9 Comments
May 9, 2023Liked by Craig Barton

We are very lucky to have write-on whiteboard desks... probably the best logistical/learning/thinking/sharing decision we ever made... consider if you are buying new furniture - students get so used to it, there is not need to prompt them most of the time!

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author

Nice! They sound great. How do you ensure you also see the kids' work? I guess they could still have mini whiteboards alongside. Thanks for sharing!

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May 9, 2023Liked by Craig Barton

They do have the minis, but weirdly we seem to seldom use them... Maybe I should see the desk as a 'draft' and the minis as a re-write/re-draft? Will try it and see. Thanks!

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May 12, 2023Liked by Craig Barton

Another way I have tried this idea is, as many classrooms have students sat in pairs, the left sidedoes one question and the right side another. The questions are similar. They think about their own question, write on their boards and then share with their partner their thinking and processing regarding their own question and then discussion can follow where students share their thoughts on each others question.

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author

That's really nice!

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May 11, 2023Liked by Craig Barton

Maths department very keen on including more opportunity for students to write down their thoughts to get them out of their head and down on paper. Easier for students to compare and keep track of their thoughts. Also keen on adjusting the need for a pair share based on who has the right answer and what misconceptions there are. Again, a way to elicit information from the students. Sticky note for 'Craig's weekly wisdom' has gone up on my teaching wall!

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Hi Craig, thanks for this tip, the seven ways to make TPS even more effective. In my class, I start call this "Write Pair Share" or sometimes "Write Raise Share" instead of Think, because a lot of times, I have seen students just trying to be busy thinking and not thinking at all. So by starting with Writing right away, I can see if they are really thinking or not.

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Yes, the dreaded Busy Tricking! I really like making "Raise" explicit in the process. Thanks for sharing!

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Oct 29·edited Oct 29

Hi

Love the whiteboards for revision. With younger year group I do merit questions( the answer is usually 0 after a corect pairing or identifying 0 as part of the product hidden în the .../ or 1 after cross- cancelling fractions). When wrong answers are shown I use 'thumbs down' , then I do a last call to give them the opportunity to ' change their minds' by asking them to find an error in their calculation or to search deeper for patterns.

Very useful article!

Thanks for sharing, I will carry on browsing!

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