As I previously shared, I am attending the Whole Brain Teaching (WBT) conference here in Las Vegas this week.
Today was day one and unfortunately, I left supremely disappointed.
First, I don't disagree in any way with the ideas behind WBT. Activating different aspects of the brain to create long term recall is splendid.
Incorporating movement? Fantastic, especially for my wiggly ones.
A high energy classroom with a sense of urgency for learning? Absolutely. Embedding lessons on character that go beyond "be kind"? Yes, a thousand times yes. My job is to help mold little humans to make the world a better place.
An emphasis on these simple rules? Sounds good!
(Especially number 5!)
However, I unfortunately left with several major issues.
1) Time management. The presenter spent hours going through the different variations of teacher/student points. I zoned out on level six. He went through at least level 16.
It's not that complicated. Go over the ideas, give us a list of variations, and move on. Again, hours.
2) The idea of unknown rewards within WBT doesn't mesh well with me. The uncertainty of unpredictable outcomes is quite enticing to the human brain (hence, gambling) but kids who have suffered traumatic events react quite differently to the unpredictable outcomes, often shutting down. This isn't an environment I want to create in my classroom.
3) The nearly constant interruptions. In fifth grade (and I'm assuming third), most of my students have longer than a 60 second attention span. I get the idea of introducing one new idea at a time for younger grades, but I feel like upper elementary can handle two steps at once.
4) The overemphasis on games as a classroom management strategy. I was left wondering when the teaching actually occurs.
5) The location. The long drive didn't help and our seating options (for eight hours) were metal folding chairs or gym bleachers. Neither was particularly desirable.
6) The tone of the presenters. The high energy was overwhelming and I felt bombarded with directions all day. I was told this teaching method takes some getting used to, but I felt like I was being treated as a child (and not a professional). I'm not an auditory learner, so being talked to all day at such a fast pace was overwhelming and I wanted to shut down. There wasn't time to ask questions, which was irksome.
We will be getting a PDF of the material that I will digest in smaller chunks. I'm willing to give parts of it a try, but I won't be returning for the remaining two days of training. I've never really quit a conference before, but my summer time is valuable and I don't want to spend it feeling that frustrated.
However, I did leave with some take-aways.
1) I liked the emphasis on character education as a continuous, embedded aspect of teaching. Those simple things of making eye contact when someone is speaking, saying good morning/afternoon, please, and thank you aren't always taught or expected. I'd like to focus on that next year.
2) Call & Response formats and catchy sayings (high five-switch, mirrors, etc). We are adopting the Ron Clark model for next year and I'd like to continue to look for ways to incorporate joy into the classroom.
3) More continuous review throughout the lesson.
I knew my streak of blogging every day wouldn't last.
Luckily it's catch up time!
Saturday my dear friend Erin got married to the love of her love. Finances prohibited B and I from attending (plus it was in Ohio!), so we celebrated from a distance. They are moving out here within a few months and will do a vow renewal on the beach next summer, so we will be able to celebrate with them again.
(I know she worked very closely with her Kari Humphrey, her {photographer}, and this was the first released shot. Can't wait to see the rest!)
I had such a joyous time planning my wedding while she was {planning hers}. I know my bridesmaids and mom want to hear all about it, but it's nice to have someone I can talk to about all the little details because she's going through it too!
She thought about each and every aspect of her wedding and it was truly a beautiful event. I had the privilege of attending her bridal shower at Disneyland a few months ago:
And it was a great girls weekend!
The pictures keep flooding in on her wedding album and the joy radiating from her face is contagious. Congrats Mrs. K, I can't wait to celebrate you in person!
Sunday, June 12th
Our niece turned seven and we celebrated at Chuck E. Cheese. If you ever want to see what true joy looks like, it's B winning lots of tickets on silly arcade games.
However, he then giving them all to his niece. He patiently counted the tickets at the machine with her and helped her decide against a large slinky (because they break easily) and in favor of both a Frozen themed make up kit and nail polish.
We also had dinner with friends as a thank you for helping Kendall move. Yet another friend officially crossed another adult level and owns a home.
After dinner we went to the East Side Cannery (where some of our guests will be staying). I managed to make my free $5 in slot play last for over an hour (and three drinks worth!), so I'll call that a win. The smoke was barely noticeable, which was a definite plus.
As always, B and I had some miscommunication about what type of faces we were making for a selfie:
#bluesteel and I missed it!
Monday, June 13th
I'm not quite ready to debrief my training (and it goes on for two more days), but it's really informative and I'm excited for this new opportunity! I haven't left the classroom, I'm just toeing my way out of the classroom and up in the district. We did learn it was a paid training (we'd previously heard it wasn't), so that was a joyous surprise! I like learning, but it's nice when I'm also being paid to attend 7 am classes on summer break.
Instead, I'll share today's simple joy. Waffles decided she likes her dog food again and is eagerly eating it up! All of last week was spent forcing (bribing with string cheese) her to eat. Now it's the complete opposite. I'll get longing looks in the morning and a "feed me" pout even though I know damn well B fed her before leaving for work. I'm on to you pup!
She also played a little too hard with her new stuffed dragon and severed a limb.
B is her knight in shining armor and reattached it for her. See how patiently she waits?
The cats are also back to coexisting peacefully, which is a huge sigh of relief. Crooksie went to the vet to get groomed last week and Chloe has been acting strange ever since. Apparently this is normal pet behavior because of a change in scent, but it was still stressing me out that for the first time in five years, they weren't getting along.
Tomorrow and Wednesday my training will be done at 1 pm, so I'll still have most of the day ahead of me. We voted to start at 7 am, thus beating the traffic and parking situation. There are hundreds of middle schools in Las Vegas, but naturally, there are several different trainings scheduled at the same one, on the same day, at the same time. High school parking lots can accommodate the parking, but middle schools cannot. (Again, one of the things I would change if I was allowed to be in charge of everything!)
What's bringing you joy this month?
