Purpose:  The whiteboard or blackboard is a great tool for the classroom. It’s the one visual aid you likely have in your classroom during every lesson. Here are some ideas to help you make your use of the whiteboard or blackboard more effective.

Tips:

1)      Perspective – Look at the board from where your students sit. Is the lettering clear and easy to read? Is the purpose of what you have written clear? This is also a good chance for you to observe how your learners copy what is on the board. Will what they have copied be helpful to them in the learning process?

2)      Color – Use darker colors (black, blue, brown and purple) to write most of your information. Use other colors (red, orange, green) to highlight information by underlining, circling, marking word stress. If you are using a blackboard, write most information with white or yellow chalk. Other colors can be difficult for learners to see.

3)      Thought – Plan how you would like to use your whiteboard during the lesson. This means thinking about what language should go on the board, as well as its placement on the board and how you want to display it.

4)      Cleanliness – Erase the board when you move to another stage of the lesson so that students are not distracted by previous board work. Always ask students if they have finished copying before you erase the board.

5)      Organization – Use headings or titles to organize your board work that will help students locate the information after they have copied it into their notebooks. You may choose to be consistent with the color choice for a particular part of board work (new vocabulary in blue, word and sentence stress in red, etc.)