Power Teaching

Chris Biffle is my all time favorite person in education. Everyone has that 1 thing that they think is a non-negotiable in a teacher's toolbox. Well, Chris Biffle is mine. He has developed what is known as Whole Brain/ Power Teaching. I first heard about this while I was doing my student teaching. I fell in love with it and have been using it ever since. He talks about keeping your students' attention and keeping them engaged throughout the entire day. Teaching is great, but if we don't have our students attention then our jobs are worthless. Take his ideas and put them into practice! Here are the links to his videos on youtube. There are several, but I promise that if you take the time to watch them, you will not regret it. Whole Brain Teaching: The Basics, How to Begin Whole Brain Teaching Lesson 1 , How to Begin Whole Brain Teaching: Lesson 2  There are 8 more videos on youtube that go into further detail if you are interested. Whole Brain Teaching Lesson 1-8.

Books are the Best

Books are the best! Especially when you can actually find them. I love when my students go to my shelves and pick out books to read. But, when I walk over to my shelf to pull a book to read with the class and it's not there and NO ONE knows what happened to it, I feel a little frustrated. If you have a computer, lap top, or tablet available that your students can use, that is in your classroom, you have to go to Book Source. I saw this on Pinterest last fall and was not sure how it would work out. It was so easy. You can even download on app on your smart phone to scan in the books. Once you add your kids names into the computer, all they have to do is click checkout on the book that they want. They are actually excited about checking out and turning the books back in because they get to do it on the computer like a librarian. If the book is missing, all you have to do is look on the website and see who has it. It's fabulous! There is even an option where you can have the kids type in a review of the book before they can check it in. Here is the link. If you do nothing else this summer before school starts, DO THIS!!! http://classroom.booksource.com/Default.aspx?logout=true

Summer Excitement

I can't believe that it is already half way through the summer and school is just around the corner. I am so excited to meet my new class! In honor of the new school year I have decided to start a new blog page. (I forgot how to log into my old one, but then I figured it was a new year so I may as well have a new blog.) You may be wondering where I came up with title for my blog. I love singing, dancing, and learning in an entertaining way in the classroom. Therefore, "Bust a Move with Mrs. B" is a great representation of my class.

I teach third grade. As many of us know, math is not taught in the same way as when we were in school. It is different and often times confusing for us to understand how our students are coming up with answers from the strange and bizarre ways that they work out their equations. Hopefully, on my blog, I will be able to help bridge the gap to the ways our students are finding their answers.  As school starts, watch my blog for videos of the math lessons that I will be teaching in class.

I will also be uploading photos of the things that I find and make from the Heaven Sent Pinterest! Enjoy!