Back to the Future of WBT?

What would happen if all the classrooms in your school used WBT?

Back to school after a wonderfully relaxing and learning-filled Spring Break. Never mind that, for some reason, the day-shorter week ended up feeling like two; the week brought not only its share of multiple challenges but, also offered an opportunity to glimpse the possibilities of school-wide WBT. Here's what happened:

It's S.T.E.M. Fair time in our school/county. (What we used to call Science Fair is now Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Fair.) My class is doing a study on brain and memory and we were in need of study subjects. Our 4-member study Sample Team set off for the three 4th grade classes that made up the population from which we would select our sample. (I had talked, of course, with my colleagues about the visits before hand.) Our first stop went well enough and we got our sample but, the end of our visit also coincided with the 30 students needing to transition from one classroom to another.

The next 20-minute period reminded me of one of those French farces with pretty maids, screwball servants, and outraged fathers dashing through doors. The specialist who was supposed to take the class was no where to be found and a scramble ensued to find someone to take watch over the class. Until that someone could be found, I was the designated watcher. Here's where the beauty of WBT classroom management tools, and a glimpse of the promise of school-wide use of WBT, comes in.

It so happens that the teacher of the class I unexpectedly was left to manage also uses WBT. Additionally, because several of the 4th graders in that class had been in my grade 3 room the previous year, they were familiar with some of the WBT 'moves'. Armed with that knowledge, I knew there were at least a few ways I could communicate with this set of students right off the bat and get a situation fraught with the possibility for chaos positively managed. "Class-class!", "Hands and Eyes" got everyone's attention and a call for Rule #1 not only got everyone ready to follow directions quickly but aware that I knew what their expectations were. I'm happy to report that the class of fourth graders performed rather flawlessly.

What was funny to watch were the faces of the 3rd graders who were there with me as well as those of the 4th graders whom I hadn't had in my class the previous year. My 3rd graders looked on in amazement at these "big" kids as if to say "Wow! These 4th graders are expected to do what we do - and they know how to do it." "Oh my gosh, we already know some 4th grade stuff!" The 4th graders looked equally amazed, as if to say "How does she know what to say to us to get us to do things?"

The minefield of an unexpected change in students' routine is one it's likely we've all experienced trying to safely navigate. (Edu-ethnographers will tell you that classrooms really do take on their own cultural identities and that routines and procedures have embedded cultural weight to which change does not come easily. As with other, larger social groups - tribes, communities - "Outsiders" coming in to classrooms (like substitutes) or changes in the cultural flow (an AWOL specials teacher) can lead to some serious acting-out. Yet, armed with a 5-pack of WBT Rules and a few other WBT management tools, I was able to help this set of 30+ students navigate the uncertainty. I think it also sent a message to both the 3rd and 4th grade students in this situation that expectations for their behavior stretched beyond their particular classrooms. I can imagine some of them were wondering if every teacher knew their rules. Were the eyes of the entire school on them?

Later, reflecting on the situation, my mind returned to our recent WBT professional development sessions and Coach B's encouragement to our principal and staff to seriously consider implementing WBT across the grade levels. After the day's events, I could see the power of the idea. Imagine welcoming students into your 3rd grade class at the start of the school year and knowing that most of them were trained up in 2nd grade and already knew your class rules and a number of other procedures! Also, it seems to me, the linkages from student behavior to the discipline model of the school would be made that much clearer to all involved. For example, any teacher in the building would know what to say to an unfamiliar student who was misbehaving -

TEACHER: "Rule #4 please."

STUDENT: "Make smart choices."

TEACHER: "What would be smarter than running down the hall?"

STUDENT: "I could walk."

TEACHER: "If you did that you'd really be doing an excellent job following Rule #5." "Rule #5?"

STUDENT: "Keep your dear teacher happy!"

TEACHER: "Now, let me see you walk down the hall and I'll let your teacher know about your smart choice."

In less than one minute's time the student can begin to realize that others hold the same expectations as their teacher. The student may also start to understand they are part of a wider community that is connected to their classroom in pretty key ways.

I'm seeing more and more evidence of the presence of WBT in our school house. Some teachers, having just been introduced to it, are getting their feet wet while others are ramping up their understanding and application of the practices. My episode with the 4th grade class unexpectedly left in my charge certainly illustrates the power of WBT if implemented across the schoolhouse. How about WBT in your school? Has it spread? Is it spreading? What is your lived-experience of WBT used across the grades or throughout a school?

I look forward to hearing from you.