Successful use of the whiteboard is a key component in classroom instruction. Just as students will have difficulty in your classroom if they cannot understand what you say, they will also have trouble if they cannot understand what you have written on the board. Although we do not want to encourage students to come late to class, it is important that late-comers are able to follow what’s on the board without disrupting the flow of the lesson.

1. Use colors to separate/ highlight key components in sentences. This may be as simple as putting all of the past tense verbs in green in an otherwise blue sentence. This will help the key component(s) to stand out and allow students to see a pattern/ what it is they need to focus on.

2. Highlight by underlining key components. This can be done in the same or a different color and serves the same purpose as above.

3. Separate your board into segments. Sometimes splitting it in half will be sufficient. Other times, you may find it useful to divide the board into quadrants.

4. Keep your writing neat and legible. Write in lower case because this is standard - it’s what students will see in books, magazines, newspaper articles etc. Writing that is all in upper case or even in cursive can be hard for some students to read.

5. Do not aim to write too high or too low. Use the sections of the board that are within easy reach. This will prevent you from writing on an angle and /or your writing from getting larger and smaller as you move along.