Class Yes and Hands and Eyes- WBT


Two years ago in December break I started exploring the Whole Brain Teaching website. I was so excited to try some of the techniques! I also wanted to see how much my kiddos would remember after being on winter break. The first thing I wanted to try was Class Yes.
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If you have watched some of the WBT videos you see there are some different styles. I'm a naturally sort of loud speaker, but I've worked really hard to speak more softly in class. Why? I have a teacher friend who has a very soft voice and her entire class of preschoolers always talks softly too! I love it! 4 year olds having control over the volume of their voice without even knowing it. So when I started "Class Yes" I didn't say it super duper loud. Don't get me wrong- sometimes we were in the middle of a really engaging activity and our class noise level was pretty high so I would have to be louder with my class yes. But most of the time I was pretty soft and sometimes I even whispered. 

How did it work? 
SO STINKIN BRILLIANTLY!
I say "Class Class!"
They say "Yes Yes!"
And your kids say it in the very same way you did. So if I whispered "Class Class" I would hear a "Yes Yes!" back in a whisper.

I jazzed it up all the time too with a "Yee-haw Class!" {Yee-haw Yes!}, "Woot woot Class!" {Woot Woot Yes!} The kiddos even came up with a few. 

This is an incredible tool! It works in a fire drill that happens in the middle of recess. For real. The MIDDLE OF RECESS and I shouted "Class class!" The other first grade teacher weren't doing Class Yes or any WBT at this point (at least I don't remember them doing it yet). But just my kids shouting back was enough to get the attention of the whole playground.
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Oh I love this one! This looks phenomenal when administration sees it too. I used this when my kids were deep in discussion or thought and I needed to show them an important next step in our work.
Teacher "Hands hands hands and eyes" and then I clasp my hands together.
Kiddos repeat and put their eyes on you and hands together.

Sometimes, especially if we were doing an interactive notebook activity, I would have a few students still engrossed what they were doing. We had to try it again. But you know what, that's OK! Once I had their attention I knew I really had their eyes on me and we were able to move on to the next step. My students quickly learned that me asking for hands and eyes meant they should give me their attention or they would miss out on something important.

I mentioned above that I started WBT before winter break. After winter break my students didn't miss a beat! They remembered everything and honestly I think the familiarity of the routine was a relief to them.

I strongly encourage you to try a little of WBT in your class to see what you think. You'll be amazed!