This blog post began life as a thread on X, but is being moved here for the purposes of being able to link people to it over time. I hope it's useful...
I think that my least favourite thing in the whole of a maths department is when someone doesn't put the whole ream of paper in the photocopier. The paper runs out, they open a new ream, and then think 'I only need a little bit', put what they need in, and leave the photocopier close to running out of paper again, so that the next user almost definitely runs out of paper.
My second least favourite thing is when someone says USE MINI WHITEBOARDS without giving any further instruction. I'll maybe go so far as to say that this is the most dangerous phrase in maths education.
I can think of a few uses of mini whiteboards which are sub-optimal, such as:
- using them as plates
- using them as a 'steel chair' and whacking your mate over the head
- using them to doodle
- using them instead of an exercise book
The power of the mini whiteboard, in terms of its utility and efficiency, is unparalleled. This isn't because students can rub out any incorrect workings and it lowers anxiety because the work isn't permanent - I actually feel that this goes in the 'cons' column.
If work isn't permanent and you can just rub bits out and then show the correct answer, there's less of an incentive to think hard about why the wrong answer is a wrong answer, and we put more of an emphasis on correct answers only. Pupils already feel like learning maths is one long quiz in which they're expected to have all of the correct answers already - why would we use something so powerful, with such potential for good, to double down on this?!
The power of mini whiteboards is best used to increase 'ratio' within your classroom. That is the proportion of your class participating within periods of questioning. Any less than 100% and we're doing the pupils a disservice.
'Use mini whiteboards' means 'Ask a question and have ALL pupils write down their answer on their whiteboard'. Even people who get this part get the rest of the routine wrong.
The aim is for 100% of pupils to be thinking - not just participating. The pupil who puts their board in the air instantly is the enemy of learning - just like the pupil who shouts out the answer to a great question, giving no one else any time to think. Learning takes hard thought, not copying a partner's answer and putting it up in the air.
We combat this by instructing pupils to write their answer and 'hover' their whiteboard above their desk, answer down. This hides everyone's answers from everyone else, and tells the teacher that they have an answer. They're going to need reminding about that.
"No, Ahmed, don't put your whiteboard down on the desk. It looks like you haven't tried, and that's going to disappoint me. You're hovering your whiteboard to tell me that you have an answer."
"Oliwia, please don't just put your whiteboard up. We hover to allow others the time to think and respond. If you show it straight away, then people are just going to cheat and copy, and we don't like cheaters."
Wait for everyone to hover, and check in using non-verbal communication with those who haven't got an answer. No Opt Out, but if a pupil doesn't have an answer, they don't have an answer! It sounds awful, but we don't have all day, and we need to move on. This is supposed to be a quick routine!
Once all pupils have an answer (or, some have clearly thought and just don't have an answer), pupils display their work AT THE SAME TIME. "3, 2, 1, show me..." This avoids copying and makes pupils responsible for their own answers.
Acknowledge responses and identify AND INFORM those who are incorrect. They need to know that they're wrong. Then, for those pupils and those who might not have known what to do, model again. We're aiming for 100% participation and 100% correct answers.
Repeat this process for another question (only if needed, be responsive to the needs of your class), until you have the whole class responding with the correct answer, and make a mental note of those who didn't answer correctly the first time. They're the important ones, and they're who we're doing this for. They're the ones who wouldn't have put their hand up to answer a question, and they're the ones that we need to know about. Those students are the reason that we're doing this routine instead of accepting hands up and answers shouted out.
I feel the need to point out that at this point, pupils haven't learned anything. They're copying you. They've been cued up by you. Now they need to develop fluency. Set them working on an exercise and check in with the pupils who struggled first to make sure that they are in a position to begin to develop fluency.
Once they've developed fluency, the journey to robust and meaningful learning has begun, but it hasn't ended. Pupils need to return to this idea regularly, over time, to develop their learning. To become an expert they're going to need to see the idea in multiple representations and from different directions. Being able to repeat a procedure is not expertise.
We use mini whiteboards so we're not basing the direction of lessons on the responses of two confident pupils. Lessons should be targeted at the needs of the lowest attainers, not 'teaching to the top', like the 'bottom' pupils are going to magically fill in the gaps. They don't have the background knowledge to do that.
So, next time someone says "use mini whiteboards", ask them... "How?"
