Every classroom should have a set of mini whiteboards.
In the first part of this two-part blog post, I will make a case for why that statement is true. In the second part, I will give some practical guidelines for using mini whiteboards in the classroom.
One of the constant struggles of teaching can be boiled down to a simple question: “Are my students actually learning?” We assess student learning in a variety of ways. The first kind of assessment that comes to mind for many of us is likely some sort of summative assessment like a test or a quiz. These assessments provide a great opportunity for students to demonstrate their understanding and mastery of ideas and skills to the teacher. However, we must also remember the idea and value of formative assessment. Formative assessment is much more frequent, much less formal (ironically, despite the name), and incredibly helpful to the teacher. Think of formative assessment more as a check in; it is an opportunity for you, the teacher, to see how well your students understand an idea or skill that you are working on, without (in most cases) a grade.
Formative assessment can be done in a variety of ways. Exit tickets, number scales, short quizzes, and even simply walking around the room while students work, are all ways that the teacher can check-in on their students. A personal favorite of mine is beginning and ending class with review questions. I will often start a class by peppering my students with questions about the material that they learned from the previous lesson. However, in my first few years of teaching, I struggled to find a way to make that daily formative assessment meaningful for the whole class. If I only called on one student for each question, there was not a way for me to know if the rest of the class knew the answer as well. Moreover, the idea of asking every student to answer each question was practically impossible.
The solution to this struggle – mini whiteboards. The beginning of my lessons has not changed; I still pepper my students with questions. The difference now is that each student has a mini whiteboard and a marker, and each student is writing down and showing me their answer to every question I ask. Now, rather than receiving a single point of feedback when I ask a question, I receive 27. The result: it is much easier to know whether or not my class understands an idea or skill.
Mini whiteboards are the ultimate tool of formative assessment. They provide quick and comprehensive feedback. Not to mention that they are affordable too. If you do not have a set of mini whiteboards in your classroom, I challenge you to get a hold of one and try them out. It will change the way you teach!
The Classical Classroom 