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I've recently been exposed to a somewhat new movement (about 30 years, haha) in education called Power Teaching. There are plenty of videos on YouTube that feature Power Teaching strategies and I was wondering if anyone here had any experience with it. If so, what successes have you seen? And with what age groups? Thanks Kendra

Hi Kendra, I'm not familiar with this teaching strategy, but I did take a few minutes to look at some resources that explain the procedures and benefits of Power Teaching. From what I found, it seems like power teaching is a type classroom management where students have learned and conditioned verbal and non-verbal to a teacher prompt. While I haven't used the exact phases introduced in this classroom management technique (CLASS - YES), I have used similar phases, like "I feel a storm coming on," to which all of the kids stop where they are, freeze, and say "Shhh" (with 25 kids doing this it sounds like it's raining). One thing I like about this technique is that it is easy for the kids to learn and follow. On one of the videos I saw, the teacher said "Hands, eyes". The kids responded "Hands, eyes!" while folding their hands in their laps and looking up at the teacher. From the video, it looks like this is a very effective classroom management tool. I think a system like this would work best if you started at the beginning of the school year. It would also be helpful if the entire school used the same technique, so they kids would consistently know how to respond to the prompts. I'm excited to hear from teachers out there who have used this technique. Do you find that it works well? Also, have you found any ways to improve on the technique? Maureen

It’s interesting how things are cyclical and come around after 25 or 30 years. As with all good things, modifications are made to suit the teacher and the classroom. I had some elementary teachers do this, but I never really paid attention to teachers trying to get my attention after sixth grade. I will be interested to see how folks are using this technique.

Hi Kendra, thanks for sharing this! I have never heard of this before until I read your post. I think it is a very engaging way for students to stay focused. Instead of making educated guesses about who is really paying attention, teachers know immediately who is engaged and listening to what you are saying and who is not. It would be especially helpful for those students who like to talk a lot or can't sit still. The teacher should only be talking about 30 seconds at a time, so that gives students even more time to talk to each other. It is also quite funny and I think students would be amused with it to.

Hi Kendra, thanks for sharing this! I have never heard of this before until I read your post. I think it is a very engaging way for students to stay focused. Instead of making educated guesses about who is really paying attention, teachers know immediately who is engaged and listening to what you are saying and who is not. It would be especially helpful for those students who like to talk a lot or can't sit still. The teacher should only be talking about 30 seconds at a time, so that gives students even more time to talk to each other. It is also quite funny and I think students would be amused with it to.

When I was the curriculum coach for my school, I found the home site for Power Teaching (Whole Brain Teaching) to help one of the teachers at my school. Not only does it work, I have seen it work within a week turning a toxic classroom environment into an actively learning one. If you go to the Whole Brain Teaching website, you will see that all of their resources are free and the font is huge. There are not only videos on Youtube, but they have books as well. Did I mention it was all free? Excellent resources and kids buy in rather quickly. I have used it on my high school students as well as the teachers during PD meetings very successfully.

Frenzica,

Thanks so much for letting us know that the WBT website has free resources! After I read Kendra's post I watched several videos on YouTube, but didn't realize that there's a website with some many excellent resources! Here a link to the website if anyone else is interested in taking a look: WBT.com.

Thanks again!
Maureen

I saw this before on a video and it was pretty amazing. What I saw was with elementary school students, I wonder if anyone has seen it work with middle school students?

As an observer in middle school classrooms, I have been wowed in some districts where teachers gather the attention of the class by quietly saying, "If you can hear my voice, clap your hand." The teacher only needed to repeat this phrase twice to have the complete and silent attention of an avidly active and lively science class, most of whom were on task, absolutely. I have also observed a teacher to raise a hand during an assembly to quiet the room in a few seconds without saying a word, and especially a loud word. Classroom management styles ride the wheel as do other things, as pointed out in a previous post, and there are many aspects of power teaching that are alive and working well in classrooms today.

Sandra, The information I've been exposed to states that these methods are suitable for students of all grade levels. I'm always on the look-out for things like that since my license includes elementary and middle grades. The author of this website, Whole Brain Teaching, has many, many videos on Youtube that are pretty interesting. You might want to check it out... http://www.wholebrainteaching.com/ I would really like to hear from any secondary teachers who might have used this, or something similar. Thanks! Kendra

I also found an example for middle school science on YouTube...here they're calling it whole brain teaching, but I'm not sure there's a difference between whole brain teaching and power teaching. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6NmegdUK-I

I have seen teachers using these techniques quite effectively through elementary school, and perhaps through about sixth grade. It also seems to work best when students have become accustomed to the expectations and techniques from the beginning of their time in school. I am always amazed at one STEM school that I visit occasionally. Many of the students have been together since first grade, and there is a strong sense of community. I am always amazed when a student starts the process by raising a hand, or using the same catchphrase as the teacher, and the class responds.

Adah, That's my thinking exactly. I've used rhymes and hand gestures to teach content before at the middle school level (mitosis comes to mind) but for classroom management? Not so sure how that would fly. If they've been doing it before hitting middle school, maybe? But I can't see a room full of adult-sized 8th graders responding well to "Class! Class!" at all. Smiles! Kendra

Whole brain teaching was a new concept for me; I think middle school kids would really enjoy this since it involves physical activity and engages them socially with their peers. Although I've done similar things (usually non-verbally), I really liked the engagement demonstrated by students in the videos. The website looks like it has a wealth of information (and free? wow!). I would say that this technique looks like it is well worth exploring (what do you have to lose?). It would probably be highly effective if all teachers in a middle school team used it.