Show-Me Boards
With Show-Me Boards, you ask a question that all students are expected to write a response to on mini-whiteboards, holding these up for you to see when told.
Why use this technique?
Show-Me Boards:
Encourage all students to think.
Give all students time to think.
Encourage all students to commit to a specific answer (even if this is a question mark, this can be formatively valuable).
Make the thinking of all students visible, so you can respond (either in the moment or at some point in the future).
Example
In a maths lesson…
Teacher: ‘On show-me boards, I’d like to see the first five multiples of four. Hold your board up when you are ready.’
The teacher scans the room and waits for boards to start to go up. As they do this, they make comments to individuals.
Teacher: [To student A.] ‘That’s perfect.’ [To student B.] ‘Nearly – but you’ve missed one out. Keep thinking.’ [To student C.] ‘No, those are multiples of two. Have another go.’
Teacher: [To the class.] ‘Okay, thanks everyone. I saw most of you got that right, but there was one common mistake: a lot of you forgot that four is a multiple of four. Don’t forget that the first multiple of any number is the number itself. Let’s check you’ve got that. On your show-me boards, I’d like to see the first five multiples of seven. Keep your boards down this time until I ask everyone to hold them up together.’
Notes and tips
Writing or drawing
Sometimes, it can be useful to get students to write responses on Show-Me Boards. Other times, a drawing might be more appropriate. For example, you might say, ‘On show-me boards, show me what you think electricity looks like’. The drawings students produce will give you invaluable formative information about what students understand, including in relation to misconceptions they might have.
Shy students
Show-me boards can be a great tool for helping shy students to contribute without necessarily having to speak in front of their peers.
When to hold up boards
It is a matter of preference as to whether you want students to hold boards up as they are ready or whether you want everyone to wait and hold them up together. Some people argue that if you let students do this as they are ready, some will cheat by looking at other students’ boards. That might be true, but staggering boards going up can be useful if the teacher wants to comment on what’s written on individual boards or ask students to amend incorrect answers. In any case, over time you should encourage students to see the importance of showing evidence of their own understanding, rather than copying a peer’s correct (or incorrect) answer.
Collaborative learning
Sometimes, you might want to ‘borrow’ a board from a particular student and use this as a specific example from which to make teaching points. For example, you might say to a student, ‘Is it okay for me to use this board to make a few teaching points?’ Assuming the student agrees, you can talk to the class about what is on the board. For example, you might say, ‘Pay particular attention to [this] – that’s exactly how it should be done’ or ‘Just watch out for [this] – I saw quite a few of you write that, but it’s not quite right.’
Focused reflection
How well do you currently use this technique?
Is it a technique you will focus on developing?
If so, what are the key features you will focus on (things to do, and not do)?