Okay, you've come around to how great mini whiteboards are, and now you want to use them in your class. But you're not sure how to go about doing it.
1a. How are you going to store them?
In my classroom, I have three very long rows (12 seats, 12 seats, 10 seats) and a "column" of lab benches along one side of the room. I have a basket for each row, on the lab bench, aligned with the row. In the basket there is one whiteboard per student, one whiteboard pen per student, and one eraser between two. When the boards start getting a bit grotty the students at the far end of the row get the short straw so each half term I swap which side of the room the baskets are so it's not always the same kids with the sad board.
1b. Build routines. How are students going to hand them out? How are students going to pack them away? This will be determined by how you've chosen to store them. For me, with my setup, I get the student at the end of each row to collect the basket. They then take one whiteboard, one pen, and one eraser and pass the basket down to their neighbour, who does the same thing, albeit without the eraser. The basket makes its way to the end of the row where it gets put aside, often on the floor. When it's time to pack up, the process happens in reverse, whiteboard, pen, eraser back in the basket, basket to your neighbour, student on the end puts the basket back on the side. I absolutely drilled this with my classes at the start of the year. We handed them out, we collected them back in again. Handed them out. Collected them in again. Over and over again. Until it was perfect. And then we used them. It was annoying, sure, but it paid off. The classes I drilled it with most are the ones who have the hand out smoothest.
2a. How do you want them to use the MWB?
I want my students to write their answer, hiding it from their neighbour, then hover their board face down just above the table so no one can see their answer (putting it face down on the table can scuff the ink and make it hard for me to read their answer). After I count down I want them to show me their answer. So that I can actually see all their answers, I want the front row to hold their board under their chin, the second row touching the top of their head, and the third row at arms length above their head. And don't wabble it because it's loud and I can't read your answer. This is where front-loading means of participation and routine building (again) come in handy. If I give my students the how of the instruction before the what of the instruction, I get the results I want. If I give the what before the how, half of them have done the what before I even get to the how. I've been told that numbering your instructions can make it easier to remember [although my early morning Googling isn't bringing up much and it's cold so I'd like to get this post written so I can put my hands back in my pockets!] But this means saying something like "☝️one, I want you to write your answer on your board, but you need to hide it from your neighbour, ✌️two, when you're finished, hover your board so no one can see your answer and it doesn't get smudged, ☝️✌️[there's no three fingers emoji] three, by holding your board under your chin/above your head/whatever show me your answer". Over time, as they build the routine, this can be compressed down to "☝️one, write, ✌️ two hover, ✌️☝️ three, show me"* Personally, I use an extra hand signal to remind students to hover their boards - two hands, pushing down in the air above the table. Much easier and quieter than saying "hover!"
3. Your bit
At this point you've got 30+ showing you their answers. What do you do? You look at them. Look first at the students who are likely to have found it tricky, those who will probably harbour misconceptions. If they've got it it's usually a fairly decent sign the rest have. Give a quick flick over the rest and make appropriate noises depending on if they're correct or not. Students will notice of you don't look at their board! NB: you're not actually reading all of their boards you're just looking at them. If you can read really quickly you might be able to read them all but in all likelihood you can't. You're better off just spotting a keyword and making the appropriate facial expressions!
Once you've got the data you need you can move on. Tell them what you want them to do - "okay, boards down, clean them" or "boards down, don't clean them" if you want to use their answers.
4. Pack up
I often leave the packing up to the end of the lesson because sometimes I don't know if I'll need to use the MWBs again, and they seem to pack up quicker when it's their break they're eating into if they take long, rather than "just" lesson time.
Anyway, find what works for you in your classroom, drill the routines, reap the rewards.
Have a picture of my commute:
* Shamelessly stolen from a CPD session by Adam Boxer.