encouraged to follow the rules more faithfully when they heard about the "practice" sessions.

Each level is really targeted for a specific problem:

Scoreboard= most of your class most of the time.

Guff Counter= that back talkin' power struggle seeking kid.

Independents= the little clique of troublemakers.

Bullseye Game= kid who is immune to punishment.