I realized that amidst all of my challenges these past few weeks, I have had some WILD success with a few things that I have not reported on!

First of all: The "Because Slapper" is one of the BEST things that ever happened to my class! We use it all the time in every subject. Students use it now without prompting. It has worked wonders with explaining math answers and was a real gem for talking about cause and effect and fact/opinion. I also like that it slows down the students enough so they actually think (they really EM-PHA-SIZE the "because"). I used to always find myself prompting students with "why do you think that?" which is tiresome and sometimes hard for them to understand. If I preface something with "and use the beeee-caaauusseee slap," they miraculously understand what I want!

Secondly: I introduced Leadership buttons today...because my voice really hurt! :-P I started with just one...Hands and Eyes after I noticed a student getting creative with that direction. He loved it and came up with some really whacky ones that the other kids loved responding to! In the afternoon I switched him out...wow, did this one student REALLY want to be the Hands and Eyes captain! Now I know she will work hard for that. (It was totally cute, every time I cued her she got stage fright!). My Class-Yes captain also thought of some new ways to say it that the kids liked -- and the best part -- I didn't have to be the one raising my voice to be heard! Yessss! Tomorrow I am going to make an "Oh Yeah" Captain, who gets to decide for the whole day how we say Oh Yeah -- the students love when I ask for a "Yee-Haw" or a "BOOM SHA-KA-LA-KA!" So the Oh Yeah Captain will get to decide which one we use. I think that will be a popular one!

Finally: I was having SO many problems with a few students until I finally called their parents. I got so wrapped up in the student-teacher dynamics of WBT that I forgot about the so very important third party: home! I was wondering if there is any way we can get parents to be more active in WBT -- Practice Cards seem like the only way we might depend on them in this system. How have other teachers incorporated parent support in this management system?

XOXO,
Alison

I teach very little ones, but one way I have tried to get more basic parent involvement is to have them *(the parents who can)come to school for our fun Friday. We do a lesson (no, I don't go out of my way, It was what I was going to teach anyway). When doing the lesson I have a quick review of the rules, and do the lesson WBT strategies. I encourage the parents to participate. I use Andera's "If I am going to participate, you gotta participate" chant and have their kids say it to them. So far 3 Friday's now it has worked very well.

I use the last part of the school day, most parents are there to pick up their student anyway. Just a thought:woohoo:

One way to get parents more involved is record your students using WBT. Then, when you schedule your parent conferences, show them the videos!!! I've had parents cry when they see their kids doing something pretty awesome. Also, when your school year is about to start back up next year and you have a "Back to School Night" or "Meet the Teacher Night" introduce WBT to your parents. I was able to do that this past fall, and it got a positive reaction from my parents!

Now.....what is this "Because Slap"??????????????? I need to know, I want to use it, I am so tired of asking my kids why they think the way they do, I would like it to be more automatic, less teacher questioning.

PLEASE SHARE IMMEDIATELY or who knows what will happen!!!!

Thanks for the great ideas for parent involvement! I will definitely introduce WBT at back to school night next year -- maybe I can record my current class and use that.

To answer your question, the "Because Slapper" is one of the new Brain Toys I learned at the Phoenix conference. Students lightly slap (or just place) one palm on the top of their other hand when they say because. I taught it to my students by telling them that when you say "because," you are piling sentences and ideas on top of one another. It's a way for them to use reasoning, evidence, evaluation -- all that great higher level thinking!

So for example, we have been working hard on distinguishing fact and opinion. If we read a passage, students could say, "This is a fact *because* (use the gesture) we could look this up in the encyclopedia and prove it." Or, "This is an opinion *because* (use the gesture) it's what one person thinks or believes." The best part is when students use it on their own. I almost cried when students started saying, "I know that David thinks basketball is the best sport, but my opinion is that soccer is the best sport *because* blah blah blah." (I can't remember, but one student gave 3 reasons to support her opinion...it was a great moment, not least because my students were being respectful of each other!)

Also try it with multiple choice math questions! Just like we practice the wrong way to do something in WBT, it's great to say why something is NOT the answer. It's good review and helps with retention.

I also use the Because Slapper for their writing. I will ask them to include "because" in a sentence, so you add written expression to the list of benefits.