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Science can be messy, and learning and engaging in scientific work requires iteration. Often, students shy away from entry into science making, whether it be planning/reworking an experiment or designing a model, precisely because it can be so messy. It doesn't always click for them that, as learners, we all start somewhere and then continuously rework and revise what we have to cultivate scientific learning. Initial scribbles, continuous eraser marks, and rewriting are what science learning looks like. Integrating whiteboards into my classroom is a way I can provide my students with a MUTABLE surface and COMMUNAL work space on which they can feel safer and less self-doubtful to either 1.) get their group's initial ideas recorded and work from there and 2.) present to the rest of the class their group's ideas with a focus on the PROCESS of developing them. Whiteboards activate students into action! Placed atop student groups' desk, this generous gift would get students on their feet and more awake. Students often find it more fun to write on whiteboards (they can use different colors, play the role of teacher, etc). Students who shy away from speaking in front of the class can take more ownership of the space of their whiteboard and contribute to their group's project. They are also a great way to make learning visible and for me to continuously keep ALL my students accountable to the wonderful work I know they can do. I will ask my students to use whiteboards for classmate collaboration, from responding to warm-ups and designing student-made models of biological phenomena to revising experimental strategies and presenting their findings after a lab.
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