Individual whiteboards. I’m a first-year teacher, so I don’t have many supplies. I kept asking for individual whiteboards because I had seen other teachers use them, but there wasn’t ever any money. Somebody told me whiteboards are made of the same stuff they use in bathrooms and in some kitchens. So I bought a 4-by-8-foot sheet of tile board at Lowe’s for $10.97. They cut it into 32 12-by-12-inch boards, which is more than enough for my class.
In math, I use the boards for warm-ups. I’ll write a problem set on the overhead, and while they’re doing that, I run down the aisles to see who has their homework. When they finish the problems, they’re supposed to hold up the board to show me. Especially in math, students are all engaged and I can assess as we go.
Do you have a favorite teaching tool? Share your ideas online at: www.teachermagazine.org/go/tools
— Dianne Williams, 8th grade math and science teacher at Central Wilkes Middle School in Moravian Falls, North Carolina
