A few years ago I discovered mini whiteboards,  a versatile piece of equipment that can be used by students for almost anything.

There are many suggestion on Pinterest about how to make your own but we buy ours from Modern Teaching Aides: a pack of 30 boards for $40 see the link here.

Today’s Teach Tip Tuesday gives 10 suggestions for using them in your classroom.

1. Warmup activities

Whether you are using them in maths for short quick questions, English to check spelling or comprehension or diagrammatic responses for science. There are two key benefits to utilising whiteboards in warmup. Firstly, students can provide you with instant feedback about their understanding of the content in the warmup so that you can plan how to adjust your lesson necessary. Secondly, students feel less pressure when writing responses on a whiteboard as incorrect responses or mistakes are easily erased. Whiteboards are an especially good strategy for encouraging the have a go mindset.

2. Problem solving activities

Students usually make many mistakes when working towards a solution for a unfamiliar or complex problem. Using a whiteboard encourages students to begin and erase when they think of a better way to work the problem. Once again the whiteboards with their easy erasability encourage the get started and have a go attitude that we need to develop in our students.

3. Class questions and responses / Q&A / Ask and lift

Whiteboards are a great tool for conducting Q&As in class and getting immediate feedback on student responses.

4. Reference examples

Often student ask questions in class and need to refer back to it as they work. Mini whiteboards offer a ready material to record examples for the students to refer to.

5. Write and wipe

Great for practising any item that students need to recall instantly. For example spelling, times tables, rainbow facts, definitions etc.

6. Brainstorming

Use whiteboards to brainstorm new ideas, prepare for assessment, order thoughts for writing tasks etc. whiteboards can be easily used for individual or paired work. Need a copy of your ideas for later; take a photo and store it for easy reference.

7. Exit cards

Get students to construct their own exit cards on their whiteboards and tick off their progress for the lesson. Students might also produce an answer to a question as their exit out of class.

8. Pictionary

Use for vocabulary review. Students have a list of word and use pictures to describe the word that their partner needs to guess. You can make it harder by making students use examples and non examples just like the Frayer model.

9. Peer tutoring

Get students to show their peers how to solve a problem. Show a student how to write a particular piece of text highlighting the appropriate text features.

10. Think pair share

Do you use mini whiteboards in your class? How do you use them? Please share in the comments below or share on our facebook page.