Boardwork Tips And Ideas

Visual learners are often at an advantage in most types of education because so much is written and board work is no exception. Planning ahead so you have a good idea of what’s going to go on the board will generally lead to better organization and more readable boardwork.

Some teachers aim to write on the board once and leave it up for the duration of the class; while, if this is possible it’s not a bad idea, I’d find it hard and wouldn’t want to limit myself in what I put up in order to fit it all in one go.

Ted Karma has some good tips over at TEFL Bootcamp section of TEFL Daddy, like considering how visible the board is to all students and checking with them before you erase anything.

Some teachers keep a vocab list on the board which they update throughout class – this may include new words, useful words, and words which are mispronounced.

First off, it’s often good for students to hear something and see it, and second, this is a good concrete/visual way of representing “progress” or “what they’ve learned” in that particular class.

Some teachers use some kind of code system, which, beyond a few basics, seems incredibly complex to me – any time you write an incorrect sentence on the board, use red (this one I can handle), use green for verbs, blue for new vocab words, etc. If you are teaching the same level and the same lesson class after class in a day, maybe, but I’d find it too hard to keep straight in my head. I personally aim for something like “use different colors for different types of boardwork.”

Regarding illustrations, pictures and artwork, check out Drawing For ESL Teachers if you have any concerns.