I've never really talked to anyone about why I started using WBT. The day I discovered it for myself was a memory that popped into my brain recently. So I'll share.
I learned about WBT when it was called power teaching. Actually the first time I heard about it was from the teacher next door. She had just begun to implement it in her room and told me a little about it. Honestly that was my first year and I'm not sure I fully comprehended that she was talking about a whole movement. I think it sounded like a few things I was starting to do so it never sunk in as something different.
A few months later I was looking for games to use while students were reading. I found Crazy Professor Reading Game. It's still my favorite for reading. I think I watched that video about 20 times. I even showed it to my students so they had an idea of dramatic reading. When we tried it I instantly loved that I could survey my entire class and see who wasn't using hand gestures. Gestures were a clue that they were probably on task while, no gestures usually meant a teammate was off task.
From there it was love. I was completely sold, the more I tried the more I liked.
Guess I got to be done for now. I've got to go train my replacement so I can move in a few weeks.
Christine
