Frequent Checks for Understanding

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“Does that make sense?” has passed over my lips so many times in my classroom.  I often get nods or grunts, the occasional question.  I have been guilty of this half-hearted check for understanding too many times.  Oftentimes students will simply stay quiet, because they are too confused, too embarrassed to ask, or they think they get it, but they don’t (Fisher & Frey, 2014).  This doesn’t give me a real look at what my students understand and may lead to gaps in understanding that will show up much later in instruction or even life.  Checking for understanding can enhance student learning and teach good study skills in the process, showing students that as I am checking their understanding, they should check their own (Fisher & Frey, 2014).  Goodwin and Hubble (2013) suggest that these checks be done every 10 to 15 minutes in class to enhance learning.

So what quick checks can I start using today to check for student understanding?  Here are my top five picks for the 2020 school year:

  1. Hand Signals

    Students respond to a concept or question with signals of understanding like a thumbs up or down, waving for a question (Regier, 2012).  Teachers can also create a scale of understanding for students, ie. one finger means “I don’t understand;” five fingers means “I am an expert and could teach this to others” (TeachingChannel, 2011).

  2. Exit/Entrance Tickets

    These are written responses to questions about learning that happened that day, or the day before (Regier, 2012).  This will help in planning the direction of the next class to close any gaps in understanding.  This can be done on paper, but could be digital too taking advantage of a digital platform like Padlet or Polleverywhere.

  3. Four Corners/Move to Where You Are

    Students move to the corner of the room that represents their level of understanding, ie. corner one is “need’s help” and corner four is “I got this” (Regier, 2012).  This movement could also represent a physical quiz of sorts.  If each corner is an option for a multiple choice question it will be a much more active way of assessing knowledge.  Adding movement into class strengthens learning, improves retrieval of information and memory, and improves learner morale and motivation (Jensen, 2005). 

  4. Think, Pair/Group, Share

    Students think of their individual response to a question or idea then share with a partner or group.  Several groups are called on to say what they shared out loud (Regier, 2012).  Research has shown that educational experiences that are active, social and student-owned lead to deeper learning (Center for Teaching Innovation, n.d.).  Allowing students to share ideas then share back is a great check of understanding or misconceptions.

  5. Journal/Blog/Vlog

    Students record in a journal an entry surrounding what they understand about a topic (Regier, 2012).  This has long been a standard in classrooms, but with the advent of technology, these entries can be made via blog or vlog.  This is a great way for differentiating for students that are not as strong as writers as well.  Using video or technology can also motivate students that are not as excited about pencil and paper.

These formative assessments should allow me to check understanding in my students.  So, then what?  What if all, most, a few, or even one student does not understand?  Here is the important step of feed-forward.  Taking the information gleaned from the checks and doing something with it is of utmost importance.  Here's what can be done for each instance:

  • Everyone in the class doesn’t understand.

Reteach.  It is that simple.  Consider what went wrong the first time or how you can chunk the material differently so that students can understand.  For reteaching to be effective, it must focus on the omissions and errors in student thinking (Marzano, 2010).  Don’t be embarrassed to have to reteach, remember the goal is mastery and understanding.

  • Most in the class don’t understand.

This could be an opportunity to reteach to the whole class.  If most of the class doesn’t understand it may not be a bad idea to go back.  However, collaboration can help here too.  Consider grouping students that understand the material with those who don’t, making the process beneficial to both.

  • A few in the class don’t understand.

Here we can use the power of small group instruction.  Perhaps I as a teacher could take the group that doesn’t understand and do some guided instruction with them.  Guided instruction is the strategic use of questions and prompts for students (Fisher & Frey, 2014) and would be a perfect tool for small group work on content for a few students.

  • One student doesn’t understand.

It is time for a one on one interview and work.  I can look at what the student doesn’t understand and work on differentiating the material so that they do. Content, process, or products can be differentiated for student learning (Fisher & Frey 2014).  Perhaps they need the information in a graphic form or something else.  Only knowing your student and finding out what is being missed will solve the problem.

References

Center for Teaching Innovation. (n.d.). Collaborative Learning [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://teaching.cornell.edu/teaching-resources/engaging-students/collaborative-learning

Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2014). Ch. 1: Why check for understanding? In Checking for understanding: Formative assessment techniques for your classroom (2nd ed.).  ASCD. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/115011/chapters/Why-Check-for-Understanding%C2%A2.aspx

Goodwin, B., & Hubble, E. R. (2013). The 12 touchstones of good teaching: a checklist for staying focused every day. ASCD, McREL International.

Jensen, E. (2005). Chapter 4. Movement and Learning. In Teaching with the Brain in Mind, 2nd Edition. ASCD. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/104013/chapters/Movement-and-Learning.aspx

Marzano, R. J. (2010). Art and Science of Teaching / Reviving Reteaching. Educational Leadership, 68, 2nd ser., 82-83. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct10/vol68/num02/Reviving-Reteaching.aspx#:~:text=At a basic level, reteaching,content the teacher must reteach.

Regier, N. (2012). Book two: 60 formative assessment strategies. Regier Educational Resources. Retrieved from https://stjschools.instructure.com/courses/26673/files/105219

TeachingChannel (2011). Talking About Teaching with Jim Knight [video]. TeachingChannel. Retrieved from https://library.teachingchannel.org/landing-page?mediaid=0KHOLCMi&playerid=7Ftxba59