Here are the basics to Whole Brain Teaching and why I love using it in my classroom! Hope you find this helpful.

“Whole Brain Teaching is an integrated method combining an effective classroom management and a pedagogically sound approach to student engagement.” 
​– Jeff Battle, AdvanceEd

Why I Love Whole Brain Teaching
I started using Whole Brain Teaching in 2015 and absolutely fell in love with it. Not only is Whole Brain Teaching fun for the students, but it also gets them using their entire brain in a variety of ways allowing them to find success in the classroom. This approach gets children using words and gestures to both learn and teach new concepts, it gives students many opportunities to practice and refine their understanding in a variety of ways, it keeps children motivated, and it reaches a variety of learning styles.​

Whole Brain Teaching Rules
There are five rules of Whole Brain Teaching each with their own unique gestures:

1. Follow directions quickly! (hands together and swim like a fish)
2. Raise your hand for permission to speak. (raise your hand, then bring it down next to your face and make a talking motion)
3. Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat. (raise your hand, then make a walking gesture with your index and middle fingers)
4. Make smart choices! (tap your index finger to your temple)
5. Keep your dear teacher happy! (frame your face with both hands using index finger and thumb while bobbing your head back and forth and smile)

I use a score board (SMILEYS on one side FROWNIES on the other) to award the class points (SMILEYS) for following the Whole Brain Teaching. If a rule is broken, I get the class’ attention (using Class – Yes) and ask them what is Rule # … and they repeat the rule with the gestures and I put a point under the FROWNIES collumn. The goal is to have more SMILEYS than FROWNIES. I give a reward for more SMILEYS and we practice the WBT Rules if there are more FROWNIES.
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I found these beautiful posters (in French) on “La classe de Karine“:

​Other Whole Brain Teaching Favourites

1. Class – Yes (Teacher says “Class” and students respond “Yes” in the same tone and voice.)
2. Hands and Eyes (Teacher says “Hands and Eyes” and the students repeat, fold their hands and look at you intensely. This is used to get their attention after Class – Yes.)
3. Mirror (Teacher says “Mirror on” and raises both arms to their side and students repeat and do the same. This is used to have students repeat everything you say and do. This helps to help engage their motor cortex. Use “Mirror off” and lower your arms to end the mirroring of gestures.)
4. Teach – OK (Teachers says “Teach” and students respond “OK” and turn to their partners to teach each other what they just learnt. This helps engage students in all 4 learning models – seeing, saying, hearing and doing.)​