Post by Yash Dave, Session Lead, Scotch Plains Library
I started using whiteboards in my OneInMath sessions because they really helped me when I was learning math myself. In school whiteboards were a constant tool used in school. Being able to write things out and quickly erase mistakes on a whiteboard made concepts much easier to understand. I wanted to see whether our students would have a better learning experience with the implementation of whiteboards.
Rather than using large classroom whiteboards, we introduced small personal-sized whiteboards so that students could use them right at their tables. After bringing whiteboards into the sessions, I noticed a big change in how students participated. More students began actively working, and were able to show their thinking, fix mistakes, and build confidence as they practiced. The new method we implemented at the Scotch Plains Library uses whiteboards to introduce new material and OneInMath sheets for homework, along with repetitive in-class practice for skills such as carrying over and multiplication.
The Use of whiteboards has also made learning more interactive; students are able to show their work instead of simply watching us do the problems. Research such as 5 Proven Ways Interactive Whiteboards Improve Learning Outcomes shows that active tools help students stay engaged and improve retention, which matched exactly what I was seeing in the classroom.
Overall, whiteboards have made our OneInMath sessions more hands-on. The attached photos show students practicing problems in class with the tutors and me. It has been really rewarding to see their confidence build over time.
I would also like to thank the Scotch Plains Library librarians for helping us obtain the whiteboards and for supporting this new implementation, and acknowledge the support of tutors Pushan Raghavendra, Sid Verma, and Ivan Zubrinic who have been helpful in the new implementation.
