CHALKBOARD – SKILLS FOR EFFECTIVE

TEACHING AND LEARNING

PROF.B.V.APPARAO
NIT WARANGAL
Discovery of Black Board

• James Pillans (1800 )

Head master in a school in Edinburg, Scotland

• George Baron, Maths Teacher USA(1801)

Blackboard –The best contributor to learning

“The inventor or introducer

of the blackboard
deserves to be ranked among the best
contributors to learning,
if not among the
best benefactors of mankind.”

-- Josiah Bumstead, 1841

Why is the Chalkboard effective?

• It is a medium of interaction between teacher & students.

It is a Teaching Aid

• Ease of presentation

• Self Pacing possible

• Allows flexibility and spontaneity

• Student Involvement

• Organization of the lesson, Building up the story

• Notes - taking by the students

• To develop students’ drawing skills

• Lesson Coherence

• Helps structured Teaching Style

• Gain attention and interest of students in the subject

• Retention of the subject

• Helps in classroom management

Examples from different subjects

• Maths: Working out problems step by step by active participation of

students

• Engineering Graphics: Explain the skills of engineering drawing

• Electrical engineering: Drawing electrical circuits

• Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology: Drawing flow charts of

processes

• Computer Programing: Teaching programming languages, Theory of

computation
• Physics and many other subjects: Derivations

• Chemistry: Stoichiometry, chemical equations, chemical

formulae, structures, Mechanism of reactions

• English: Grammar, New vocabulary

Some reasons to use the Chalkboard:

• To plan, control and pace the interaction and discussion

• As a work space for brain storming, problem solving, practice and

discussion

• For visual presentation of the course material

• To compare and contrast different theories and analyses

• To consolidate results or conclusions from discussion

Types of matter to be written on the Chalkboard:

• Outline of the plan for the day’s class

• New terms and definitions

• Statements of hypotheses

• Examples(names), diagrams, graphs, tables

• Formulae, equations, derivations

• Working out the solutions to problems

• Concepts and ideas that advance the discussion

Planning the use of chalkboard in the class
• Erase the chalkboard completely at the start of the class.

• Use zones on the board for specific purposes

For eg; Left edge of the board for the outline of the class plan
Right edge for writing brief statements of conclusions
Middle zone (large area) for developing the unknown lesson
content based on the interaction in the class

• Use zones consistently in a class and erase the matter zone wise

• Think about when you will erase a particular zone. Don’t erase a
zone if you will need the material in that zone again later

• Plan before hand when and where you will write a particular material
Mechanics of using the chalkboard

• Write legibly with letter size large enough to be read clearly by any
student sitting in the farthest bench in the class

• Posture important: Stand at 45 degrees to the board

As you write, students must be able to note down
Move your body, as you write
Bend at knees when writing low

• Coloured Chalks: On a green glass chalkboard, yellow chalks are

good for headings. White chalks are good for all other material.
Don’t use more than three colours

• Underlining: Underline main headings and sub headings

Mechanics

Rectangular boxes: Put most important conclusions, final

equation of a derivation rectangular boxes, definitions in
rectangular boxes.
Students will find it easy to understand when they refer to
the notes during revision later.

Abbreviations: use abbreviations of names only after you

introduced them in full form

Writing and explanation must go hand in hand

Tools for drawing shapes ,figures etc

Ruler, Compass and other devices to draw

drawings, different shapes, graphs, diagrams
etc. when necessary

Organize and practice using chalkboard in

advance

Use a pointer while discussing the chalkboard

material

Present the material simply and briefly

Quality of Chalks and how to use them

Dust less chalks

Holding the chalks

Enough chalks in the class room including colored ones

Quality of dusters
Chalkboard set-up

• Chalkboard size:

• Sliding Boards:

• Distance between Chalkboard and first row:

• Periodical painting of the board:

How not to use the Chalkboard

• Do not write large procedures or descriptions

• Do not write irrelevant information

• Do not over write

• Do not scribble

• Do not stand in front of the material what you just wrote

• Do not erase the material on the board too soon after you wrote