White board
I always write important information on the board along with name date objectives. I find that adding an essential question daily about the prior lesson seems to keep my students refreshed with yestedays material.
I agree. I have found that without an agenda on my whiteboard every day, my students get anxious and really miss if or when I do not write it out. It provides structure that they are used to, however, an agenda is not the same thing as a lesson plan.
I do the same. At Delta Education they provide our course objective and outlines for each course. So at the beginning of ever class I write on the white board today's date, class, objectives of the day, and quote of the day to get their minds started and have a brief discussion before actually beginning class. At one point I didn't' think it was effective until I failed to put it up one day and the class "informed" me of my failure to write these things down.
I love the idea of putting quizzes on the board. One trick is to put a "quiz" question at the start of class, and explain that the question will come at the end. Usually, the question is directly covered in the lecture. This way, students have something to focus on throughout the lecture, and they feel great when they can solve a quiz problem successfully by the end of class.
Brian,
This sounds like an effective approach to providing lesson plans. In addition, the students are able to see how the lessons are related and are aligned with the course learning objectives.
Tremayne Simpson
Brian,
This sounds like an effective approach to providing lesson plans. In addition, the students are able to see how the lessons are related and are aligned with the course learning objectives.
Tremayne Simpson
I have been taught to divide the white board into three sections: yesterday's lesson, today's lesson, tomorrow's lesson. This way the students see the progress we are making in the class.
I love this idea! Thank you so much for sharing! This is a great way to keep everyone on the same page, as well as organized. I am going to try this approach this week.
I also do the same. Or I'll give a small quiz to check on their progress.
Emilee,
Interesting. It is definitely an act of creativity, to create a viable "learning environment" in that type of structure. Do you find that students are reluctant to participate during lecture, because of the preconceived ideology regarding libraries as being "quiet" spaces?
Tremayne Simpson
No, It is literally a table and chairs in the middle of a library
I like that idea, however you have to be careful because the time you have to capture the classes full attention is small, and in the very begining of class. I like to start off with telling them what we are going to be doing or covering that day first. I'll then bring in how what we learned previously will be used to build from, and at that time i'll do a quick review of the previous days lesson.
You want to capture their attention and keep them excited about what's coming. I've found that if too much time is spent reviewing previous days work/lesson, it is hard to keep the students engaged for the new lesson.
Something as trivial as the name of the instructor, class name, module etc... its a good start. It's pretty effective in my classes.
Emilee,
In your "created classroom", do you have any object that you can use to write class notes, material or information?
Tremayne Simpson
My class is often is a "created classroom" often the a table in the library with students coming and going and other classes going on. I don't often have a white board and struggle to get the students to focus with everything going on around them. I have begun taking 5 minutes at the beginning of class though and going over what we need to accomplish that day. It serves the same purpose as writing everything on the board but it helps when the students know what has to be done that day.
Michelle,
This is a great way to effectively use the white board. I have set-up my white board in a similar pattern, however I leave a "blank" section for student questions. Students can write questions (during the class breaktime) that they feel are important for a review, after the break is over.
Tremayne Simpson
I have my white board broken up in 3 sections. The first section is the lessons we did yesterday. The second section is what we are doing today and the homework that is due tomorrow. And the third section is what we are doing tomorrow. It gives the students a sense of the three days and lessons are recapped in the beginning. All important announcements are visual as well.
Alexadner,
As a side note, I also find that students tend to enjoy writing on the dry erase board. I try to implement "in-lecture" activities that enable the students to use the board. It seems to make the class more interactive, whenever these activities are presented.
Tremayne Simpson
White boards are crucial as students have many different learning styles. Some are visual, some are auditory, some are tactile. By writing the days agenda and bullet points of what the day holds for the class it allows for all learning styles to comprehend what is to come in the class.
Mitchell,
In addition, I also list a few review questions (pertaining to the last class session), to assess student retention of information.
Tremayne Simpson
