This is what my board layout (and the back of my students’ heads!!) looks like, it’s a comforting routine – for the students and myself to fill it out at the start of every lesson, day and date goes in top right hand corner, a ponder* in the top left, what we did last lesson on the left side and today’s objectives at the top.
Under this “title” go the various phases, and homework goes on the right, with new vocab added below as we go along.
Writing it up at the start gives everyone a few moments to get into English learning mode, it gives me a few minutes to remember which group I’m with – especially on a day when I’m teaching back to back all morning and/or afternoon.
It also avoids overwhelm, everyone knows where the various information they need can be found, and thanks to the activity plan we know where we are in the lesson, and when it will finally be over!
Some students like to take a photo at the end of class, either because they have visual preferences (we do lots of mind maps in the central part!) or because they find writing notes or copying too much of a challenge.
* A ponder you ask? That’s the subject for another day!
What about you, do you have a particular layout you stick to?
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Oh, I love this post! My board’s a mess, every single time. And it’s not that I am not aware, I am! But somehow I manage to forget how important a well-structured, neat board must be for students. I will try harder, and post a picture of a successful board once I get to that 😉
It was when I started being more aware of students with learning differences that I realised how distracting it can be. I had one student who couldn’t concentrate if there was the slightest dot on the board that wasn’t in its place.
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