DEFINITION:

A square or oblong piece of thin wood or other material used for some special purpose.


HOW TO USE THE BOARD?
Do you have a blackboard, a whiteboard or an IWB? Whatever type of board you have in your
classroom it is important to be organized and to put yourself in your students' shoes for a
moment. What do they see when they look at your board? In this article we will consider ways
of getting the best use out of your board and perhaps give suggestions for exploiting your board
in a different way.
a) Board basics

Your students should have a clear,
uninterrupted view of the board.
Be careful that you don't block
learners sitting at the sides of the
room. When you write something
on the board move away quickly
so that students can see what you
have written.


Especially with classes of Young
Learners you need to develop the
ability to write on the board with
eyes in the back of your head.
Don't turn your back on the class
for too long. Good teachers have
the ability to write on the board
while still keeping a sharp eye on
their students!


Write clearly on the board and
make sure that you have
written words/text big enough
for everyone to see from the
back of the class. With chalk
and blackboard make sure
that you wash the board often
so that the writing stays clear.
With a whiteboard make sure
that the pen you are using is in
a color that everyone can read
- black or blue are best.


Practice writing in straight lines
across the board, particularly if
you have students who are not
used to Roman script. In some
languages letters may look slightly
different or handwriting styles may
be different. Point out the
differences to your students and
make sure they can read clearly
what you have written.


Check what you write as you
write. Many students have visual
memories so we must be careful
about accuracy of spelling and
grammar, especially if we intend
students to copy it down in their
notebooks to learn.

Check with your students that
they are ready for you to clean
the board. If you are waiting
for some students to finish
copying or doing an exercise
don't leave the others
twiddling their thumbs. Ask
them to make a personalized
example or start the warm-up
for the next exercise orally.



b) Organizing your board
If your board is messy and untidy then what your students write in their notebooks will be
messy too.









c) What we can do with the board
We can use the board in many ways in the classroom, not just for writing up new vocabulary.
You can use your board for giving instructions, reinforcing oral instructions. For example, just
writing up the page number and the exercise on the board in a large class saves a lot of
repetition! When doing group work or project work use the board to organize your class - write
up a list of who is doing what in each group.











It is a good idea to divide your board into sections. Have one part for use during the lesson which
can be cleaned off and re-used. Use another part for important information which can stay there
for the whole lesson. For example, you could write up a list of the basic aims/activities for the
lesson so that your students know what is coming. Tick items off as they are achieved during the
class. At the end you can review the lesson aims for students to evaluate what they have learnt.
For older learners you could write up other important information - key grammar points or
vocabulary needed for the lesson, or test dates etc. With Very Young Learners it is better to
write this kind of information at the top of the board. Leave the lower part empty for you and
the students to write on. Remember they probably won't be able to reach the top half of the
board.

-You can write up
messages,
exercises, short
texts or items for
correction from
oral activities.
Colored chalks or
pens are very
useful for writing
up dialogue
parts.

-Use your board to provide
records of new words,
structures, how a word is
used. Or brainstorm new
vocabulary with the class
in a spider gram. With
more advanced classes
you can provide a record
of a class discussion, or
give help with planning for
writing e.g. for exam
tasks.


d) Displaying
You can use the large surface of your board to display all sorts of items - posters, pictures and
flashcards. Use large pictures for class oral work but have students come out to the board to
point to or talk about various items. Magazine pictures can be used for a variety of oral
activities. Flashcards can be used for many games apart from simple matching activities.











e) Playing games
We can play many different games using just the board. Teachers need a repertoire of board
games as warmers, fillers or lesson-ending activities which require no preparation.
.









-Try to encourage students to come out to the board to choose select,
order or describe pictures. All of these will make your classroom more
interactive and avoid too much teacher talking time.
-You can display other items such as authentic materials - e.g.
maps, adverts, photos, as well as learners' own work. Remember
that you don't have to stick to the board.
-You could display items around the room, particularly if they are not
large enough for the whole class to see at the front. Ask your
students to move around and look at the materials.
Apart from the
traditional games of
hangman, and
noughts and
crosses (answering
questions for O or
X) you can play
many others
Pictogram' can be
played with all levels
(Draw a picture and
guess the word). With
younger learners
spelling races are very
popular.
Word games are
an excellent way of
settling classes and
revising
vocabulary. Use
anagrams or
jumbled sentences
or for Very Young
Learners words
with missing
vowels.

f) Using visuals
You don't have to be a genius at drawing to use pictures and drawings with your students. In
fact, the worse the drawings are the more fun! Try to master basic stick men and faces with
expressions, especially if your students are young learners.







g) Final tips

Try to make your board as interactive as possible.






-Ask students to come out to draw, write, present
or even work. You could allow one group to work
at the board when doing a group task.

-Use your board as support for your voice - to
give instructions, examples and feedback.


-You can use board activities as an aid to
discipline - settle a noisy class for example by
giving a quick copying exercise or word game.
Write a child's name up on the board if they are
talking too much instead of just telling them off.



-Your board is an organizational tool too. Use it
as a memory store for things to do or keep you
on track with a lesson. Remember the more
organized you are on your board, the more
organized your students will be too.

-Drawing pictures is an essential skill for
explaining texts and stories to our students.
Practice story-telling with basic pictures on
the board. Remember you can ask your
students out to the board to draw too - this is
a fun activity at whatever level. You can
create picture stories with your students and
use these for further oral or written work.
-Other visuals which are useful to draw are
large-scale pictures such as maps, a plan of
a town, a plan of a house/school/new
building etc. These could be used with stick
on cut outs to provide a wealth of language
practice.


THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BOARD
First, when the teacher writes clearly the learners will have a great chance to assimilate the
lesson better. There will, also, be no confusion among the learners. They will write down as
clearly as the board is. Hence, there will be no SPELLING problems.
Second, the learners will habituate themselves with CLEARNESS and TIDINESS. They will
care for their notebooks. How can a teacher blame his / her learners for untidiness or
indifference while he / she is untidy?
Third, the board is the teacher's FACE. It reflects the teacher's seriousness and assiduity.
In the classroom, the board has three-meter approximately. We have to divide it into three
parts the first of which is devoted to the notes, the utterances and / or the structure rules. The
second part is left blank as a reserve for more notes or utterances. I often need it for extra
materials. The last part is used for further explanations; sometimes for drawings, crosswords,
quizzes, or puzzles...
I have to use different colors when writing. The board looks colorful and attractive. This
fostered the learners to care for their copy-books that's why I am thinking of holding a school
exhibition for them. I always us the BLUE pen for the known words, the RED for the new lexis
and the GREEN for the affixations or the suffixations. Look at this example:
E.g. * Do (in red) you like (in blue) lettuce (in red)?
- Yes, I (in blue) do (in red).
Here the focus is, grammatically, on the auxiliary verb (do) and, lexically, on the word
(lettuce) because among the objectives of my lesson the interrogative form and the
acquisition of new lexis related to fruit and vegetable.
E.g. * Do (in red) es (in green) your brother / sister like (in blue) pepper (in red)?
- No, he / she (in blue) does (in red) not (in green).
Here, again, the focus is on the interrogative and the negative forms, and on the new word
"pepper".
Thus, both grammar / structure and vocabulary run smoothly and naturally.
To sum up, here are some tips that you may find helpful in using the board.
DIVIDE YOUR BOARD (at least two parts).
WRITE MORE CLEARLY.
USE DIFFERENT COLOURS to draw the attention of your students to specific
remarks/ notes.
MOVE TO THE BACK OF THE CLASSROOM FROM TIME TO TIME to see how your
board looks like.







WHAT IS THE INTERACTIVE BOARD?
An interactive board is a piece of hardware that looks much like a standard board but it
connects to a computer and a projector in the classroom to make a very powerful tool. When
connected, the interactive board becomes a giant, touch-sensitive version of the computer
screen.
Instead of using the mouse, you can control your computer through the interactive board
screen just by touching it with a special pen (or, on some types of boards, with your finger).
Anything that can be accessed from your computer can be accessed and displayed on the
interactive whiteboard, for example Word documents, PowerPoint presentations,
photographs, websites or online materials.
Using special software included with the interactive whiteboard, you can also interact with
images and text projected on the board: rearranging them, changing their size, color, etc.
This offers a much more interactive experience than using a standard whiteboard or using a
data projector alone.

SMART Board, ActivBoard, eBeam, Mimio and Webster are some of the most widely used at
this time. There are some resources for interactive whiteboards. Some are specific to a
certain brand, but the ideas can still be used on most of them. We arent specifically
recommending a certain brand. Some teachers of the deaf like the SMART Board because
they dont have to use a digital pen to write on the board, hindering their signing. Some of the
more portable systems like the Mimio and the eBeam are good for more transient
classrooms. The ActivBoard has a lot of built-in templates and resources; but there are
probably more online resources for the SMART Board (at this time).
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE INTERACTIVE BOARD IN THE CLASSROOM
Interactive whiteboards are used in many schools as
replacements for traditional whiteboards, or video/media
systems such as a DVD player and TV combination. Even where
traditional boards are used the IWB often supplements them by
connecting to a school network digital video distribution system.
In other cases, IWBs interact with online shared annotation and
drawing environments such as interactive vector based
graphical websites.
Potential issues
Permanent markers and use of regular dry erase markers can create problems on some
interactive whiteboard surfaces, because interactive whiteboard surfaces are most often
melamine, which is a porous, painted surface that can absorb marker ink. Punctures, dents
and other damage to surfaces are also a risk. Some educators have found that use of
interactive whiteboards reinforces an age old teaching method teacher speaks, students
listen. This teaching model is contrary to many modern instructional models.
In addition, interactive whiteboards allow teachers to record their instruction and post the
material for review by students at a later time. This can be a very effective instructional
strategy for students who benefit from repetition, who need to see the material presented
again, for students who are absent from school, for struggling learners, and for review for
examinations. Brief instructional blocks can be recorded for review by students. They will see
the exact presentation that occurred in the classroom with the teachers audio input. This can
help transform learning and instruction.
OTHER WAYS TO USE INTERACTIVE WHITEBOARDS IN THE CLASSROOM
Save lessons to present to students who were absent
Use the built in maps to teach continents, oceans, countries, or states and capitals.
Present presentations created by student or teacher.
Have students create e-folios including samples of their work and narration
Teach whole group computer or keyboarding skills
Brainstorming
Take notes directly into PowerPoint presentations.
Reinforce skills by using online interactive web sites