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The Scoreboard!


Where would I be without my scoreboard?  

 

If you're familiar with Whole Brain Teaching, you know exactly what the scoreboard is, and why it is so important!  Although I certainly have a lot to learn about Whole Brain Teaching, I've been using the scoreboard for a few years now, and know I couldn't survive without it!

Lately, my students have been rather rambunctious.  Between snow days and early dismissals, and Invention Convention, and just being totally due for vacation (starts this Friday), these little guys are really struggling to stay focused and get anything done at all. 

How do I keep them going?  The scoreboard!
 
The Scoreboard! Thanks to Whole Brain Teaching, I have found the perfect tool for classroom management. It's a win-win!

Here's how it works. If the children do something that makes the teacher happy, the teacher puts a tally on the happy side. If the children do something that make the teacher sad, a tally goes on the sad side. This is all "whole group" behavior. (Individual issues are on the classroom clip chart.) If the children are engaged during a lesson, they get a happy tally. If the noise level is too much, a sad tally. If I see cooperation, a happy tally. If I see fooling around during work time, a sad tally.

Interesting, when the kids are as antsy as they've been this week, that's when the scoreboard is busiest! As I write each tally, I tell what they did to earn it, and the children do a celebratory "one second party" or a disappointed "mighty groan".

Of course, all those tallies need to add up to something! Well, each day that "happy" beats "sad", I add 5 minutes. After they've earned enough time, they can spend those minutes on an activity of their choice. They might work for painting time:

The Scoreboard! Thanks to Whole Brain Teaching, I have found the perfect tool for classroom management. It's a win-win!
 
Block time:

The Scoreboard! Thanks to Whole Brain Teaching, I have found the perfect tool for classroom management. It's a win-win!

or perhaps a seasonal craft!

The Scoreboard! Thanks to Whole Brain Teaching, I have found the perfect tool for classroom management. It's a win-win!

To learn more about the scoreboard and Whole Brain Learning, click HERE. You can also click the image below to find out more about their book! 



For the upcoming Invention Convention, one of my students is creating a scoreboard that teachers won't keep leaving on the opposite side of the classroom, that we'll be able to attach to our waists!

Don't you love kids?

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