As the assitant principal in my building I rarely get the opportunity to get involved in academic areas. But recently my principal asked me to present some student engagment ideas at a faculty meeting. So I thought, Ok, you open the door and I'll kick it in with Whole Brain Teaching techniques/activities! I chose to present The Crazy Reading Professor since our major focus this year is reading instruction. Several teachers had questions about ADHD students and the noise involved, to which the reading specialists immediately anwered with "all students need to be auditorally immersed in good reading practice." I was thankful for that response. Additionally, the volume of the classroom is easily adjusted by the teacher. To view an effective way of approaching this watch The Crazy Reading Professor video under the videos tab.
To make a long story short, the very next day 4 teachers approached me with positive experiences and how much they felt the motor component was key to the students comprehension and engagement. What I didn't expect to hear was that they utilized it in Guided Reading groups. See, teachers who have a passion for the profession, will take what they learn and use their professional judgement to adapt things for their own classroom. I guess in summary, what's really necessary is student engagement...but also passionate professional teachers who care about their students.
