Class? Yes! and Hands & Eyes

*This is a repost of one of my first WBT posts. I am reposting it now to add some context to the new Whole Brain Teaching posters in my TpT Store, and also to add some additional information that has helped me through this year :) Enjoy!

One of the very first things I tried from Whole Brain Teaching's strategies, and the easiest to implement was "Class-Yes". 

The premise is simple: the teacher says, "Class?" and the students respond, "Yes!". When they say "Yes!" they also need to stop whatever they are doing and give me their undivided attention.

I begin this in a very similar way that WBT Inventor, Chris Biffle, does:

However the teacher says "Class" is how the students respond. This is where the creativity and fun come in. Here are some of my favorites:

• high-pitched voice
• low voice and slooooow
• repeat class twice or three times
• "Classity Class" (response: "Yessity Yes")
• "Classadoddle Doo" (response: "Yesadoodle Doo")
• songs: Frere Jacques works well (I had one of my girls come up and say that she loved when I sung lullabies the best!)
• "Oh Class" (response: "Oh Yes")
• whispering
• loud!

It typically takes us two to three times to get everyone together. We then record how well we did on the scoreboard that he also mentions in the video.

If a particularly important concept is coming up, after "Class-Yes" I will ask for "Hands and Eyes" and clasp my hands together. The students will repeat, "Hands and Eyes" and clasp their hands, stop what they are doing and look directly at me, giving me their undivided attention.

I was taken aback about 1. how quickly they caught on and 2. how much FUN we were all having-- there were times after "Class-Yes" we were all giggling a bit :)

Find these posters and a whole bunch more in my TpT Store HERE!