Sunday, May 15, 2022

What Is Whole Brain Teaching

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Whole Brain Teaching: Teach Okay And Switch

How To Begin Whole Brain Teaching: 1

Okay I want to share another cue/callback from whole brain teaching. This one is called Teach! Okay! Im also going to add in Switch! because they go hand in hand.

Teach! Okay! is a fabulous way to reinforce concepts and ideas throughout the lesson. This practice combines seeing, saying, hearing, and doing. It gets students involved and talking. One thing Ive noticed is that teachers TALK A LOT! If we can transfer some of that speech to our students, they can take more control of their learning. Plus, it sticks in their little brains better.

What I did was put students in pairs with who they were sitting by. Student A was #1 and Student B was #2. During a lesson , I would teach a key point or concept. Then, I would look at the class, clap twice and say Teach!. The class would clap back twice and say Okay!. Then, partner #1 would start teaching partner #2 what we had just learned. They would use the vocabulary and any gestures I did during the lesson. It was fun to see that they even mimicked my tone and emotion in my voice.

Heres an example:

You can see that this teacher does more than just clap twice. When your kids get comfortable with the Teach! Okay! cue, you can start to have some more fun with it. Here is a great video that explains some key points about this cue:

If you havent downloaded my free WBT Cues and Callbacks posters you can click on the link or the picture below! Teach! Okay! will change your teaching I promise. Let me know how it goes!

Use Whole Brain Teaching Techniques And Productivity Tools To Help Kids Learn Better In The Classroom

With the worlds current situation, Whole Brain Teaching piques teachers and parents interests. Its popular for keeping students engaged no matter what classroom setting. Their strategies involve maintaining students attention throughout the class. Seasoned educators, like those from Common to the Core, continuously praise and promote the results of the famous teaching technique. Theres just something fascinating about the results of this method. It keeps everyone at the edge of their seats! Dive into our analysis of Whole Brain Teaching and see what weve learned so far.

How Whole Brain Teaching Can Solve Your Classroom Behavior Problems And Make Teaching Fun Again

Its worked with EVERY SINGLE kid with behavior issues, Heidi told me. Every single one!

My jaw dropped. If only Id known about this years ago, I thought.

Sooo whats this magic thing were talking about?!

Its Whole Brain Teaching!

First grade teacher Heidi Martin is a Whole Brain Teaching trainer who discovered WBT years ago. She had a tough class and was desperate to find something that would help with behavior issues.

She stumbled on Whole Brain Teaching, started exploring, and the rest is history. Its totally transformed her teaching!

AnnnndHeidi was generous enough to let me interview her the other day!

In the interview, she explains exactly what Whole Brain Teaching is and how it can make teaching FUN again!

I was so excited that I was basically drooling throughout the interview. Id had a very limited understanding of Whole Brain Teaching methods until we chattedbut, oh BOY, did I like what I heard!

I think youre going to love these strategies as much as I do. Watch our interview here!

Amazing, right??

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Choose The Right Learning Mix

Whether youre a fan of the ADDIE model or are looking to use elearning authoring tools as part of your strategy, you can use the Whole Brain teaching rules as an overarching strategy for whatever elearning design you end up with.

Depending on the topic you want to teach your employees, you may decide that a mix of face-to-face learning and microlearning might be the best option. Or perhaps you choose to roll out video training combined with one-on-one sessions with staff.

Whatever combination you decide on, you can apply Whole Brain Thinking to all of those by making sure the course content engages more than one quadrant. That way you engage your employees and give them a nudge to try solving problems in a different way than theyre used to.

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Teaching With Heart: Whole Brain Teaching!

Music education advocates have been fighting back against school budget cuts by claiming that that learning music makes kids better at learning other things. Numerous studies have found that students who play an instrument tend to do better in school across a wide-range of subjects,

The Hechinger Report

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A Deeper Dive: Whole Brain Thinking

Everybody thinks differently, but few organizations are able to leverage cognitive diversity as a strategic advantage.

The ways individuals think guide how they work. The ways groups of individuals think guide how the teams they form work. The ways that groups of teams think make or break the companies they work for.

To put it plainly, the success of a business depends on the ability of its management teams to drive communication, innovation, and productivity within and across functions. In 40+ years of working with Fortune 100 clients, we’ve found that understanding thinking is the key to business-level success.

The Whole Brain® Model is our time tested framework to decode and harness the cognitive diversity of individuals, teams, and organizations.

Does Whole Brain Teaching Get Results

According to one California elementary school, math and language test scores increased by 11 percent after WBT was implemented in classrooms. On the other hand, Whole Brain Teaching also has its share of critics, including those who fear that this is a type of educational conditioning that at worst suppresses individualism, and at best wont work for some studentsespecially those who are shy or introverted, or who are more gifted.

The teaching method has become increasingly popular however. Today, Whole Brain Teaching is now being utilized in many countries, and attracts a following among parents and educators.

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What Is Whole Brain Thinking

We all have a side of our brain we use most. At some point in time, youve probably been told that you either often use the left side of your brain or the right side.

While its great to know what your strengths are, it also helps to train the lesser-used parts of your brain. The idea behind the Whole Brain learning theory is that you use all of the areas of your brain during training.

Its a model that was developed by Ned Herrmann in 1979 after years of research. The model encourages people to use the side of your brain you dont usually use, to challenge yourself, and to train the less dominant side.

Using Whole Brain Thinking in learning and development means it makes training more engaging for all learners and increases the uptake of new information.

How To Implement Whole Brain Teaching

Whole Brain Teaching: First Grade: What is a sentence?

Weve already mentioned the Class Yes technique so lets take a look at other strategies used in whole brain teaching.

  • Mirror Words

The teacher says Mirror Words and lifts their hands. The students repeat the phrase and lift their hands too. After this, they repeat the teachers words and mimic their gestures. This is a great example of the whole brain teaching principle that implies engaging multiple areas of students brains at once.

  • Direct Instruction

The more you talk to the students, the less focused they become. The Direct Instruction technique is all about presenting information in an engaging and digestible way. For instance, you can present one point at a time, using very short lessons. You can also go through a list of bullet points. You can also use Mirror Words and Class Yes to summarize the material of a lesson, and illustrate your material with slides so that students will retain more information.

  • Collaborative Learning

Collaborative learning means that students get knowledge and instructions not only from their teacher but also from each other, as well. The collaborative learning principle of whole brain teaching can be illustrated by one of its distinctive techniques Teach Okay. When the teacher says Teach, students respond okay and start teaching each other, using large gestures. This technique enables students to train their oral skills and to better comprehend the material theyve just learned from the teacher.

  • Character Education

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Herrmanns Whole Brain Model

Herrmanns combination of theories produces a quadrant model of the brain. This model has two halves of the cerebral system and the two halves of the limbic system.

The quadrants are:

Right Limbic

Right Cerebral

Herrmanns theory allows us to differentiate between the left and right brain, as well as the concept of cognitive thinking and emotional response. Our upper brain is believed to control our intellectual process , while our lower brain controls our emotional response such as anger, happiness and fear.

Depending on which quadrants you engage, your learning and thinking processes can be very different.

Herrmann characterizes the upper left quadrant with logical, analytical, quantitative and rational thinking, and the lower left quadrant, with the abilities of planning, organizing, focusing on detail, and sequential thinking. The lower right quadrant controls emotions, feelings, interpersonal skills and kinesthetic, while the upper right quadrant is responsible for holistic, imaginative, intuitive, integrative and synthesizing processes.

The Whole Brain Model

The Whole Brain Model was developed by Ned Herrmann. Herrmann created this metaphorical model to illustrate that each persons brain basically has four quadrants when it comes to the process of thinking and learning. Each of these quadrants are characterized by different learning or thinking styles. Depending on which quadrants you engage, your learning and thinking processes can be significantly different.

The four different styles are:

A: Analytical

B: Practical

C: Relational

D: Experimental

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Whole Brain Teaching: How It Works

Designed for students of all ages, from kindergarten through college, Whole Brain Teaching maximizes student engagement by focusing on mimicry, which is a natural way for the brain to learn. This is coupled with an intense, in-the-moment teaching method that compels constant attention from students. From the beginning, the teacher introduces the basic rules to the class, a little bit at a time, and students are trained to listen and respond within the framework of those rules.

For example, when the teacher says Class, students must instantly respond Yes! In many instances, students must also repeat words exactly as the teacher says them . In another core element, teachers use a scoreboard game with rewards, motivating students to pay attention so that they can win points. All of the elements used in Whole Brain Teaching are designed to mitigate inattentiveness and curb disciplinary disruptions, as students are required to respond out loud to everything the teacher is doing and saying. The intention is to keep them attentive and engagedand to do so in a highly entertaining way.

Get To Know The Meaning Behind Whole Brain Teaching

Mrs. Jones

Image from Adobe Stock

Just what is Whole Brain Teaching? What made it so popular? These are the initial questions that parents ask from teachers who are planning to incorporate Whole Brain Teaching in their classes. The teaching method is relatively new but its been proven effective even with online classes. The whole concept centers on activating students brains for maximum involvement. Some might say its not best for introverted students. However, seasoned teachers would disagree.

The techniques surrounding Whole Brain Teaching all boils down to neuroscience. The steps that teachers follow all aim to synchronize with their students understanding. This results in a more collaborative and active classroom. Its understandable why most teachers adapt to this teaching method. Theyre able to determine the wants and interests of their students. They can then identify what they lack. Dont be afraid to use the internet for sources. The use of online productivity tools like a word counter or a grammar checker does not mean incompetency. Its perfectly okay to use any tool at your disposal. The collaborative environment boosts the teachers focus on the students who need more attention without affecting the progress of others.

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How Can You Apply The Whole Brain Model To Your Learning And Development Strategy

Everyone has different ways of learning new information, making decisions, and solving problems. If your employees understand their own way of thinking and what part of their brain theyre using most often, it can help them improve their communication with others in their team. It can help them grow in their own personal development.

Great managers understand employees have different thinking styles, and they will figure out a way to have different approaches work together to create a productive environment.

You can use Whole Brain Thinking with your team with the aim to engage every part of your employees brains. You can do this by implementing different elements into your training package to engage each quadrant, and by encouraging staff to develop the sides of their brain they use less often.

Good elearning design is the foundation of your elearning strategy and there are several instructional design principles you can use to make yours better.

Visualize A Whole Brain Teaching Classroom

Image from Pixabay.

Keeping students active in class is no easy feat. Its why educators are always open to modern teaching methods. Thats where Whole Brain Teaching comes into play. The rules and strategies are all simple yet very effective. Because of this, teachers easily spot who among their students need more attention. Everyone manages to keep up with the lesson plan without any worries.

Imagine teachers giving their students a writing assignment. How do they keep the students from getting bored? How can they keep them from wavering from the topic? What online activities should they prepare to boost their students enthusiasm?

The answer to all that is simple. Make your instructions fun. Engage with students with games and entertaining activities. Despite the current need for online classes, you can still keep students amused. Make use of your abundant online resources. You and students work together on internet games like Scrabble word finder or Snakes and Ladders with an educational twist. Give students more interesting assignments that boost cognitive skills. Thats how Whole Brain Learning works.

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What Is Whole Brain Teaching And How Does It Work

The modern educational system faces more and more challenges every year, and not all of these challenges are easy to address. As a result, many teachers get disappointed in the existing approaches that fail to solve problems that have existed for many years. Corporal punishment hasnt been used for many years, and now teachers also have to stop using withholding recess as punishment, as well. Maintaining discipline and keeping kids engaged becomes more difficult than ever. A quickly growing number of kids diagnosed with ADHD, autism, and ADD makes the situation even more challenging for teachers.

Theres no surprise that many educators feel frustrated when seeing college freshmen who are completely unprepared for their higher education. As for the elementary teachers, they are happy to use any methods that can help them keep the classroom engaged, no matter how well these methods fulfill the students educational needs. For many teachers, students being cooperative and sitting still behind their desks is what they want but rarely see in reality.

Experienced teachers are always happy to learn about new methods that promise an opportunity to improve discipline in class. At the same time, experienced teachers always take the news about another revolutionary approach with a grain of salt. Fortunately, sometimes, new approaches actually help solve some common issues in the classroom, and this is the case with whole brain teaching strategies.

Mirror Words Or Brain Engager

Whole Brain Teaching What is a Sentence?

Mirror Words keep the students energized. Once the teacher says, Mirror Words, the students can imitate him or her as the class goes on. The rule works a bit like Class-Yes. Its called Brain Engager because it encourages a fun teacher-student relationship. The rule promotes a healthy classroom environment. The students become more comfortable with their teacher and classmates. It aims to inspire students to speak more in class.

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Macleans Triune Brain Theory

MacLeans Triune brain theory suggests that humans have three brains the reptilian brain, the limbic system, and the neo-cortex. Both the limbic and the neo-cortex have two halves, a right and left side.

  • Reptilian Brain controls the bodys vital functions such as heart rate, breathing, body temperature, and balance.
  • Limbic System is the middle part of the brain, and is concerned with emotions, instincts, feeding, fighting, and fleeing. This system controls the bodys autonomic nervous system.
  • Neocortex controls the higher cognitive functions which distinguish Man from the animals. This is the thinking cap. It is responsible for functions that are considered uniquely human such as abstract reasoning, aesthetic values, judgment, and language.

Keep Them Occupied With Collaborative Learning And Student Engagement

Image from Pixabay.

Whole Brain Learnings whole goal centers on collaborative learning. This may sound difficult especially with everyone stuck at home. Teachers resolve this by keeping their communications with students open. Chat boxes exist for a reason. Encourage students in sending private messages when needed. Be the friend they need. The current situation takes a toll on almost every students mental health. However, remember to keep your barriers up and encourage your students to bond with their respective families. Teachers can integrate their lessons in chats too.

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Connect Online Classes With Active Learning

Image from Pixabay

Whole Brain Teachings pattern revolves around active learning. Teachers shouldnt ignore those small instances where the student asks for help. Youre not playing favorites. The results of the pattern urge introverted students to be confident in asking for help. They dont have to be shy. Encourage students to stick to rules without being too strict. Suggest the use of online word count tools to help them reach the word count limit of their essay assignments. Also, dont discourage them from grammar checkers or formula calculators because those online tools help them understand the lesson as well. The whole process helps them get to know their students no matter where they may be. The strategies are simple, effective, and very meaningful for both teachers and students.

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