One of my new favorite strategies is from “Whole Brain Teaching”. This grass roots reform started in 1999 by three Southern California teachers. Chris Biffle, Jay Vanderfin, and Chris Rekstad. https://wholebrainteaching.com.

There are two types of gestures in WBT: Social gestures & Memory gestures. We will focus on Memory Gestures. Those that connect an abstract concept to a gesture. For the littles, the website I’ve cited above will provide you with a wealth of power pics to aid you in using gestures. For those of us in the upper levels, it is up to us (or the class) to create gestures. There are 3 steps in creating a gesture.

1. Find the content word you will be using.

2. Create a kid friendly description for the word

3. Create a simple gesture.

You do not need a gesture for every word, but use the gesture EVER SINGLE TIME you say the word chosen. The point of using the gesture is to connect an abstract word and idea to a concrete form or movement. Kids teach it to each other, to you, to other classes or teachers, etc. It is the routine and the description that dives into depth of learning. It doesn’t matter what the gesture is, it is the use and description of the word every time it is used.

Let’s use a math concept= Fractions… not my favorite! So, let’s follow the three steps:

1-The word is FRACTION

2-Create a kid friendly definition- to a younger student I may say, “it is part of a whole” and to an older student I may say, “it is a numerical quantity that represents a whole”

3- Create a gesture. And every time we say the word fraction use thee gesture with the description.

I love using stations! And using your room in this fashion at the beginning of the year can set you up for success for the remainder of the year!

Educators realized throughout teaching during a global pandemic, that connection, community, and engagement are not just things that were nice to have, but prerequisites to meaningful learning. Stations provide that connection between students and build a community within the class.

At the start of the year I begin with four to five stations. I create groups so that students begin learning about their peers on day one. Only 1 minute at each station. I use music to cue students when it is time to change stations.

Each station has a large piece of paper and various colored markers and pens. (Poster size or long strip of butcher paper work best). On each paper, identify a word or phrase on it. When you yell “GO!” groups work quickly at a station writing everything they can think in response to the word or phrase you have identified.

Play music when students change stations (this helps save your voice from yelling over kids conversation). This activity only takes 5-6 minutes. But provides you with baseline data and a level of understanding that you need to build learning objectives.