I absolutely love WBT, and so do my students! We have so much fun with it. I'm definietly still learning, but what I have used so far has been great. I've been doing just the basics: class-yes, teach-okay, practicing the rules, frownies and smileys (which I forget about sometimes... ) and the white cards with the rules for individual students, oh and I can't forget superspeed 100 which is the kids ask to play all the time.

I was wanting some help with a couple of things and I don't know how I can use WBT to help the students with these. I have a very competitive class, so everything they do they have to be first. This is affecting their comprehension because they rush to read the text and then guess the answers. They told me themselves they do this..so they are very aware of it. Any suggestions on how I can help them?
Another thing is writing. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can help the students be more excited about writing and also different strategies to teaching writing?

(All my students are at least bilingual and so language arts is a harder subject for them.)

Thank you...

We're delighted to hear from a WBT educator in Brazil! As to students rushing too fast to finish assignments, here is one of our general strategies that works fairly well. When students are engaged in the wrong behavior, first have them practice that behavior. So, you could say, "Alright. I want you to really, really rush through this next assignment. I want you to very clearly understand the WRONG way we do work in this class. Go!" Then, they rush through the assignment. Give them a Smilie for following your directions. Then have them go very slowly through an assignment ... use a kitchen timer so they know they should be working on the assignment for a set period of time. Then, if they do a good job of slowlng down ... give them a Smile ... if not, give them a Frownie. Then, keep using the kitchen timer for assignments they rush through ... and give them Smilies or Frownies, depending on whether they work slowly or quickly. ... You mentioned you aren't using the Scoreboard ... using it will help you reward and penalize behaviors. As to writing, I'm just finishing up a major writing unit and should have it posted in a few weeks. Stay tuned.

This past week I used the scoreboard a lot more and definitely could tell a difference. My supervisor and another teacher came to observe me and they said they said they really enjoyed the lesson.....Thanks WBT!!!

I will be using this strategy you mentioned to help kids not rush during their work. I know they will have lots of fun practicing the wrong and the correct behavior. I will let you know of the results!

And, I am SUPER excited for the writing unit and cannot wait for it to come out!

It is so wonderful to know that there are other teachers in Brazil trying WBT. I am also just starting out with WBT and would like to know if you have any suggestions. My students are EFL students in public schools. they are just begginers in English. Would you suggest that I teach them the Big 6 in English or in their own language?

I'm excited too about WBT in Brazil and I'm thousands of miles away! I suggest you teach your students the class-yes, then the five classroom rules, and then the teach-okay (in that order). And because we always suggest you begin with easier skills and then advance to more difficult, start them in their own language. We'd love to see the results! How about posting a video in the new testimonials section on the home page?

I taught the Class-Yes (Turma-Sim) and the five rules to 3 of my 7th grade classes yesterday. It was wonderful. I used the Teach-OK technique without actually without actually teaching them "Teach-OK" and most of them loved it. Some classes are a little harder to motivate and thus a little more challenging. the amazing thing was in my last period (when usually teh kids a little more rowdy and just thinking about going home) I was able to get my class to work in SILENCE for two whole minutes! For them and for me that was an accomplishment. Today I taught the Class-Yes and the five rules to one more 7th grade and a 6th grade class. I have had trouble working with this 6th grade class since the beginning of the school and hardly ever have been able to complete a lesson with motivator-lesson-closing. It was amazing - they are still a challenging class, but we got through the lesson with very few inturruptions and they were excited about it!

I have a question. How do you handle students who refuse to "teach" their peers?
thanks for all you help.

Great to hear you're having success! Just keep going, slowly, consistently. As to kids who refuse to teach their peers, don't worry about them yet! Your first goal in WBT is to see how many students will willingly go along with the system if you use it consistently for a few weeks. Level 2 of the Scoreboard, or re-seating, will address the issue of "non-involvers." I'm always amazed that instructors have so much success, so quickly ... and then focus on the students they aren't immediately reaching ... for right now, enjoy the progress!!

Chris...My principal asked me to share about WBT at our next elementary meeting. I'm SO pumped but also a little nervous about it. I'm excited to share all of this with my co-workers. I'm thinking of just starting with the basics and actually teach using the techniques. Any suggestions?
Oh, and the webinar today was great, I'm definitely more excited about using the scoreboard especially with all the different variations.

Josefa...I received your email and I guess just forgot to reply!
I'm glad you were able to start with WBT. It's been working wonders in my classroom. I also have many EFL kids but since I teach only in English I havn't had to translate anything into Portuguese.
One thing I'm going to introduce this week is the mindsoccer game....since we are getting ready for the World Cup and all the kids are in soccer mode...(And so am I)I bet your 7th graders would LOVE it.