HELLO EVERYONE!

WE ARE VERY EXCITED TO BEGIN SHARING OUR IDEAS FOR AND OUR EXPERIENCES WITH USING WHOLE BRAIN TEACHING STRATEGIES IN OUR CLASSROOM. RAVEN (A.K.A. MS. HARDY) IS AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN’S RESOURCE TEACHER WHO VISITS AND ASSISTS 3-5TH GRADE CLASSES. I AM MICHELLE (A.K.A. MRS. JACOBS) AND I AM ALSO AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN’S TEACHER IN A SELF-CONTAINED CLASSROOM FOR 4TH AND 5TH GRADERS. WE BOTH TEACH AT WEST SMITHFIELD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN SMITHFIELD, NORTH CAROLINA. IN THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS, WE HAVE TAUGHT TOGETHER AND LATER JOINED OUR CLASSROOMS TOGETHER SO THAT WE COULD CO-TEACH AND NOW WE DO NOT SHARE A CLASSROOM OR STUDENTS DURING THE SCHOOL DAY, BUT WE TEACH AN AFTER SCHOOL TUTORING SESSION TOGETHER.
WE BOTH LOVE OUR JOBS, OUR SCHOOL, THE STAFF AT OUR SCHOOL, AND OF COURSE OUR CHILDREN! THANKFULLY, TEACHING IS A PASSION AND A HOBBY RATHER THAN JUST A CAREER FOR US SO WE ARE CONSTANTLY BOUNCING NEW IDEAS OFF EACH OTHER, CREATING NEW ACTIVITIES AND LESSONS, AND PLANNING NEW LEARNING STRATEGIES TO HELP EACH STUDENT LEARN EVERYTHING WE CAN POSSIBLY TEACH THEM. WHEN WE FOUND WHOLE BRAIN TEACHING IT WAS LOVE AT FIRST LESSON. FOR OVER A YEAR NOW WE HAVE BEEN INCORPORATING WBT STRATEGIES AND MATERIALS IN OUR CLASSROOMS AND WE HAVE FOUND THAT THE KIDS LOVE IT AS MUCH AS WE DO AND THEY HAVE BEEN SHOWING REMARKABLE GROWTH, MARVELOUS PROGRESS AND WICKED COOL SKILLS.