Help us save money and trees while we learn to collaborate in problem solving. Currently we purchase several pads of chart paper each year for group work. These whiteboards are poster size and reusable daily. Group whiteboarding encourages students to think, question, solve problems together.
Andrew Carnegie is quoted as saying, "Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision.
The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results." Teaching mathematics is no longer about the teacher presentation but about the design of purposeful learning that promotes mathematical discourse.
Recent statistics indicate that algebra is still the gatekeeper - prohibiting students from successfully completing college programs of study. My ninth and tenth graders are hard working students in a very large high school. They have many challenges ahead as they work on the path to graduation. One pertinent challenge is to conquer mathematics. Algebra lays the foundation for their high school math career and opens doors for their future.
My Project
The benefits of group whiteboarding are many. These benefits have been noted by math teachers who blog:
1) Encourages students to think, question, and discuss their ideas, strategies, and solutions.
2) Allows for regular classroom evaluation and interpretation of evidence. Students come to know not only what they know, but how they know it through collaborative problem solving.
3) Provides opportunities for students to learn from and correct their own mistakes, and to learn from the successes and mistakes of others as they check and critique each others work.
4) Allows for the discussion of student-generated ideas rather than the teacher merely presenting information.
5) Engages students in a collaborative learning community.
6) Promotes strongly coherent conceptual understanding while decreasing traditional lecture.
7) Provides opportunities for students to teach one another.
Noted at the top of lists of skills necessary for the future of our students are collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and problem solving.
Large, group-sized whiteboards allow students to work on those skills as they learn algebra. A huge side benefit will be the money we save on buying chart paper.
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