6 Magnatag Whiteboard Systems School Administrators Find Most Useful

Our visual systems specialists at Magnatag frequently receive calls from school administrators asking for help on how to display, communicate, plan, and track everything from Student Progress, to Master Class and Course Schedules. With the help of whiteboards, students and staff are encouraged to come together in an effort to collaborate, ultimately resulting in better classroom cohesion. With such a variety of products to choose from, it can sometimes be difficult to decide what works best for you. Here is a brief overview of magnetic whiteboard systems that administrators tell us work best for them.

Student progress tracking:
“As a Principal I’d have to say that the coolest thing that this board has to offer me is the chance to just glace at the board and know how my students are performing. By creating a simple color coded system with the magnets you sent us, I can see which students are performing below level, average, or above level.”- Western NY Principal

Being able to quickly see each student’s strengths and weaknesses makes it easier to create and execute a successful classroom strategy. With the implementation of the student progress tracking boards, administrators and staff can easily highlight specific areas of focus that may require further development among students. Some educators have even gone as far as splitting the board into separate columns so the board displays in a similar manner as a bar graph, (They tell us being able to identify student needs at a glance is invaluable). This unique way of utilizing the student progress tracker is a wonderful way to demonstrate the effectiveness of specific education programs in the district.

Master classroom, course and teacher schedules:
“It’s the best planning tool we’ve ever had. The format makes it easy to check the availability of rooms. We use the magnetic cardholders. They keep the board neat and we color code activities by grade”-Guidance Director, TX

Magnetic master-class schedule boards allow school administration and guidance personnel to organize courses to be offered, the number of course sections for each course, and teacher and room assignments on a per-semester basis. Another benefit of the Master Class schedule is providing accountability during emergency situations by highlighting specific room assignments throughout the duration of a school day. School administrators tell us that having this purpose-built teacher and class-scheduling system set up with columns and rows serves as the easiest way to construct and display the master class schedule. Plus, our classroom schedules can be formatted to fit an entire years worth of data on a single dry erase surface!

Teacher observations and accountability:
“The board is extremely helpful, it saves us time in the weekly admin meetings by visually summarizing our teacher observation activity and objectives in one place. We used to keep individual walk through binders but they did not let us share information as easily as the board does. We color code the teacher magnets by department then rotate observation assignments through the administrative team so each admin takes a turn. We use the magnet circles to show the type of observation”-Principal Secretary, St. Louis

With just a glace at the board, administrators can keep track of their teacher observation efforts. This serves as a great way to track formal and drop-in observations. Another great utilization for this board is that it allows for administrators to correlate teaching methods alongside standardized testing scores, providing feedback that improves teacher performance. This feedback often allows administrators to determine whether or not a school should provide more resources to a particular teacher and their students.

School activity calendar:
“It is our master calendar! Parents love it and I know at a glance what is going on all the time. It gives me complete control; we put all our music programs, testing, and extra curricular activities on it. If it’s not on the board, then it’s not happening!”- Upstate NY Secretary for Principal

With over 15 unique variations of calendars to choose from, Magnatag helps make communicating school activities simple. Administrators commonly use this product in an effort to ensure that both visitors and staff are up-to-date on the latest school functions. Information displayed on the board includes facility usage, for both school and community events citywide. With a 365-day calendar readily available, student activity planning has never been more streamlined.

Athletic schedules:
“It’s great for making certain we don’t have conflicts. Our staff loves the way it visually answers hundreds of questions a day and shows exactly what we need to prepare for”- School Administrator, Maryland

Many athletic departments enjoy using our product as it allows for an easy-to-maintain schedule, so you always know which athletic facilities are in use during any moment of the day. Suddenly have to reschedule a practice due to weather restraints? No problem. Your athletic schedule chart will keep you informed as to when the next athletic facility will be available.

Bus and staffing schedules:
“We had decided that we needed to do something after we had learned that there were a few incidents where drivers had overslept or were late and no one knew that they weren't out on their routes. We found that with so many drivers in the district, it was just becoming too much to manage. Now with this board, each driver has to check in and out to let us know when they're out on their route. A red magnet on the board lets us know that we have to get someone else to cover right away. In our industry there really isn't anytime to spare”- Transportation Secretary, Ohio

These boards help transportation specialists track the deployment of each bus in the department’s roster. These dry erase boards are used to show standard routes, as well as aid in the scheduling of special afterschool events. Paired with the utilization of Magnatag’s reusable magnetic bus tracers, bus and staffing schedules are quickly becoming a staple for Magnatag’s academic-oriented products.

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Do you find any of these boards helpful? If so, feel free to let us know in the comments below how you use your Magnatag dry erase solution. For more boards like the one listed above, visit our site.