Checking For Student Comprehension

Checking for Student Comprehension

How do you get students to show you what they know? 

The number one job that a teacher has is to assess his/her students. It is knowing what the students know and what they don’t that gives teachers the information they need to set their students up for success.  Comprehension checks are invaluable assessment tools. 

The trick is always, ‘how do I get them to show me what they know?’  Once we figure this out, we can give students an opportunity to demonstrate their level of understanding and adapt our instruction according to their needs.

There are both effective and not-so effective ways to check for comprehension.  Here are five typical ways teachers check student understanding:

1. The Look:  This instructor looks at the students’ faces and thinks, “They all seemed to understand.”
2. The Feeling:  This teacher scans the classroom with his/her intuition and says, “It really felt like they were getting it.”
3. The Question:  This educator asks the class if they understand and states, “I asked them and they all nodded, yes.”
4. The Test:  This instructor uses formal test, reviews it and considers, “It looks like they’re getting this but not that.”
5. The Show & Tell:  This teacher gets the students to show they understand and considers, “What is this telling me about the students’ needs?”

Checking for comprehension is not only vital, but it can be a wonderful way to engage students when done effectively.

 More on Comprehension Checking Strategies...

Information on K12 Professional Development
Checking for Comprehension and SIOP

How do I teach in a manner that engages all learners

Multi-level Teaching

How Do I teach in a manner that engages all learners?

So, you've got a multi-level class that has varying levels of proficiency and want to teach in a way that involves all of the students and encourages all of them to take their learning to the next level. 

You've got a handle on the lesson design (covered in the last blog) and are looking for some tips on how to teach in a multi-level class.

Teach Your Way Around the World©

Getting Students to Show What They Know

There are a number of factors that an effective multi-level teacher needs to manage in order to set him/herself and the students up for success.  While it may seem mind boggling to think of how to juggle everything, here are four key aspects:

• Managing Engagement 
• Managing Groups
• Managing Input
• Managing Output

Teaching a multi-level lesson that engages all learners and challenges them at the right level can be frustrating or fruitful.  The outcome rests, in part, with managing multi-level learners from the beginning to the end of a lesson.

Let's check out the first one:  managing engagement in the multi-level class