Vertical White Boards (VWBs) Increase Individualized Instruction

So here's what I've noticed 

That I LOVE about using my vertical white boards.

The individualized instruction has totally INCREASED!!!

As I meander around the room,

I am able to address each group's individual misguided thinking.  :)

Making their instruction personalized and timely.

In the past, I would try to address these things with the whole class.

This was rarely as effective as I was hoping.

Not every student needed this additional instruction.

Off task behavior would start to surface.

Plus, the very student(s) that needed this reteaching

Might disengage as the whole group was made aware of this gap in knowledge.

Now, as clarification, if I see the same misunderstanding board after board after board,

At that point, it might be best to address the whole group in the sake of time.

Using their boards as a springboard for the discussion,

Everyone has an iron in the fire for moving their thinking.

This is usually VERY effective for unsticking the stuck groups.

Let's go back to individualizing instruction

And the example that played out in my room yesterday.

The 8th grade standard we were working on was calculating slope.

As I walked my room,

I was finding hurdles that would stop my kids in their tracks.

First, students didn't know how to graph coordinate points.

This totally derailed the concept of checking their work.

So...a quick mini tour of the coordinate grid system was in order.

Second, I was noticing students struggling with subtracting negative numbers.

As this was something I anticipated already in August,

I was surprised that after our teaching at the beginning of the year

The concept was still not being able to be applied with mastery.

Ok.

Nevermind.

I wasn't too surprised.

Students have struggled with subtracting negative numbers since the beginning of time.

But I was disappointed that all our efforts to battle this in August,

Didn't work.

More work is needed.

And another stumbling block popped up with just a handful of students.

Equivalent fractions.

Students were finding the slopes

But if they got 4/8, they were not recognizing it was the same thing as 1/2.

No wonder I was tired by the end of the day!

Not only was our focus on slope,

But I was making decision after decision how to effectively re-teach these concepts 

To help my students move around the gaps in their learning. 

With the quiz over slope today,

Our measuring stick at the end of the lesson was me asking,

"Where is your confidence factor knowing that you get to show me what you know tomorrow?"

For the students that applied themselves,

Reflected on what they didn't know,

And thought through my re-teaching efforts,

They reported higher confidence factors

Than the students who had not been engaged or reflective in their learning.

Thankfully, with how my Building Thinking Classroom is evolving,

This was not that many students.

Most students walked out more confident then they had walked in!