Increasing Participation With Individual Whiteboards

Classrooms are full of distractions, and at times, it can be tricky to tell if students are actually thinking about and processing the content a teacher is presenting. There is a lot to cover in a limited time, and sometimes the need to move forward prevails, without any assurance that each student has grasped the concept. Enter individual whiteboards: a tool that can help make certain everyone in the class is paying attention to the lesson. 

In Evie Beall-Cottrell’s 8th-grade history class at Monocacy Middle School in Frederick, Maryland, every student has their own mini whiteboard, and they’re at the ready to make their thinking visible on their boards when she asks a question. Not only does this ensure that every student is participating, it helps them take more ownership of their ideas.

“Giving time, like 60–90 seconds, so everyone can think—everyone can put down their answer, knowing that they need to have a reason to support their answer—gives everybody a voice,” Beall-Cottrell explains. “And also making it low stakes, it doesn't leave anyone in the dust.”

To deepen understanding further, Beall-Cottrell asks follow-up questions as a means to get students to explain their thinking. Anticipating they may be called on to expand on their answer prompts students to be ready to share, and can lead to lively class discussions.

Learning Science Partners cofounder Jim Heal appreciates the accountability that this practice can bring to the learning. “As a teacher, you are saying, ‘What you're thinking and writing is something that you are then going to make public within the room. We're here to show what we know—and that's part of the way that we hold ourselves accountable for our thoughts.’”

For more ways to use individual whiteboards in the classroom for participation, read Nicole Greene’s article for Edutopia, “6 Ways to Use Clipboards and Whiteboards to Boost Engagement.”

This video is part of our How Learning Happens series, which explores teaching practices grounded in the science of learning and human development.