Whole Brain Teaching-My Questions for the Experts

I am about halfway through the Whole Brain Teaching book that I borrowed on my Kindle. I am really enjoying it and reading it really makes me feel excitement about teaching. The main part of being in the classroom I don't like is the behavior issues and the description of whole brain teaching makes it seem like a great way to reduce those by a lot. It just sounds like a fun system.

That being said, I do have some hesitations/questions about the process.

Let's start with the Big 7

Class Yes

This seems totally doable and really fun. 

Teach-Okay

 I like the idea, but I'm not sure how well Kindergartners would do it. I don't want to underestimate them, but I would be interested to know if anyone else has used this with Kinders and at what point in the year it was introduced. 

Class Rules

I definitely plan to use these. The "keep the teacher happy" is my favorite. It's just fun. The only one I'm not really a fan of is the one about asking permission to leave their seats. I don't really know if I want that to be a rule. I already downloaded some free poster sets of the class rules from TPT, but I would consider altering that particular rule. 

The Scoreboard

I am wondering if the "mighty oh yeah" and the "mighty groan" could be used in conjunction with the bucket filling system I've already used. I would not use both, but I really like how our little pom pom buckets go along with the great story that we read at the beginning of the year. The mighties seem like the fun part of the scoreboard and I kind of skipped over the chapters that talked about the various levels of the scoreboard because they just didn't seem like something I would be invested in following through with. 

Hands and Eyes

I like this as well and it seems really appropriate for Kinders. 

Switch

I use assigned partners in my classroom and I like the idea of switch, however I still think that the beginning ELL kiddos who tend to not speak during partner time will still continue to not speak. I guess this is the technique meant to really teach them that they need to communicate with their partner and I am curious how Kinders have done with it. 

Mirror

I think Kinders would love mirror. It seems like a fun way to get attention focused/get wiggles out etc. 

I also LOVE how the author described dividing students into the

alphas

go-alongs

fence sitters

and 

challenging students

I will definitely try that next year. 

One big question I have so far is with regards to the "rule cards." My interest in pursuing WBT comes from all the negative attitudes about "the stoplight" and similar behavior management charts. The main complaint is that those systems "publicly humiliate." However,  I truly don't see the difference between flipping a card color and placing a "rule card" into a child's pocket. The description of how the child who receives a rule card must stay in from recess for a certain amount of time and whisper the rule that they need to practice repeatedly just really seems weird to me. First of all, my students don't have recess so I don't have that to use as leverage, but whether a child is "practicing the rule" or sitting out, they are still missing recess. If the card is by their name, they are still be called out for something whether it is a "negative behavior" or the "need to practice something more." To me, it seems like using more positive phrasing to describe the same thing. 

I would love to hear some opinions about the rule cards compared to other "punitive" systems. I don't think the rule cards are punitive but I don't really think those other systems are punitive either. But, I do believe that if a child is misbehaving, I should not make that a positive experience for him/her. I certainly don't shame or humiliate kiddos for their actions, but I do want them to know what's not okay. With WBT I think that can be done in a fun way, but I really don't imagine myself asking my students to repeatedly whisper rules to themselves during timeout/lost play time. That just bothers  me. 

I am excited to read the second half of the book, but I would love to hear from teachers who are already using WBT.

Are there any parts that you don't like/didn't really work for you?

Do think that it is okay to use certain parts and not others or does that affect the effectiveness? 

Did using WBT really make a huge difference in your classroom/reduce behavior problems?