Sandia incorporating new learning strategies

If you walk into any classroom at Sandia Elementary, you might hear the teacher calling out, “Class, Class;” immediately after which you'll hear the entire class respond, “Yes, Yes!” in exactly the same tone. Sometimes there are funny variations, such as, “Class-osaurus!” to which they reply, “Yes-osaurus!” or “Class-ity-class!” with “Yess-ity-yes!”

Matthew Vetterly, principal at Sandia, said the entire school was now on board with a unique interactive system of instruction, called whole-brain teaching.

Fifth-grade teacher Christine Seidel previously attended training at another district, and after sharing it with her principal, Vetterly rolled it out to the whole school.

The theory is teaching the way the brain learns. Developed at the college level, it has been extremely successful from kindergarten through college. It is highly interactive, with students taking on an active role. For example, after the teacher teaches, and says, “Teach!” with some gesture, including variation in expression, the kids respond exactly the same way, and turn to their partner and paraphrase what was taught. Moments later, the teacher will say, “Switch!” and students switch roles.

There are ground rules, easy to digest; lots of gestures incorporated throughout, as mnemonic devices to help students remember.

Founder Chris Biffle described the principle: “Teachers at every level share the same difficulties: students lack discipline, background knowledge and problem-solving skills … our goal is to create peaceful classrooms full of orderly fun. Tens of thousands of educators around the world believe we’re on the right track.”

There’s no cost to this unique instructional system; no subscriber fee; the concepts are freely shared; and, while there are official training sessions for a fee, there are lots of freebies available.

Wandering throughout Sandia, peeking in on kindergarten through fifth-grade classes, all I saw were lively, but orderly classes with students not only fully engaged but also actively involved. Given the strategies used, between gestures and verbal prompts, entire classes eagerly responded, whether to a teacher or fellow student presenting confidently to the whole class.

When I asked fifth-grade teacher Roxanne Mitchell if these strategies took a lot of time away from instruction, she said: “Not at all. In fact, we’re able to cover a lot more ground because everyone is so focused.”

Remarkable. Peeking in the last classroom on my way out, I heard a third-grade teacher say, “Wow! Let’s celebrate with a one-second party!” Students responded with raised “jazz hands” and “Wooooo!” then went right back to reading.

Cindy Kleyn-Kennedy is the instructional technology coordinator for the Clovis Municipal Schools and can be reached at: [email protected]