Neuroscientists on Whole Brain Teaching

From Ohio.com: (thanks, Another Hole Brain Director!)

NORTH CANTON: When Chris Biffle called out the word “Class!” Wednesday morning at Walsh University, 450 teachers and administrators yelled back, “Yes!”

“Class class?” he said.

“Yes! Yes!” they replied.

“Classity classity,” he said.

“Yessity yessity,” they chanted back.

The method might be fun, engaging and popular, judging by teacher testimonials and company-conducted polls.

But the techniques are not validated by contemporary brain research, according to two experts in the relationship between neuroscience and education who reviewed the claims for the Akron Beacon Journal.

“Nothing I see here indicates that there is any neuroscientific backing for anything they’re suggesting,” said Dan Willingham, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Virginia.

The Beacon Journal also asked David Daniel, managing editor of the peer-reviewed science journal Mind, Brain and Education to examine the research page at www.wholebrainteaching.com.

“I think he has these ideas that may or may not work, and he’s using brain stuff to market them,” said Daniel, a psychology professor at James Madison University. “The brain stuff on the web page is very cursory, very shallow. That could be just his way of communicating or it could be his level of understanding. Either way, it’s misleading.”

Jeff Battle, a middle school science teacher in North Carolina who says he keeps current on brain research for the company, said teachers aren’t bound by the same level of scientific rigor as neuroscientists.

“I’m not going to give a Ph.D.-level dissertation to a kindergarten teacher who wants to have a vague idea of why this is working so they can explain it if they need to,” Battle said. “We’re not pure science, we’re practitioners who are applying what we’ve learned so far.”

But, Daniel said, when educators misrepresent the science, they make it harder for researchers who are struggling to translate neuroscience into something teachers can reliably use in the classroom.

“It drowns out the softer voice of what’s credible. That’s what’s harmful,” Daniel said. “There are people doing really good work who, if they had a chance, would love to be helping teachers. But they’re getting drowned out by people who are better at marketing, better at speaking and better at selling.”

Notice the completely patronizing tone Jeff Battle takes about kindergarten teachers, as if it's their fault that he's peddling pseudo-scientific crap. Give me a break!

Whole Brain Teaching Rakes in the Shekels

Due to a reader's comment ("Whole Brain Teaching is FREE!"), I've decided to collect articles about the money being made by Chris Biffle and his Whole Brain Teaching system.

First up, I've posted on this subject twice:

Whole Brain Teaching for Profit

There's Gold in Them Thar Brains

Next, two commenters, Anonymous and Another Hole Brain Director, have chased down the following links: (Thanks to both of you for your efforts!):

2011 - 2012: Desert Sands Unified School District:

Provide Staff Training and Support on Whole Brain Teaching ... Chris Biffle, Consultant; $6,000.00 (page 7)

Nov. 2011: Lancaster School District:

Chris Biffle will teach Whole Brain Teaching to 3d Grade Teachers for $2,500.00 (item 41)

Oct. 2010 - March 2011: Gilroy Unified School District:

Contract not to exceed $10,000 for Chris Biffle to teach Whole Brain Teaching

April 16, 2011 & May 7, 2011: Lemon Grove School District:

2 one-day Whole Brain Teaching seminars: $3,700.00 to Service Provider Chris Biffle (pg. 15)

July 2009: San Bernardino City Unified School District:

Chris Biffle to present workshop on "Power Teaching Challenging Students" — not to exceed $1,500.00

Aug. 2009: Hemet Unified School District:

Approval to Hire Christopher Biffle; not to exceed $12,500.00 (item K-23)

Aug. 2008: Hemet Unified School District:

Approval to Authorize Hiring Chris Biffle; not to exceed $5,500 (item K-49)

Feb. 2008: San Bernardino City Unified School District:

Urbita Elementary School to hire Chris Biffle to present two two-hour workshops — not to exceed $700.00

Whole Brain Teaching all day?

From a comment:

One of the comments that I mentioned on my blog as well is that the WBT videos are used to display WBT techniques. They do not show an entire class. Since the video is used to highlight a specific technique, other aspects of classroom life are edited out for timing purposes.

Right, I've seen this argument before. I say, "How can you stand to spend the day doing this tedious, loud, pre-scripted nonsense?" and the reply is, "Oh, we don't do this all day."

It reminds me of a saucy English postcard I found somewhere on the internet, showing a young couple canoodling on the couch.

Young Lovely: "No, Bert! I won't trade an hour of pleasure for a lifetime of shame!"

Bert (hopefully): "It won't take an hour."

I have two responses to the "we don't do it all day" argument:

1.) Really? I'd like to see a video showing a WBT teacher engaging in some other kind of activity, like actual classroom discussion where kids make un-scripted remarks. Considering that there's about 8 billion hours of WBT videos on youtube, there ought to be at least a few that show something besides the standard call-and-response-with-gestures.

2.) So what? I wouldn't want my kids spending 30 seconds vowing to "keep their dear teacher happy." I wouldn't want my kids being told to say "Oh sweet mama, I want some free time!" as Chris Biffle has them do, or being told to groan because a classmate wasn't paying attention. This isn't education, it's just control freakery.

Dead Quiet

From the Whole Brain Teaching Forum:

A question from one WBT teacher:

Have gone over expectations of lining up many times. Hard to have a straight quiet line. Then I wonder is it really necessary? Feel like I am wasting too much time on this and my energy could be for something else. Any suggestions?

And an answer from another, who apparently missed the point about wasting time and energy:

I teach them four line expectations:

1. Laser-straight: the tiles on the floor help a lot, but we also have lines painted on our sidewalks. They know, because I remind them often, to make sure their left foot is on the line.

2. Dead quiet: I never allow any talking in my line. Not even to me.

3. Arms crossed: I used to allow kids to choose whether they crossed their arms or put their hands in their pockets, but I found that if you give an inch, they take a light-year. So, arms crossed only.

4. Faces forward: It's really irritating to me when people standing in line at theme parks aren't paying attention when the line moves forward, leaving a huge gap. I don't want my line to have gaps in it either.

I teach these four expectations, and slowly wean them off me reminding them of each one when we line up, and settle for the aforementioned "LINE CHECK!" They repeat "LINE CHECK!" and instantly snap to attention in a perfect, orderly, OCD-tickling line (tears of joy!). The key is consistency and unbending, unwavering expectation of perfection. As long as it's not perfect, we don't move. If we're already moving and it stops being perfect (arms swing out, someone talks, someone veers way out of line), I call "FREEZE!" and everyone stops. I say "LINE CHECK!", they respond appropriately, then we're on our way.

All of that sounds terribly militaristic, but the whole time I've got this "Gosh, isn't this fun?" maniacal grin on my face, and I'm constantly praising the ones who've got it right and encouraging the ones who don't. We've only been in school for a week, and my kids are trained. They know exactly what I want, and I get it...and they're as proud of themselves as I am of them, because they know they've got it together, and they're the best-behaved class in 5th grade.

Gee, how about aiming for the best educated class in 5th grade?

Dream Schools

I want a dream lover
So I won't have to dream alone.
-- Bobby Darin, "Dream Lover"


TeacHer asked, in a recent comment:

I've been wondering about this recently: if you were to design the perfect school, how would it look? What about the perfect teacher?

Thanks for the question, TeacHer!

My dream school would combine the best of the progressive and traditional philosophies.  From the best of the progressives, I would take an interest in the child as a complete human being, with physical and emotional needs as well as academic ones, and the goal of developing an independent thinker, with a continuing interest in learning.  From the best of the traditionalists, I would take a true understanding and appreciation of content knowledge, including technical content like math and science, and a respect for linear, well-designed curricula.

So, with the progressives, I would throw out authoritarian classroom-management systems like PBIS and WBT, but with the traditionalists, I would throw out bad curricula like fuzzy math, non-phonics reading instruction, and meta-meta-meta "comprehension" questions that baffle and alienate small children.

My dream elementary school would assign no homework, or optional homework, and never restrict recess as a punishment, or for any reason.  Teachers and administrators would work towards a genuine partnership with parents, not the current Jeeves-and-Wooster farce that passes for "partnership".

My dream teacher would be well-educated and genuinely interested in learning, as well as humane and caring (that's a surprisingly difficult combo to find!).  She would be open to new ideas, and not ideologically wedded to certain techniques (and yes, I understand that a lot of important classroom decisions aren't under the teacher's control any more.)

And here's an impossible dream for you:  just once, I would like to read a newsletter written by a teacher with no grammatical errors. 

Readers, what would your dream school look like?  How about your dream teacher?

Feel-Good Speakers

An Anonymous commenter said:

What's INSANITY to me is that my program will, on the one hand, promote the Sir Ken video about how schools are based on the factory model and that kills divergent thinking and we need to differentiate, and then, on the other hand, they'll slobber all over how awesome WBT is.

How can they NOT see that WBT is THE MOST factory model based education system ever?? And that it is the least likely to encourage divergent thinking? I'm baffled.

Anonymous, I've had similar experiences.  I remember the time I mentioned Alfie Kohn to the former principal at our local public elementary school, Fragrant Hills.  To my amazement, she said "oh, Alfie Kohn, isn't he wonderful!  You know, we had him here for a talk."  I was momentarily struck dumb.  I thought, if she likes Alfie Kohn, why is she defending tedious homework assignments for first graders?  Why is she protecting the fifth-grade math teacher who is bullying my child into major depression?

The only explanation I can come up with is that teachers and administrators view people like Alfie Kohn and Sir Ken Robinson as inspirational speakers, and they do find them inspiring, in a transitory, feel-good sort of way.  Listening to speakers like this allows teachers to feel that what they do is noble work.  They don't confront the vast gap between the theory presented by these speakers and the actual day-to-day life of the school. 

It's like listening to a popular, charismatic preacher who gives a terrific sermon on the glories of heaven on Sunday.  Then you've got the rest of the week to go right back to your lustful, gluttonous, dishonest ways.

I've seen teachers complain that "Alfie Kohn sounds good, but he doesn't give practical tips", but now I'm starting to think that's really the key to his popularity.  If he had a practical plan, somebody might have to carry it out.  They like him better as the pie-in-the-sky visionary he is, who presents no real threat to business as usual.

Whole Brain Boo-Hoos

I've decided that one of the functions of this blog is to be a voice on the internet in opposition to Whole Brain Teaching.  Chris Biffle is relentless in purging dissent from every website he controls, such as the Whole Brain website and the various teaching videos on youtube.  I was banned from posting on his youtube sites after I asked polite questions.  So one function of Kid-Friendly Schools will be to express criticism, to correct the internet impression that WBT is universally accepted.

Also, the posts pretty much write themselves!

Here's an example of the casual cruelty that ensues when teachers are encouraged to focus on compliance, instead of the well-being of their young charges.

From the Whole Brain teaching forum:

and the boo.hoo's fell [terrible punctuation brought to you by Annette Warren, a Whole Brain model teacher!]

The power of the scoreboard was felt...and the tears fell, oh my. My first graders lost today. We counted the smilies and frownies and I won. The bet was a minute early out so a minute late is what we did. Standing behind our chairs hands over our eyes thinking how we could do better. I had stepped out the door to announce to mommies and daddies why we were late. When i came in I heard" Ms. Ladybug (they call me this) Katie is crying for real! 

Once she started another little one started, so i walked the girls out and explained they took our score board real serious, theclass I think we win tomorrow:-)

Annette.

(a response from another WBT model teacher, Andrea Schindler: )

Lol those little cryin darlins!!! If I hadn't have done kinder I don't think I could have handled criers. But i learned. They stop. Sounds harsh but they really do!

Ps howd they do the next day:)?

(a follow-up from Annette Warren: )

My little cryin first graders did exceptional the next day and now all I have to say is "do I need to go to the scoreboard?" They give me the your out gesture and a loud no way. We have a little monkey under frownie star and he is holding practice tickets...he has not passed out on yet, guess we don't monkey around in first grade.
Annette.

(a response from a WBT intern: )

Annette, I always smile at your posts! I am truly enjoying how powerful the scoreboard can be for so many students! I am preparing to get the students on board for practice cards. We have already been in school for 11 weeks. I think its time!!

Tee hee, what a giggle, making 6-year-old children cry.  Lovely.

P.S. I'm trying to teach model Whole Brain Teacher Farrah Shipley how to spell "comprehension". Wish me luck!

How Rote Learning Got a Bad Name

I read somewhere the memoirs of a writer who went to Catholic schools as a kid. He reports that he was made to memorize a list of the popes, and it was only after he graduated that he discovered how difficult and contentious it is to write such a list. For several decades during the middle ages, there were actually two (or three!) simultaneous competing popes, which the ruler-wielding nuns had neglected to mention.

That's why Blackadder's Baldrick claims to have an all-purpose pardon "signed by both popes!"

When you reduce learning to memorizing factoids, you can't handle ambiguity or complexity.  There's no grappling with meaning or ideas. You wind up dumbing down content.

For a painful example, here's Farrah Shipley using Whole Brain Teaching to inflict "fractions" on a kindergarten class.

WARNING!  Side effects include nausea, vomiting, dizziness, despair, and suicidal ideation.  If uncontrollable ranting persists for more than four hours, see a doctor, psychiatrist, or bartender.

I have thrown myself on the grenade by listening to this "lesson" so you don't have to.  Here's what the hapless 5-year-olds are memorizing:

A fraction is when we cut something into equal pieces.  [Grammar, anyone?]

A fraction has two parts: a denominator [low silly voice] and a numerator [high silly voice].

The denominator tells us how many pieces in all.

The numerator tells us how many pieces are shaded.

Think how confused these kids will be when they actually need to understand fractions, and nothing's been shaded!  We can only hope they forget this whole nightmare over the summer.

At one point in the video, Mrs. Shipley actually grabs a little boy's wrists and forces him to do the gestures.

At another point, she asks the class, "wouldn't you like to know what the numerator does?" and a bunch of the kids yell back, "NO!"  Then she tells them to beg her.

For a rousing climax, she walks the kids through the "genius" segment, where they're encouraged to produce sentences that nobody would ever actually say, like "I eat watermelon, but first I cut it into fractions."

The way she reaches into her jacket pocket for a dry-erase marker reminds me of a dog trainer reaching into her pocket for little treats.

Another Look at KIPP

A pro-KIPP commenter on E.D. Kain's blog recommended these two videos:

First up, "Harvard Ed School Visits KIPP":

In this one, Howard Gardner is impressed by how "engaged" the kids are.  He apparently doesn't know that the kids have been specifically trained to track the teacher with their eyes and sit up straight.  He also comments on the "flatness" of the class, and that there is no provision for fast or slow learners.  

In the conversation with a teacher, everyone takes it for granted that "doing your homework" is the measure of a good student, without asking the basic question:  what is the homework, and is it worth doing?

Next up:  Harriet Ball Teaching Children.  Harriet Ball was a big influence on the founders of KIPP.

 

In this one, the content bothers me.  The whole point of the metric system is that it's founded on base 10, and the Latin prefixes (centi, milli, etc.) tell you how to put it all together.  She doesn't cover that here (to be fair, maybe she taught it somewhere else.)  I don't see how it's helpful to tell kids that "a milliliter is an eyedropper full."  No it isn't -- a milliliter is a precise measurement.  

I'm not against using raps in teaching.  It could be a minimally painful way to memorize.  But if you take raps as your basic teaching tool, you will be stuck teaching only the kind of factoids that fit in a rap.  This is a problem with Whole Brain Teaching too.  There's no room for sustained thought. 

Whole Brain Parents

From the Whole Brain Teaching Forum:

This comment was written by a kindergarten teacher:

My parents love the notes sent home letting them know exactly what rule their child broke! I actually haven't had too much trouble having them returned and most of my parents, although I explained that the home practice should be 2-5 minutes, have signed the paper returning it saying their child practiced for 30 or so minutes. My parents are pretty creative for example:

Kid gets a practice card for Rule #2. Parent will have their child spend the evening having to raise their hand and be called on for ANYTHING they want to say or ask for the entire night! LOL! My parents have really bought into the WBT and love that their child isn't SCOLDED for misbehavior but are given the opportunity to practice the correct behavior! We have had great success!

Those poor kids. Not only has school been turned into a compliance factory, but now home is just an annex.

Break them Down One by One

From the Whole Brain Teaching Forum:

Question:

I implemented WBT today. I introduced class-yes, the 5 rules, the scoreboard and teach ok.

One of the main problems I saw today was that the smart alecky boys put two fingers to their head like a gun when we rehearsed rule 4. Does anyone have suggestions? This is a VERY chatty and VERY difficult class.

I'd appreciate any feedback.

(Note from FedUpMom: rule 4 is "Make Smart Choices", and the accompanying gesture is to tap the side of your head with your index finger. I like these boys!)

An answer from Chris Rekstad:

I agree with Farrah, and would do everything that she says, with a bit of spice. The spice being for those most challenging boys/kids.

WIth them you need to just say, "I'd like you to practice with me at recess." Once recess comes you have them practice the rule correctly for 1 minute, silently. They may start goofing off or telling you that they aren't going to do it, so then you tell them this, "You can do it one minute my way, or 4 minutes your way!"

You may want to peruse the ebook called Industrial Strength Whole Brain Teaching or Teaching Challenging Teens and look in the section Rebel Clicques. What you have is a situation where you're the new gal coming in on their turf. You're going to have to break them down one by one, starting with the Alpha Dog.

Keep us posted right here on this great forum!

Power to the Teacher!

Spot the Control Freak

From a comment by Chris Biffle on the Whole Brain Teaching Forum:

Short talk/long talk is a strategy we use to reduce the potential for argument when we have to have a one-on-one talk with students about their behavior. We introduce the strategy in class by saying something like the following, "Someday I may have to take you aside and have a talk with you about how you're behaving in class. When we are alone, I'll give you the option of having a short talk or a long talk. You can choose! But I strongly advise you to pick 'short talk' because if we have a long talk, I'll be the one doing all the talking and you may not enjoy what I have to say."

Then, we have students explain short talk/long talk to each other.

When the day comes when you have to take a student aside, you say, "short talk or long talk?" Kids appreciate being given the choice ... so, make your point briefly and the one on one conversation is over. What we want to avoid is a back and forth confrontation that may raise your student's or your! emotional temperature.

I first tried short talk/long talk years ago when I was coaching a girls middle school basketball team ... and it worked wonderfully. It's a great way for you to make the point you need to make ... and then move back in to your normal teaching routine.

What is Student Engagement?

(from Trailblazers Math, grade 2.)

Many educators feel that if kids are actively doing something, that means they are engaged with learning; conversely, if kids are just sitting quietly, they are not engaged.  I've heard this expressed both by those on the far right (e.g., Whole Brain Teaching) and those on the far left (e.g., constructivist math.)  Whole Brain-ers think that the kids' constant gestures and talking means they're engaged; constructivists think that if kids are measuring and graphing, they're engaged.

Unfortunately, life is not that simple.   It is possible to be mentally engaged while sitting quite still (e.g., while watching a movie), and it is also possible to be mentally absent while moving around (e.g., daydreaming while folding laundry.)  You can make kids move around, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they're interested in what they're doing, or that they're learning anything in particular.   A bad project is less engaging than a good lecture.

Whole Brain Teaching for Profit

The Whole Brain Teaching Company is now promoting a series of 7 Web Seminars, for a mere $4.95 each. They promise:

The beauty of our web seminars is that each program focuses on one, use-it-on-Monday, teaching technique. We guarantee you won’t be overwhelmed.

Well, of course you won't be overwhelmed, considering that Whole Brain is all about taking one simple idea and beating it to death. You certainly won't be overwhelmed by complex, subtle thinking with this crowd. No worries there!

In spite of the money they're now charging, under Whole Brain Teachers of America, we see this:

Whole Brain Teachers of America is a grass roots, education reform movement...

All of our seminars and downloads are free. Whole Brain Teaching is a movement, not a business.

Time for a rewrite, Biffle!

When the Bloom is Off the Rose

One of the many problems with reward systems is that they don't work over the long haul. As time goes on, kids get bored with the rewards they've already gotten and will require more as the price for their continued compliance. Of course, by that time they've forgotten what it feels like to be genuinely interested in learning.

Here's a post from "Newbie teaching in Gilroy, CA" from the Whole Brain Teaching website:

I already had knowledge of the basic scoreboard strategy. At the beginning of the year my students LOVED it and I saw student engagement soar. But right around November their interest/motivation seemed to plummet...

And a comment from another Whole Brain teacher:

Students are having a variety of reactions to my apparent change in personality. Some are lapping up all the sap I've been offering ... Some look exhausted from time-to-time. Even those tired looking students are easily re engaged with reminders to gesture or with a brief class rehearsal of expected behavior. I'm hoping this isn't just a honeymoon.

I can see that some kids might find WBT to be a novelty at first, and perhaps a welcome chance to move around and make a little noise during the school day. But can you imagine going to a WBT school, and looking at that damn scoreboard with the smilies and the frownies, and reciting those same stupid rules ("Keep your dear teacher happy!") for the 5th consecutive year? They'll have to put Prozac in the drinking water so the kids can cope.

If you read around on the WBT page, you find a lot of discussion of cute ways to change up the scoreboard, clearly a response to the basic tedium of the system. It's a glimpse of the trivial minds that get attracted to this stuff:

I've tried to make scoreboard parties a little more exciting for the students by changing them for the season. In October, we had "Spooky" / "Boohoo" and I even changed the frown face to one of a ghost. I'm looking for some November ideas. I have a new frownie of an Indian so I was thinking of something Thanksgiving related. I had thought about Gobble Gobble, but I'd like to have one for both and - any thoughts?

If you're not busy banging your head on the keyboard by now, let's look at one more comment:

I have begun making gestures for reading comprehension. ... Enjoy

This is followed by helpful pdf files containing gems like these:

Question: What are Text to Self Connections?
Answer: Connection that you make about yourself to a text.
Gesture: hold hands out like a book, point pointer fingers together then point to yourself.

Yeah, there's a definition I want my kid to memorize. How did people manage to comprehend reading before "text-to-self" was invented?

The Limits of Neuroscience

In 3 Brain Facts Every Educator Should Know, psychologist Daniel Willingham writes about the limits of neuroscience. In particular, he shows that neuroscience can't yet be useful for teaching. Willingham says:

Most of what you see advertised as educational advice rooted in neuroscience is bunkum.

He quotes a researcher, David Daniel:

“If you see the words 'brain-based,' run.”

Are you listening, Chris Biffle? Consider his claim:

All of Whole Brain Teaching’s instructional techniques (see the “First Steps” menu) are validated by contemporary brain research.

There's Gold in Them Thar Brains

According to the Gilroy Dispatch (of Gilroy, CA), Eliot Elementary School is about to implement Whole Brain Teaching. They've signed a contract with Chris Biffle to the tune of $7,000. The article doesn't explain exactly what the Biffinflator will do for this large chunk of change, but they do mention 2 weekend workshops. That's nice work if you can get it ...

Parents are the Customer

On this blog, we've discussed two different classroom management programs, Whole Brain Teaching and Make Your Day. Both these systems are totalitarian, top-down, and punitive. In both cases, we've seen teachers who claim it's wonderful.

For instance, District to Keep Make Your Day Program reports that a school board unanimously voted to retain "Make Your Day". In a survey, 95% of teachers agreed with the statement, "I find the Make Your Day program is fair and reasonable for students". The superintendent is quoted as saying that 90 percent staff approval is a good benchmark for the district.

In the meantime, over 30% of parents disagreed with the statement that Make Your Day is fair and reasonable! As anyone who has tried to organize dissent against the school system can tell you, that's a very high percentage. But, the parents, as usual, were not listened to. The best they could get was a promise to "integrate positive feedback" into the program.

Who is school for? It ought to be conducted for the good of the kids who attend, as overseen by their parents. Kids are mostly too young and impressionable to form their own judgements, and too completely intimidated (or profoundly depressed) to speak out. It is up to parents to keep watch and advocate for their kids.

To use a business model, schools provide a service, which parents buy for their kids. The parents are the customer. As one of the "Make Your Day" parents says, “If it were me looking at a job I was doing, I’m giving myself 90 percent across the board, but my customers are giving me 60s. That’s not OK.”

Rules for a First-Grade Classroom

So I actually attended Curriculum Night for my younger daughter's school. I was interested to see rules posted on the wall of her first-grade classroom. The rules go like this:

We agree to:

1.) Take care of each other.

2.) Be good listeners.

3.) Remember that one person talks at a time.

4.) Treat others the way they want to be treated.

5.) Stop when somebody says "Stop".

6.) Be gentle with our things and put them away.

It's clear that these rules are about how the kids should treat each other, not just about how they should obey the teacher. It's a pretty sharp contrast to the rules from Whole Brain Teaching:

Rule 1.) Follow directions quickly.

Rule 2.) Raise your hand for permission to speak.

Rule 3.) Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat.

Rule 4.) Make smart choices.

Rule 5.) Keep your dear teacher happy.

Which classroom would you rather send your kid to?

Whole Brain Teaching is a Lie

from the Power Teachers Training Manual:

TRAINER: Here is another huge point.The Scoreboard game is fixed! The score never comes out to be anything other than what you want it to be. In elementary school, we reward initially with one minute more or less of recess. On the first day, be sure your students lose by one minute the first few times. Take them out to the playground with a stopwatch in hand and let them watch the other kids play for a minute. Make sure they never lose by more than a minute … they might get too upset. Sometimes, let them score come out even, neither losing nor winning a minute. Then after a few days, let them win a minute.

... Now, listen to me very carefully. The smaller the reward you give, the more valuable it is. Make my gestures. (Spread your arms out very wide. Make other graphic gestures as you continue talking.) It’s a long year. You’ve got to give small rewards at the beginning. When you finally give your students two minutes free time, it will feel enormous to them! Teach!

This amounts to mocking a child's innocence. Children are naturally trusting, and when they "lose" the scoreboard game, they will feel that they did something wrong.

What kind of sick mind wants to see kids knock themselves out for a trivial prize? Probably the same sick mind that thinks it's amusing to make kids beg (@6:08) for their reading lesson.

Also, if WBT is as much fun as its promoters claim, why is two minutes away from it perceived as a reward?