Whole Brain Teaching Wednesday! WBT Blogs

     As I was sitting on my couch this weekend I came up with the perfect idea for this Wednesday's Whole Brain Teaching Wednesday post! I spend a decent amount of time  ok A LOT of time on education and WBT blogs and as I was making my way through Google Reader I realized that I should share some of these great blogs with you!

     Volia! I have created a detailed list of the WBT blogs that I follow. This amazing group of guys and gals have provided me with invaluable support and information since I began this journey and I hope you take the time to visit each and every one of them! Not only does this group include some of the WBT presenters and Training Team members but also all (to my knowledge at least) of the WBT Interns for 2011/2012 and three of the WBT Interns for 2012/2013!! If there was ever a time where you wanted to learn about WBT, these people would be the place to start (in addition to the WBT website of course)! In addition to some amazing content, photos and videos, most of their blogs have blog rolls too that could lead you to other WBT blogs as well.

** The information I provide about each blog has been taken from Blogger profiles and blog posts so if anything is incorrect please let me know ASAP so I can correct it :)

A Whole Brain Teacher (AKA a Wibbeteer)
- Allison teaches in a 2nd Grade class in Texas, United States. Alison discovered
  WBT in 2009 and is an official WBT Intern for the 2011/2012 year!
- http://awholebrainteacher.blogspot.ca/

A Whole Brain Teaching Journey with Mrs. Harding
- Mrs. Harding is a 3rd Grade teacher in Oregon, United States. She found WBT
  in the spring of 2011 and has been hooked ever since!
- http://wbtwithharding.blogspot.ca/

Aud's Whole Brainer Blog
- Aud has only blogged twice and I don't have any information for him/her but I keep
  this blog on my list anyways!
- http://wholebrainer.blogspot.ca/ 

Charles Huntley's Whole Brain Teaching Classroom
- Charles is a 4th Grade teacher based out of Florida, United States. Charles has
   been using WBT since 2009 and is a leader in his school, assisting other teachers
   with WBT strategies.
- http://charliehuntley.blogspot.ca/

Chris Rekstad & WBT
- As one of the founders of WBT, Chris has been there since the beginning! He is
  now teaching at an Elementary School in California as well as still actively
  presenting WBT seminars.
- http://chrisrekstad.blogspot.ca/

EduKate with Whole Brain
- Kate is a 3rd Grade teacher in Deloware, United States. She has been using WBT
  for over 3 years and has been selected as a WBT Intern for the 2012/2013 year!
- http://www.katebowski.blogspot.ca/

Heather Hansen 2011/2012 WBT Intern
- Heather teaches in a 3rd Grade classroom but also has experience in Kindergarten
  to Grade 6. She has used WBT since 2010 and, like her blog states, she is a WBT
  Intern for the 2011/2012 year!
- http://jncbe2.blogspot.ca/

Joy Button's Amazing Journey with WBT
- Joy has been selected as a WBT Intern for the 2012/2013 year! She is new to the
  blogging world and I don't have any information on her but I'm sure her blog will
  soon fill as she becomes an intern!
- http://www.buttonwbt.blogspot.ca/

Joyful One
- Even if you haven't visited her blog before, you'll probably recognize Deb Weigel
  from many of the WBT videos on the WBT website or on their YouTube channel.
- Deb teaches in Yuma, Arizona and is a great resource when it comes to learning
  about WBT; she even presents WBT seminars!
- http://debweigel-joyfulone.blogspot.ca/
 
Kelli's Whole Brain Classroom Experience
- Kelli teaches Kindergarten and although she was working towards being a WBT
  intern, her most recent blog post shared that her school was against blogging about
  the classroom. I am keeping her on the list anyways because the few posts she has
  shares some good information.
- http://kelliwbt.blogspot.ca/

Laura's WBT Journey
- Laura has taught everything from K-12 in her 18 years as teacher and has been
  using WBT since early 2010. She is a leader in her school as well as a WBT
  Intern for the 2011/2012 year!
-  http://lauraswbtjourney.blogspot.ca/



Luria Learning Blog
- Sacha Luria has been a teacher for over 10 years and has done an incredible
  amount of research and observation to discover what works well in classrooms.
  She now share this information on her blog.
- Although her blog is not devoted to WBT like the rest of this list, she often
  shares her experiences with WBT in various blog posts.
- http://luria-learning.blogspot.ca/ 


Mrs. Crooks WBT Experience
- Mrs. Crooks teaches Grade 3 & 4 in Pennsylvania, United States. She discovered
   WBT in August of 2010 and hasn't turned back since! Her WBT posts are very
   detailed and I find them really helpful when I am learning about a WBT strategy that
   I haven't tried yet.
- http://mrscrookswbt.blogspot.ca/

Mrs. Norton's Whole Brain Teaching Journey
- Mrs. Norton teaches Grade 5 in California, United States. Mrs. Norton's principal
  actually introduced her to WBT (yay for administration support!) in 2009 and she
  is serving as a WBT Intern for the 2011/2012 year!
- http://mywholebrainteachingjourney.blogspot.ca/ 

Mrs. Shipley's Fabulous Firsties
- Mrs. Shipley and her husband co-teach in a Grade 1 classroom in Texas, United
  States. They have been using WBT for over 4 years now and she has been part
  of the WBT Training Team for 1 year!
- http://mrsshipleywholebrainteaching.blogspot.ca/

 
Mrs. Stoltenberg's Second Grade Class
- If you have been on the WBT Forums you are probably already familiar with
  Mrs. Stoltenberg!
- She is a 2nd Grade teacher from California, United States and serves as a
  Director of WBT Certification.
- http://nstoltenbergwbt.blogspot.ca/

My Whole Brain Blog
- Carole Seubert is an Elementary teacher from Maryland, United States. She
  discovered WBT a few years ago and has been selected as a WBT Intern for
  the 2012/2013 year!
- http://mywholebrainblog.blogspot.ca/

My Whole Brain Teaching Blog
- Liann is a 1st Grade teacher from British Columbia, Canada, making her the only
  other Canadian WBT blogger (besides me) that I have found so far! She has been
  using WBT since 2010 and is serving as a WBT Intern for the 2011/2012 year!
- http://mywholebrainteachingblog.blogspot.ca/

Room for Improving
- Dave is a Multi-Grade teacher in the United States and only the 2nd male blogger
  on the list! He has been using WBT for a few years and is serving as a WBT Intern
  for the 2011/2012 year!
- http://roomforimproving.com/

Teaching - Another Day in Paradise with WBT
- Another male WBT blogger! Jason is a Middle School teacher from New Mexico,
  United States. He has been using WBT for a few years and uploads really helpful
   posts that describe what worked/didn't work in his classroom.
- http://adipwbt.blogspot.ca//

WBT with Scrapbunny
- Melissa is a Grade 1 teacher from California, United States. She has used WBT for
  over 4 years as a technology teacher and then a classroom teacher and always has
  great posts about what is new with WBT!
- http://scrapbunnywbt.blogspot.ca/

Whole Brain Teaching with Roxi Shayne
- Roxi was the FIRST WBT blog I began following! She is a Grade 9 teacher in
  Louisiana, United States. Roxi has been using WBT for about 2 years and has
  shared some wonderful WBT videos from her own class.
- http://wholebrainwithroxishayne.blogspot.ca/

A BIG thanks to all the wonderful WBT bloggers out there that are sharing their ideas and experiences! 

I will be adding this list to the BRAND NEW Whole Brain Teaching Resources page under my Fav Websites page!

Resources to Start Off Your Week 19

     Whether you are just entering your last month of classes or are getting ready for your next year of classes, here are some great new Resources to Start Off Your Week! As always, I will be adding these to my Fav Websites page.

1 ) Pinta
- This website is a FREE photo-imaging software that almost resembles
  PhotoShop.
- Pinta is really easy to use and offers special effects and unlimited layers!
  It can be a great resource to share with your students who don't have
  programs like PhotoShop at home.
- I had some difficulty downloading it the first time but on the second try it
  worked perfectly.
- http://pinta-project.com/

2 ) Mind Maple
- This website allows users to create simple and attractive mind maps.
- Mind maps can be made by teachers, by students or collaboratively.
   They can introduce ideas/units/themes to students, can be made as a
   means of taking notes for visual learners and/or can be used as a
   review tool.
- http://www.mindmaple.com/

3 ) Google for Educators: LiveBinders
- This website is the be all end all of Google! Everything an educator
   would ever want or need to know about Google is summarized in
   this LiveBinder!
- From the basics of search engines and Google Docs to hidden tricks
   and tips for students this has it all. Users can even chose from basic,
   intermediate or advanced lessons.
- http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/3803

4 ) ORBIS
 - This website can be described as a "Google map" of the Roman
    Empire, it is so neat! Users can pick locations in the Roman
    Empire (at it's height)  and calculate the time and cost of various
    methods of travel that would have been used at the time.
- You can even calculate how much it would cost to travel by donkey,
   including the costs of feeding your donkey's along the way!
- ORBIS is perfect to accompany a history lesson, geography lesson,
   or math lesson. You could even use this to map out the setting of
   novels such as Spartacus.
- http://orbis.stanford.edu/ 

     Check out this video on how to calculate routes using ORBIS.

5 ) Darwin, A Naturalist's Voyage Around the World
- This website is an amazing virtual tour of Darwin's voyage on the
   Beagle. The tour showcases diagrams and maps from the voyage
   itself as well as images and readings from Darwin's personal journal.
- This website is great for not only learning about Darwin himself but
   about different plants and animals as well as social issues like slavery.
- http://www.cnrs.fr/cw/dossiers/dosdarwinE/darwin.html

Happy Monday everyone!

Back to Work

     I missed posting this week but that's because I was busy starting my job for the summer! In addition to working as a substitute teacher, on an as needed basis, as well as a cashier at a local gas bar I am also working full time as a Child Development Worker through the government of Manitoba. Since all provincial programs are different, here is how ours is set up.

Check out their phamplet to learn more.

For the past four summers I have been employed through Children’s disABILITY Services (formally Children's Special Services) developing and administering effective programs for children diagnosed with a disability. The position is two-fold. For the first two months of employment I am responsible for effectively reviewing my 6-8 assigned case files and meeting with parents/guardians, school officials and necessary healthcare professionals. From the information obtained through these meetings a program is then developed and tailored to the individual child’s needs and abilities to ensure a positive developmental, social and/or physical goal is met by summer’s end. Once the child is out of school for the summer, the last two months of employment are spent administering the program in the child’s home community.  Through this position I have worked closely with several schools in and around our region, sitting in on classes and IEPs (Individual Education Plan), as well as actively participating with Resource Teachers in efforts to accommodate the child. Essentially we set up programs to ensure that students do not regress or lose the skills they worked on during the school year.


     This year I have seven students that I am working with that will require me to drive anywhere from thirty minutes to over an hour to administer the program in their home communities once school is out. I feel quite lucky because one year I had one student one hour drive to the east and another student one hour drive to the west so it was a lot of driving!

     I strongly feel that my position as a Child Development Worker has helped me to be more prepared to assist my future students who may have a disability. I really enjoy the fact that I can find a summer position that allows me to still work with students and do some of the same things I do when I am in the classroom.

Resources to Start Off Your Week 18: May Long Weekend Edition

Happy May Long Weekend! 

Here is a longer version of Resources to Start Off Your Week to celebrate. Like always, I will be adding all of these to my lists on the Fav Websites page.

1 ) Teachers Printables
- Need organization? Then this website is your answer.
- This website offers free printables of everything a teacher needs to stay
   organized including lesson plan templates, parent-teacher communication
   logs, grading book templates and so much more.
- This could be your one-stop show if you are getting organized for next
  year or need to refresh your current setup.
- http://www.teachersprintables.net/

2 ) Science Fix
- Operated my a middle school science teacher, Science Fix, is a great
   resource for finding materials for your science lessons. Not only does
   it include actual lesson plans that you can modify but it also provides
   video demonstrations as well as webquests.
- Users can search through the blog posts for resources or use the search
   feature at the top of the page.
- http://www.sciencefix.com/

3 ) Mini Page Archive
- Mini Page was a 4-page children's newspaper insert that ran in the United
   States for almost 40 years and is now archived digitally!
- Each edition covers a different educational topic presented through text,
  images, word puzzles, games and recipes. 
- This could be the perfect thing to have available if students are done their
   work early, could be used to introduce a topic, or could be used as a
   starting point for research projects.
- http://www.lib.unc.edu/dc/minipage/

4 ) Science Friday
- Science Friday is a weekly talk radio show that has now been adopted
  as a great website database as well!
- An easy to access topics list on the left hand side allows users to search
  by topics such as the earth, space, the body, math, chemistry and much more!
- In addition to having some great audio and video clips to use in the classroom
   they also have a comprehensive "For Teachers" sections that lists detailed
   lesson plans.
- http://www.sciencefriday.com/

5 ) Tech-Ease
- With all of the technology we use in the classroom we also need something
   to help troubleshoot when we run into difficulties.
- Tech-Ease in a great online tech support website specifically designed for
   educators. The main page first allows users to pick their system: Mac, Windows
   or Accessibility Uses. After that this user-friendly website has options to search
   through any types of problems you may run into!
- http://etc.usf.edu/techease/

6 ) Smart History: Khan Academy
- This website is a video website meant to add to many art history textbooks
   that are being used today. Users can pick a time period on the left hand side
   menu and scroll through short videos about prominent pieces of art from that
   time.
- Not only can it be used for art, but we know that art is a reflection of what was
   happening during the time so it can be great for showing different interpretations
   of major events.
- Maybe it is just the History major in me but I love this website!
- http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/videos.html

7 ) I Witness: Holocaust Video Archives
- I Witness is the perfect resource to bring history to life!
- This website is an archive of 1,000+ one-on-one interviews with
   Holocaust survivors and other witnesses.
- This website is specifically designed for educators, allowing users to
   not only watch videos but edit their own video projects, browse the
   encyclopedia and create secure accounts for students.
- http://iwitness.usc.edu/SFI/Default.aspx

8 ) Nature Works Everywhere
- Organized by the Nature Conservancy, this website is an amazingly
   user-friendly website that houses an assortment of nature-based
   lesson plans covering everything from water and clean air to protection
   and food.
- There are videos to add to lesson plans as well as information on the
   scientists behind the website. Their biography videos are perfect for
   students who want to learn more about careers in science!
- http://www.natureworkseverywhere.org/

Happy Monday Tuesday everyone!

Like these resources? Check our last week's post on "The Best Resources for Finding Resources".

Substituting in "T-Division" 2

     Yesterday I was very happy to be substituting in "T-Division" again. I was actually able to be in the same small school as I was in on Tuesday, only this time I was in a Grade 2/3 split class of 10 students. After my substituting experience on Tuesday, @MsBarteaux shared with me that when she was working as a substitute she would take photographs, with permission, of all the things she loved in a classroom to keep for future reference. I thought this was a wonderful idea! I mean, in the past I would take note of things that I liked or didn't like but I had never consciously organized my ideas like that. I wasn't able to take photographs of the class I was in, but here are some of the things I liked from the Grade 2/3 class:


Organization! Organization! Organization!

One my favourite classrooms from "Dandelions & Dragonflies" blog

This teacher was definitely one of the most organized teachers I have ever seen. Everything was well placed, easy to find and easy to work around. Even with everything being in French I was able to figure out where things were.
Each student also had a brightly decorated burlap bag hung off the front of their desk where they would put papers/assignments/books/etc that were to go home at the end of the day. No more looking through your desk at the end of the day, just grab whats in the bag and you are good to go!

Making Do With What You Have

It reminded me of a display case like this one!

 It was clear that the classroom had previously been designed as a science classroom and the back of the room housed a large glass-enclosed work counter with hookups for gas and water for science experiments. I imagine that those hookups are now turned off because the teacher had used the area to highlight the theme or unit they were working on at the time.
It worked perfect because the area was enclosed and had a separate set of lights right above it so with the lights turned on it almost looked like an interactive museum display showcasing all the things needed to explain the unit. It looked really neat and was a great way to work with the preexisting set-up of the classroom.

Spelling Pre-Tests

Students in the Netherlands using whiteboards in math.

Our afternoon consisted of a weekly spelling test and the introduction of a new spelling unit. Before the new words were introduced I was instructed to give the students a pre-test to see what words they were already familiar with. I was surprised when each student took a small whiteboard out of their desks and used them for their pre-test!
Each student would write the word to the best of their ability and hold it up for me to see. I thought it was such a neat way to give the test without wasting paper! Plus the students LOVE the opportunity to use their whiteboards so they were all working very hard.

Hope you like these ideas as much as I did!

Whole Brain Teaching Wednesday: WBT TV!

Have you had the chance to check out Whole Brain Teaching TV?

If you are interested in learning more about Whole Brain Teaching and/or discussing ideas and strategies with other educators then Whole Brain Teaching TV is the perfect option for you!

Found on the Whole Brain Teaching website homepage as well as it's own page, WBT TV is an online interactive stream where users can tune in to a live show to learn all about a variety of WBT strategies.

The video library also allows users to scroll through previous sessions to view at their convenience if they are unable to tune in on time.

The next scheduled WBT TV Show is on Tuesday, May 22nd.

"Want to be a Board Certified WBT Instructor?"

5pm            Western time

6pm          Mountain time

7pm             Central time

8pm            Eastern time

Thanks for checking out Whole Brain Teaching Wednesday!

Substituting in "T-Division"

     Its been a week and a half since I left "C-School" and I've been missing the classroom so much! Thank goodness I got called in to substitute teach in "T-Division" for today and Thursday. I had never been to the town before so, like I always do, I left waaayyy too early in an attempt to give myself enough time to find my way around. Fortunately I was only 20 minutes early this time and not 30+ like when I visited "C-School".

     The school is a French-immersion school but fortunately I was substituting for the English teacher; which worked out perfectly as my French is quite minimal. The school itself is the epitome of why I LOVE rural schools. I was immediately welcomed by the students, given a tour and met the seven staff members.... yes that includes the administration (altogether I believe there is approximately 45 students from K-8). The Grade 5 class at "C-School" was 28 students! There is definitely something to be said for small class sizes. You can accomplish so much when you only have 7-14 students!

I was first with a Grade 7/8 split class of 9 students. They were in the middle of watching the Tom Hanks movie, Cast Away, after completing a survival unit. Good thing this was one of my favourite movies; I LOVE Tom Hanks. As we watched the movie the students completed a review sheet answering comprehension questions regarding how the survival experience affected the character's personality. It was interesting to see how the students reacted to his relationship with the volleyball, Wilson. Although they all laughed when he spoke with him as if he was real they were all truly saddened for him when he lost Wilson as he left the island. This lead to some really good discussion about the importance of relationships in our society.

I was then with a Grade 4/5/6 split class of 13 students. After a silent reading period they completed a quiz on the novel, Island of The Blue Dolphins. The quiz itself was comprised of 8 multiple choice questions and 3 long answer questions. I was genuinely impressed with the level of the questions being asked; it was not what I expected for a Grade 4/5/6 class. The students, however, seemed to have a very high level of comprehension of the novel and answered the questions with ease. 

All-in-all it was a very easy day for a substitute teacher but I was so happy to be back in the classroom! I can't wait to go back on Thursday :)