Making their Mark: Whiteboarding and Problem Solving
The cost of 60 4-color sets of dry erase markers from Quill Corporation is $323, including shipping and <a target="new" href="http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm" onclick="g_openWindow('http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm', 300, 800, 'fulfillwindow');return false;">fulfillment</a>.
This year our science lab work has been enriched through the use of whiteboards. After completing an experiment, student teams analyze their findings using whiteboards, and then present these findings to the class. The discussion that follows models what happens in real science: a community of learners raises questions, share insights, and make suggestions that lead to greater understandings. After each presentation, students work individually on lab reports that build on they did as teams.
What is so exciting about the whiteboarding process is that students talk to each other about solving problems: how to present information in a clear manner; how to create a graph that shows their results; how to explain a finding in simple but convincing language. Mistakes are no deterrent: simply erase it and try again. A better way of conveying information doesn't have to be shelved because it means starting over. This allows team thinking to be fluid and open to possibilities. Creating a whiteboard is more than a report: it's a way for students to think about their lab work.
I received 3 class sets of whiteboards and packs of dry-erase markers after attending a National Science Foundation workshop last summer on whiteboarding in 8th grade physics. I purchased additional whiteboards for my two 7th grade classes and recently a new set of dry-erase markers with my own money. Used by 175 students, a class set of markers lasts about 6 weeks.
Whiteboarding has proved to be a wonderful experience in making science labs not just hands-on, but minds-on as well. I figure that 60 additional sets of dry-erase markers would carry us through the end of the next school year, and allow students to continue making their mark in science problem-solving.
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