Good Things Come in Threes

     Okay, okay. Yes, I have also heard that celebrity deaths come in threes as well, but I just figured this was a more chipper way to think about the power of the triumvirate. Who wouldn't rather be optimistic? Spring is in the air, the days are getting longer...let's focus on the positive, people!

     This week I'll be sharing with you my top three takeaways so far from a new book I just started reading yesterday (I only got to page 42, so I'm sure there's much more to come!). It's by the dynamic duo of Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey and it's entitled Checking for Understanding: Formative Assessment Techniques for Your Classroom (2007).

     Here we go:

Takeaway #1

     We should all be learning from our colleagues, the physical education teachers. When it comes to formative assessment, they've got it down. Think about it: a physical education teacher teaching her students how to play badminton "would not wait until the final score of a match to determine whether the athlete understood badminton" (Fisher & Frey, p. 12). She'd be watching her students in action throughout the unit, assessing who needs more training in skills like arm and trunk action, working with students who didn't have effective strokes yet, perhaps coaching them individually or in small groups while their peers continued to practice. But how many of us in other content areas sometimes wait until the final test of a unit to determine whether our students understand the content? 

     Let's take a page from physical education teachers' playbooks. Let's try to consistently observe our students in action, whether that action be working out a complicated math problem, writing a thesis statement, or drawing a landscape. Let's get right in there with them, in real time, while they're in action, and conference with them, coaching those who need it. According to so much of the research that's out there, we'll see stronger performances on our summative assessments.

Takeaway #2

     Whip it good! Here's a really cool idea for a summarizer that lends itself to checking for understanding in a group setting and to formative assessment. Fisher and Frey call it the "whip around" (p. 34). Here's how it works. As a closure activity at the end of a lesson, the teacher poses a question or a task requiring students to make a list of at least three items (i.e., what are three things you learned about this character today? what are three examples of transition metal elements from the periodic table?). When they're done, students stand up (I love it already! So many of our students really need this kind of physical opportunity). The teacher then randomly calls on a student to share one of his ideas. The rest of the students listen, and check off any items on their own lists that are said by another student and sit down when all of their ideas have been shared with the class, whether or not they were the one to share them. The teacher continues to call on students until no one is left standing (Fisher & Frey, p. 34).

     Here's how this assessment is formative. As the teacher listens to the ideas being shared, she can determine "if there is a general level of understanding or if there are gaps in the students' thinking" (Fisher & Frey, p. 34). If there are said gaps, then teacher knows what information she will need to review to make sure her students understand it. 

Takeaway #3

     Last but not least, how about a little scaffolding talk? Fisher and Frey (2007) break down three types of scaffolding teachers should use when a student is unable to respond to a question the teacher has asked him or her orally in class. (I love it already, because I am a huge fan of "sticking" with a student if he or she can't answer a question. No need to abandon them; these are great opportunities to teach them and to build their confidence!) Here are the three ways to scaffold in this situation, according to Fisher and Frey (pp. 39-40):

• Reception scaffolds: Direct the student to information necessary to formulate an answer ("Look at the graph on page 252 of your textbook").
• Transformation scaffolds: Provide a way of structuring the information to help the student develop an answer ("How does the largest bar on the graph on page 252 of your textbook help you to find your answer?").
• Production scaffolds: Provide the student with a way of producing an answer ("Use the largest and the smallest bars from the graph on page 252 of your textbook to compare the amounts used").

     Instead of just asking the entire class "Does everyone understand this?," getting a few nods from some students, and moving on, we need to think about the multiple ways to really check for understanding. The above three are just the start! If you work in the same district in which I'm an instructional coach, and you want support with this, let me know.

(Did you notice how checking for understanding and formative assessments can lead right into differentiated instruction? I'm going to throw in a shameless plug here to conclude: For those of you who teach in the same district as me, I'm offering a summer workshop on differentiated instruction. Sounds fun, right???)