I’m a huge advocate for using individual white boards for participation. I just worked with a teacher who added one more option to this strategy: Sheet protectors.
Cover the whiteboard with a sheet protector with two sides cut so it easily slips over the board. Then students can work out math problems on the ‘sheet protected white board”. When called up to the overhead projector to show how they worked out the problem, they simply take the sheet protector off the white board and lay it on the overhead. Voila! they have a visual to explain their process to the class! Encourage students to speak slowly and clearly when explaining their process for solving the problem.
Use marker boards to encourage participation:
Every student has a
- Whiteboard
- Dry-erase marker or wipe off crayon
- Little kid sock (for wiping and storing marker or crayon)
1. Teacher asks a question.
2. Students write answers on white boards.
3. After fair amount of time, teacher asks students to hold up boards.
- The teacher can see how ALL students are doing in one look across the room.
- It stops blurters.
- Allows those that need processing time to finally get it!