Exploring a Different Working Space in the Maths Classroom
Several members of the Maths department requested to have extra whiteboard space installed in their classrooms over the July holiday. In my classroom, I now have 8 large whiteboard spaces for students to work on. In this post, I am going to share my experience and the positive impact this has had for my students.
I tend to choose the pairs or small groups of students beforehand, writing their names on the boards where they are going to work. I project a starter question on the SMART board or have a worksheet stuck to each whiteboard. They quickly find their space when they enter the room. Depending on the problem, I generally give the pupils five to ten minutes to complete the task and then I choose one or two boards for the entire group to surround as we talk about the problem. Other times, I may ask the groups to rotate one board clockwise to check their peers work.
I have also tried working on the boards not only for starters but also for partial/ full lessons. I find in doing this, it helps keep the pace of the lesson, especially for those students who can lose focus quickly. If we are doing a substantial amount of work on the boards, I like to have the kids photograph their work so that they have a record of it.
Outlined below are the key advantages I have observed by approaching a lesson in this manner:
Movement – Students spend a lot of time sitting down during the school day so I try to incorporate movement in class when I can. I think that movement and activity in the classroom are very important and in my experience, I have found that the students are more engaged when they are moving or standing. Movement also promotes mental clarity.
Engagement – I have noticed that students are more engaged when they know that their work is exhibited and on display for others to see. As their work is public, I am also able to monitor closely who is working and who is not. As a result, I have found that most, if not all, students are on-task when working in this manner. When being used as a starter, it is also quick for me to see who has started the task, who might be struggling and who is slow to begin for any other reason.
Presentation – In addition to the impact on engagement, each groups work is displayed and students are able to see the work of other groups as well as question the conclusions of others. Students can easily see how other students tackled the problem, possibly in a different way than they used to approach the task, which also reinforces that there are many ways to arrive at the same answer.
Collaboration –When students are working in small groups, it naturally promotes discussion and questioning. By having the large space to work on, it gives the opportunity for all members of the group to contribute as opposed to when groups are working on a smaller space. I also like to change the groups around so that students are working with different peers each lesson.
Peer Assessment – I often have the students rotate one board clockwise to check what their peers have discovered. They can confirm their findings or question if they do not agree, adding corrections or annotations.
Spotting Misconceptions and Assessing Understanding – As I can see all of the work the students are doing on the board, it is very easy to tell who understands and who is struggling. I tend to choose one space for the class to surround at the end of the task so that we can discuss as a whole what worked and what didn’t.