Quick Assessments with White Boards

Whiteboards work in every classroom, for any student. Hand a child a dry erase marker, name the activity and watch them instantly be more engaged than with ordinary pen and paper.

Whiteboards are also handy when trying to gauge how much information a student has retained after a lesson.

• During group time, hand each student a white board to quickly see who is getting it and who isn’t. Have each student write answers on their boards and hold them up for teachers to see.
• You can even use the whiteboards to generate a group discussion. For instance, you can have students write down a statement related to a lesson that is commonly misunderstood. Ask students to look at the question and write “True” or “False.”
• Then when every child has finished, you can have all the “Trues” and all the “Falses” begin a dialogue about who is right and who is wrong.
• You can also have a student write down a topic they are studying and ask them to summarize what it’s about.
• Or have them self-assign a number from 1 to 10 to ask them how well they understand a topic you recently may have covered. You’ll be surprised at their honest answers, and how willing other students are to support each other.

The key to a smooth quick assessment, is that it is in fact “quick.” EXPO’s new Dry Erase markers with Ink Indicator have a clear barrel that lets you see the ink remaining, along with a gauge with hash marks to show whether your marker is Full, ¾, ½ or Empty. As an added bonus, it also is an excellent visual depiction of fractions for students.