Checking for understanding is the process of reliably understanding what students learned by reacting to misunderstandings as they emerge and then finding the best way forward.
The Snowball Effect
“… misunderstandings don’t merely linger but often snowball, becoming more entrenched and gathering further misconceptions. Recognizing and addressing them quickly keeps them from getting worse, and does so at a lower cost. A full lesson lost is a high price to pay in terms of missed learning. Ten minutes lost is easier to fix.”
~ Doug Lemov, Teach Like a Champion 2.0
Doug Lemov, author of Teach Like a Champion 2.0, compares teaching to driving. “Good drivers… check their mirrors every five seconds or so. They’re seeking to identify and remedy misunderstandings on the road as quickly as possible – by switching lanes… or yielding to oncoming traffic. That’s always better than making repairs after the fact, no matter how good the body shop.”
Three Broader Tasks of Checking for Understanding
- Data Gathering
In gathering data, efficiency is essential. If you can’t gather data in around two minutes (quickly and simply), you’re more likely to do it.
- Questioning
Short but frequent quizzes of newly learned information appear to increase students’ retention and retrieval of information.
- Observation
Examining student work in-progress is typically referred to as observation.
Checking for understanding should be a shared process between teachers and students. The degree to which students willingly expose their mistakes directly influences the teacher’s success in checking for understanding. Thus, teachers must establish environments in which it is safe to be wrong.
Mistakes vs. Errors
Mistakes occur due to lack of attention. Once pointed out, there is immediate recognition of the mistake and usually knowledge of the corrective action to take.
Errors, on the other hand, occur because of a lack of knowledge. Even when alerted, the learner isn’t quite sure what to do next.
Correcting mistakes while failing to address errors can be a costly waste of instructional time.
EdShots 