Individual white boards are an extremely versatile instructional tool in both face-to-face and virtual settings.  Teachers can pose a broad range of questions and prompts for students, who indicate their responses using dry erase markers.  

As with the vast majority of opportunities to respond, a teacher should allow ample processing time for students to respond to the question or prompt.  Remember that there may be great disparity in the amount of time that various students require to scribe an answer onto their boards.  

It is also important to ask students to all reveal their responses in unison.  Otherwise, your quickest few students will hold up their responses and the rest of the class will divert focus from their own responses.

In all of my years in the field of education I have yet to meet a student who was not interested in responding with a personal white board.  If given their choice, most teachers would acquire a classroom set of white boards and dry erase markers.  The problem is that it is not always within our budget to do so. 

Individual white boards seem to cost anywhere between $4 and $10 each, depending on where you get them.  That doesn’t sound too bad until you realize that you need a set of 20 or 30 of them for your class.  Don’t fret, dear reader- I have collected a number of great ideas over the years from some very crafty teachers.  Below are 7 excellent teacher hacks for inexpensively acquiring white boards for your students.  

Dollar Store Paddles

If you can afford it, the simplest method is to order dry erase paddles or boards from your local dollar store.  Dollar Tree sells these paddles in bulk.  It also feels entirely more reasonable to ask families to buy supplies that they can find at their local dollar stores.

Three Ring Binder

It is likely that you and/or your students have a spare three ring binder in a closet or on a shelf.  As long as you find one with the plastic covering, it will serve as a great dry erase board.

Lamination

If you laminate a white piece of paper or card stock, you will have an instant 2-sided white board.  Beware of red dry erase markers if you choose this option- they tend to stain.

Sheet Protector

Similar to the lamination idea, simply put a sheet of light colored paper or card stock in a sheet protector and you will be ready to go!

Video Game, Bluray, or CD Cases

This is one of my absolute favorite teacher hacks.  Most families will have these cases in their homes.  Simply replace the existing labels with white paper and you will have a fully functioning dry erase board.

Hand-Held Mirror

Yes, this will absolutely work.  The hardest part will be getting your students’ parents to trust that the dry erase markers won’t stain the mirror.

Plastic Disposable Plates

This is a great option for families who have extra disposable plates in their cupboards.  

There you have it- Seven sensational ideas for helping your students acquire free or inexpensive white boards.  Now it is up to you to come up with engaging instruction that will allow students to enjoy using them.