Let’s start with this one question:

For me, I use a set of 4 criteria to evaluate all resources, tools, and lesson ideas. It helps me quickly narrow down whether a tool will help me achieve the desired results I look for in my classroom.

Here are the four criteria.

1. I want ALL my students to show me their thinking and understanding in interesting ways. I want them to show me what they think first instead of just telling them what to think! I want to open up the questioning that goes on in my room. So I look and create lessons that allow for this.
2. I want my students to discuss, collaborate, argue, defend, and justify with each other. I believe this helps clarify their learning and understanding so I must make sure that discussion and collaboration happen in my best lessons.
3. I am always assessing for growth! I’m constantly looking to see who gets what we are doing and who needs help. I need to be able to assess quickly the abilities in my room so I can use that on the fly to decide where to go next. Assessing easily must be apart of my lessons.
4. Every lesson or activity must have a ratio between the cost of set up and the payoff where the payoff heavily out weighs the set up. Nothing is worse than spending a huge chunk of time, making, cutting, designing and then when you run it the learning outcome wasn’t worth it. The payoff must out weigh the set up.

My #1 Go-To tool/technique is WHITEBOARDS!! Having my students work in random pairs daily at vertical whiteboards is the tool that easily allows my students to get to work faster and hit all four of my criteria.

Let struggle happen! Give feedback to make it productive! Make it vertical! #MTBoS #vnps pic.twitter.com/ii15hhXt2C

— Jon Orr (@MrOrr_geek) December 4, 2015

How do whiteboards stack up against my criteria?

On a whiteboard students can easily show off their learning. They are quicker to get to writing on a whiteboard than on paper. Especially when the boards on the wall. Students get to defend, argue, justify their thinking with each other. I can easily see if students are understanding and the set up ratio is a no brainer. Here’s a whiteboard, marker….Go!

I’ve had students use small personal whiteboards at their desks before, but I couldn’t believe the change in active engagement and cooperation once they were standing. The discussions they were having about the math was much more insightful and meaningful.

Our whiteboard work usually starts as soon as the bell rings. In random pairs students would put up a few homework questions from the previous day. I could see students looking around verifying their work with their peers. They were self assessing.

A1 Get everyone out of their seats! Kids talk more when up! Vertical whiteboards are a must!!! #lkdsbmathchat pic.twitter.com/geBjOuPRmJ

— Jon Orr (@MrOrr_geek) September 23, 2015

We continue to make use of the boards while we work through our new challenges. Students have no problem leaving their space to go and talk to another group to gain some insight on new strategies….This is how we create great classroom culture. I can easily circulate the room to engage students in conversations and challenge their reasoning.