Hello Elizabeth,

hello everybody!

I would like to comment upon the teacher's usage of the bord in the classroom. It is very important in teaching. Here, in Tunisia, all INSPECTORS take the use of board into consideration while evaluating teachers.

I personally think that it reflects the teacher's mastery of the classroom and in most cases-where there's a shortage of aids and tools used within the classroom- it is responsible for the success of a lesson / a teacher or for the total failure. How?

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 my my classroom I have an about three-meter white board. I 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 always use different colours when writing. The board looks colourful 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:

 1)

                  * 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. 

2)

                   * 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 spicific remarks/ notes.

                    + MOVE TO THE BACK OF THE CLASSROOM FROM TIME TO TIME to see how your board looks like.

Finally, I wish you good luck.

I agree with some of your ideas. Especially our boards should be divided into several sections. That may be easy for students to realize some points and take down notes effectively. But I have a question. If we use coloured chalk very often, how about the time? So I think we are required to combine other materials in classroom together with blackboards, such as type-recorder, multi-media...

That is my own idea. Thank you again for your share. It is really useful.

I personally feel the use of the board has to be kept to the bare minimum. As a teacher, if you use the board extensively, there is every danger, that the class will go out of control. You need to maintain continuous eye contact with your listeners and keep moving around to ensure that the students are on their toes. Also make it a point, to pick up students randomly, and ask them to explain something which you discussed a few minutes back. It can be a short question or it could also be something not related with what you are teaching right now. Set this culture for the class.

It is a very powerful and effective method, because the students will be on their toes and pay full attention. A blackboard according to me is a hindrance, as far as the English Language is concerned.

Unless and until it is absolutely essential, which only you can decide, do away with the black\white board.