Using Vertical Non-Permanent Surfaces in the Primary Classroom

As a second-year teacher candidate, I was required to pursue an action research project as part of my PED3151 class. During my first year practicum, my associate teacher had recently learned about the use of vertical non-permanent surfaces (VNPS), and wanted to try using them in her grade 2 ETFI mathematics class. I, too, became interested in the topic, and therefore chose to focus on their use in a primary classroom for my action research project. To view a slideshow which outlines my action research project, click here

To find out more about VNPS, keep reading below!

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Vertical Non-Permanent Surfaces

Peter Liljedahl’s research surrounding problem solving in the mathematics classroom has become a topic of discussion among educators in recent years. Liljedahl’s work outlines the importance of productive struggle in reasoning and problem solving, and promotes the use of vertical non-permanent surfaces such as a whiteboard or chalkboard (Liljedahl, 2019).

Liljedahl observed that

“[w]hen students are in their desks it is easy for them to become anonymous, hidden, and safe – from participating and from contributing”

(Liljedahl, 2015, p. 16).

As teachers, we want to find ways to avoid our students “hiding” in plain sight. Enter VNPS.

The use of VNPS in mathematics classrooms has been found to:

• improve student engagement in the task and critical problem solving

• foster lively discussion

• encourage productive struggle, participation and persistence among students

(Liljedahl, 2019; Wipebook, 2019; Pearce, 2018)

For more on Liljedahl's work, see the references below, or check out this interview on the Making Math Moments That Matter podcast, hosted by Ontario educators Kyle Pearce and Jon Orr.

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References

Liljedahl, P. (2019). Institutional Norms: The Assumed, the Actual and the Possible In M. Graven, H. Venkat, A. Essien, & P. Vale (Eds.), Proceedings of the 43rd Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol 1) (pp. 1-16).. Pretoria, South Africa: PME.

Liljedahl, P. (2015, February 14). Building Thinking Classrooms [Electronic Document]. Retrieved from: http://peterliljedahl.com/wp-content/uploads/Building-Thinking-Classrooms-Feb-14-20151.pdf

Pearce, K. & Orr, J. (2019, April 22). Episode #21: The Thinking Classroom: An interview with Peter Liljedahl [Podcast]. Retrieved from: https://makemathmoments.com/episode21/

Pearce, K. (2018, July 11). Get Students on Task and Engaged with Whiteboards [Blog]. Retrieved from: https://tapintoteenminds.com/whiteboards/

Wipebook. (2019, July 30). Three Ways Vertical Non-Permanent Surfaces (VNPS) Are Evolving Classroom Learning [Blog]. Retrieved from: https://wipebook.com/blogs/news/vnps-hard-at-work