A good live lesson on a digital whiteboard feels like a good lesson at a real board: you explain, students work, and everyone leaves with something to revisit. The difference is that the board can do more of the work for you. Here is a structure that works for most subjects.
1. Prepare the board as pages, not one long canvas
Split the lesson into three to five pages — for example Introduction, Topic, Example, Exercise and Summary. Each page is its own infinite canvas, so you never lose your place scrolling, and students can see where the lesson is going.
Put the questions on the board before class. If you know where you will pause to check understanding, write the question there now.
2. Keep your answers next to the questions — privately
The hardest part of teaching from a shared screen is that everything you prepare is visible. On Inkwis you can turn on Private mode and write answers, prompts and reminders directly beside the questions. They live in your Private Layer: students’ devices never receive them, so there is nothing to discover by zooming or inspecting the page.
For content you want to show later — the worked solution, the definition — draw it publicly and choose Hide for reveal. When the class has had a go, press Reveal next and it appears for everyone at once.
3. Present the board, not your screen
Screen sharing sends a video of your screen: text goes blurry, students can’t zoom, and small handwriting is unreadable on a phone. When you press Present, students receive the board itself. They follow your view by default, can zoom in on what they need, and see sharp text on any device.
Students join with a short code or a link — they don’t need an account.
4. Let students work on the board — one at a time
Participation is what makes a lesson stick, but a board everyone can draw on at once quickly becomes noise. A better pattern:
- Students raise a hand when they want to show their working.
- You choose who goes next from the queue and give control.
- They solve the problem on the board while everyone watches; you can draw alongside them.
- You take control back whenever you want.
For quieter students, suggestions let anyone propose a note or a drawing that only you see first. Accept the good ones and they become part of the board.
5. Check understanding without leaving the board
A quick poll (multiple choice or yes/no, named or anonymous) tells you whether to move on. Results stay hidden while students vote, so early answers don’t sway the room. Questions from students collect in one place so you can answer them when it suits the lesson.
6. Record it, so the lesson keeps working
Press Record before you start. Afterwards, students get a replay — not a video, but the board itself, rebuilt moment by moment with your voice. They can scrub to the exact point where you explained the step they missed, zoom in, and read the transcript.
With Ask the Replay, a student can ask “when did we cover equivalent fractions?” and jump straight to the answer.
A simple checklist
- Pages for each part of the lesson.
- Answers and prompts in your Private Layer.
- Key content hidden for reveal.
- Present, with a join code for students.
- Hands up, give control, take it back.
- One poll at each checkpoint.
- Record, then share the replay.
Want to try it hands-on? Inkwis has short lessons inside the app that walk you through each of these steps on a practice board. Start free — the canvas is free forever, with six hours of live sessions to try with a real class.