Most teachers probably agree that schoolboards are extremely practical and versatile teaching instruments. At the time I taught mostly at the homes and workplaces of my pupils, I wanted a whiteboard I could easily take with me, preferably in my bag.
Finding the Solution
It took me quite a while to find the solution. I even thought of going to a scrapyard to get my hands on piece of white painted metal like from a refrigerator. Passing a woodwork store, I saw a piece of white laminate, and thought, of course, that's how simple it is. It is so obvious that I don't understand why I didn't think of it before.
I make them myself by cutting pieces of approximately A4 and A3 out of a sheet of white glossy laminate. No frame or backing. Just rounding of the corners and sanding the sides to get rid of the cutting sharp edges. Looking around the web, I found out that others came to pretty much the same idea, although for different reasons and they use them a bit differently. They use them as individual white boards.
For me, they are not individual white boards but small loose schoolboards which I place on the table. Normally I teach sitting around a table with my pupils, with boards and markers on the table. Who wants to write or draw something just gets them.
Pupils Like to Use the Whiteboards
At first, it was surprising for me to see how my pupils simply get a whiteboard, a pen and start writing or drawing.
Just like teachers now the benefits of whiteboards, they also know how difficult it can be to get a learner to leave the chair, go to the board and start writing or drawing on it.
With these small whiteboards the opposite is the case.
Most of the time neither I nor they feel a need to say or ask anything.
Sometimes new pupils may ask permission and I tell them that the boards and pens are class-commons, they are there to be used by anyone who wants to use them, whenever convenient.
Everything indicates that my pupils really like to use these small whiteboards.
