Whole-Brain Teaching

Also known as "Power Teaching."

Last year, visiting a friend who teaches first grade, I saw the cutest little sign on her door. It talked about how they're a "whole brain" class, which means they'll be loud and repeat their teacher - A LOT! I was interested in this, but didn't give it a whole lot of thought (simply because once school starts I feel like I don't have enough time to think about anything new!!).

But here it is summertime; oh sweet, sweet summertime. With a hearty internet connection and a few hours to spare, I dove right into this Whole Brain Teaching phenomenon. Whole brain teaching, the brainchild of Chris Biffle of www.wholebrainteaching.com, focuses on engaging students in their learning throughout the entire lesson. It requires active participation, repetition, speed, and enthusiasm. As we all know, during a lecture, students drift off, doze off, daydream, and who knows what else. In order to combat this, the teacher employs certain techniques to grab the class' attention, involve them in the lesson, and to reinforce learning through peer teaching/review.

I feel that I could not possibly share all of the benefits of whole-brain and power teaching here, in my own words. I encourage you to see it in action. Click here for a link to Chris Biffle's YouTube channel. He shares 8 video lessons on whole-brain teaching and how to implement it, as well as countless examples of whole-brain teaching in action.

If you employ whole-brain teaching in your classroom, I would love to hear about your experiences!!! Comment below to share successes, struggles, how you implemented it, etc.

I'm beyond excited to implement this in the fall. Stay tuned :)