Whole Brain Teaching-ish Rules :)

As many of you know, I use different rules in my classroom than the standard five from Whole Brain Teaching.

Their rules are:

1. Follow directions quickly
2. Raise your hand for permission to speak.
3. Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat.
4. Make smart choices.
5. Keep your dear teacher happy.

These rules seem a-ok and I really like how they cover the spectrum of possibilities that students can throw in our direction!

However, I am head-over-heals in love with the class rules Ashley from The Polka Dot Patch created! These decorated my classroom last year and they were perfect! They worked seamlessly with our school's PBIS system and allowed me to incorporate WBT with no "conflicts of interest".

Here's how it looks in my classroom:

For her cute signs in pink and green, head over to her lovely blog HERE.

Quite a few of you have requested these rules to match my WBT Signs, and I am happy to say that, with Ashley's blessing, you can pick them up HERE on Google Docs for FREE!

I have called these "Whole Brain Teaching-ish Rules" and they coordinate with my other WBT Signs:

Click on the picture to download the poster set for FREE!

I have posted about how my class goes over rules HERE, but here's a quick recap of the gestures that go with the Whole Brain Teaching-ish Rules:

Rule #1: Listen (point to your ears) when your teacher (kids point to me) is talking (move hands together and apart like a mouth).

Rule #2: Follow directions quickly. (As we say this, we snap out fingers along with each word and say the rule quickly.)

Rule #3: Respect others (point out), respect yourself (point to yourself), and respect your school (point to the ground).

Rule #4: Raise your hand (raise your right hand) to speak (make moving mouth motion) or stand use index and middle finger to 'walk').

Rule #5: Be safe (hug yourself), be kind (cover your heart with both hands), be honest (place right hand up, like you were about to testify). 

I have the kids practice these each morning before we begin our Morning Meeting. I used to lead it, but I now leave that up to the Morning Meeting Leader and I do it along with them.

I hope this helps you on your WBT journey and thanks to Ashley for your awesome rules!