Whole Brain Teaching

Whole brain teaching focuses on using multiple senses, which activates different parts of the brain, in order to help students retain more information and support student engagement.  This is my absolute favorite teaching strategy and what I have found to be the most successful in the classroom. There are seven whole brain teaching “rules” used to integrate whole brain teaching into lessons in class.  These should be integrated slowly in order to ensure that students are adapting to the new techniques in the classroom.  

1. Class, yes:  For this strategy, the teacher says an attention grabber word (Class) and the students respond with a response word (Yes) in the same tone as the teacher.  This helps students to focus all of their attention on the teacher before important information is given.
2. Teach! Okay!:  This strategy is used to teach small chunks of information to students using partners.  After the teacher gives a brief overview of the topic, while using inflection and hand gestures,, the teacher then says “Teach” and the students will respond with “Okay!”.  The first partner then tells the second what the teacher just explained, mirroring the gestures.
3. SWITCH: This strategy goes hand-in-hand with teach, okay.  When the teacher says “SWITCH!” the second student will then tell the first what the teacher had said.  
4. Class Rules: The students create a list of rules with the teacher that are easy to remember, broad enough to cover multiple actions, and cover the topics the teacher feels need to be covered (i.e. Keep your classroom safe instead of Do not hit).  Go over these rules each day to remind students what is classroom behavior.
5. Scoreboard: This strategy motivates students to follow the class rules that you have set.  When the class exhibits good behavior, the students will receive a “point” for good behavior on their scoreboard.  When the students are exhibiting bad behavior, they receive a bad behavior tally. Prizes can be rewarded for good behavior or students can work towards a goal.  Another example includes “Students vs. Teacher” where the students are trying to receive more points than the teacher in order to “win”.
6. Hands and Eyes:  This is an attention grabber.  When the teacher says “hands and eyes” the students will repeat the phrase while folding their hands and watching their teacher.  The students then listen to the important information to follow.  
7. Mirror: This strategy is my favorite!  When the teacher instructs the students to do so, the students will mirror what the teacher does.  This includes repeating words in the same tone, hand motions, etc… This spikes student engagement and helps students to remember the information.

More information on whole brain teaching can be found in the video below.