Rosenshine #6: checking understanding

Summary

Rosenschein's sixth principle emphasizes the importance of regularly checking understanding during teaching. By going beyond simple questions, effective teachers use a variety of methods to assess learning frequently. This process helps identify misconceptions early and ensures new material moves into long-term memory. Tools like mini whiteboards, targeted questioning, and student debates are practical ways to check understanding. Frequent check-ins not only guide students through their learning journey but also help teachers gauge progress and correct misunderstandings in real-time.

Takeaways

• 😀 Checking understanding is a simple but vital part of teaching that ensures learning is on track.
• 😀 Regularly checking understanding goes beyond asking 'Is that okay?' and uses various methods to assess learning.
• 😀 The purpose of checking understanding is twofold: to assess if knowledge has been learned as intended and to encourage long-term memory retention.
• 😀 Checking understanding helps guide the learning journey, from assessing starting points to deciding when to move to the next step.
• 😀 Frequent checking of understanding allows teachers to uncover and address misconceptions early, preventing them from becoming ingrained.
• 😀 Research shows that high-frequency check-ins provide the necessary processing stimulus for long-term memory retention.
• 😀 Effective methods for checking understanding include mini whiteboards, targeted questioning, paired questions, and thinking aloud.
• 😀 Having students debate or defend their positions helps assess the depth of their understanding and promotes integration of knowledge.
• 😀 Regular checking ensures that new learning is elaborated and connected to prior knowledge, aiding retention.
• 😀 Small steps in teaching combined with frequent checks help correct misunderstandings early in the learning process, preventing bigger issues later on.
• 😀 Checking understanding is essential in guiding students toward the intended learning outcomes and ensuring their learning is progressing as expected.

Q & A

What is the sixth principle discussed in the transcript?

The sixth principle is checking understanding, which involves regularly assessing whether students have grasped the material being taught.

Why is checking understanding considered vital in teaching?

Checking understanding is vital because it helps ensure that the learning matches the teacher's expectations and that any misconceptions are addressed early on.

How does checking understanding help in the learning process?

It helps by identifying if the material has been learned as intended and encourages students to transfer the knowledge into long-term memory by forcing them to elaborate and make connections to prior learning.

What is the twofold purpose of checking understanding?

The twofold purpose is: 1) To assess whether the knowledge has been learned as intended, and 2) To help transfer new learning into long-term memory by encouraging elaboration and connections with prior knowledge.

How does frequent checking prevent misconceptions?

Frequent checking allows teachers to identify and correct misconceptions early on, preventing them from becoming ingrained in the learner's schema.

What are some practical tools for checking understanding?

Some practical tools include mini whiteboards, targeted questioning, eavesdropping on paired questions, having students think aloud, constructing paragraphs or planning essays, and engaging students in debates.

How do debates help in checking understanding?

Debates allow students to defend their positions, check the depth of their understanding, and encourage them to integrate and elaborate on their knowledge in new ways.

What role does small-step teaching play in checking understanding?

Teaching in small steps allows teachers to monitor understanding regularly, identify misunderstandings, and correct them before they become deeply embedded in students' learning.

Why is it important to check understanding regularly rather than at the end of a lesson?

Checking understanding regularly helps catch misconceptions early, making it easier to address them than waiting until the end of the lesson, when they may have become more difficult to correct.

What impact does frequent checking have on long-term memory?

Frequent checking provides the necessary processing stimulus that helps move new learning from short-term to long-term memory, ensuring retention and deeper understanding.