How I use mini whiteboards

When I started my PGCE in 2006, mini whiteboards seemed to be everywhere (although I got the feeling it was only recently that they had become so ubiquitous), and I was encouraged to use them regularly.

But I never really warmed to them, if I’m honest. I found them a bit of a faff, and I tended to assess learning in other ways.

Having said that, I do use mini whiteboards, and I do still use them regularly (if not frequently).
Despite the “faff factor”, I do think mini whiteboards have a number of positive points:

Giving and getting informative feedback (using Google Forms)

Students need to feel there is a “point” to all this, especially when you ask them to feed back to you about how things are going (and if they have any questions for you). It’s therefore very important to take the time to answer any questions they ask, and to show that you have taken account of their feedback.

For example, at the end of an online homework, I asked pupils to tell me about aspects of the current topic that they found most difficult. In the following lesson, I displayed some (anonymised) representative responses on the board, and went through key points with the class.