Domain

Checking for Understanding & Feedback

"Any questions?" tells you nothing. These techniques replace hoping with knowing — gathering evidence from the whole room while there's still lesson left to act on it, and making feedback change what students do.

The problems

“They nod along, then bomb the assessment”10 techniques
“I only discover misconceptions when marking”6 techniques
“Students hide their mistakes from me”5 techniques
“Marking is drowning me and changing nothing”3 techniques
“They glance at feedback and repeat the mistake”5 techniques

The techniques

Ask FiveTeacher craftPut the same question to five chosen students and treat their answers as the room's.Don't Ask "Got It?"Promising researchSwap 'got it?' for a question only someone who has got it can answer.Exit TicketStrong researchA few final questions collected at the door tell you what to teach tomorrow.The Hinge QuestionPromising researchPlan one question that shows you, partway through the lesson, whether to move on or reteach.Make Mistakes SafePromising researchTreat wrong answers as information you need, so students stop hiding them from you.Monitor, Don't WanderTeacher craftWalk a planned route with one thing to check, and catch mistakes while they're fresh.Project Their WorkTeacher craftStudy real work from the room together, so everyone sees what good actually looks like.Whole-Class FeedbackPromising researchRead every book, write on one sheet, and teach the patterns you found next lesson.