Does This Make Sense?

“Does this make sense?” “Is that clear?” “Do you have any questions?”

As a student or even a participant in any learning, you have probably heard these three questions asked of you to see if you understand what the teacher or facilitator is talking about. Whether you are in a professional development training session as an adult, a student in a 3rd grade classroom, or a student in their third year of college, these questions are nearly ubiquitous. 

If you have been subjected to this question before, think back for a moment: how many people raised their hands and said “no, it doesn’t”? Or “I have a question!” Probably few if any. 

This question, as it is used, is a false and ineffective way to check for student/participant understanding. In reality, it only serves to make the teacher feel better about their teaching – if no one says they don’t understand, then “…gosh darnit, I’ve done a bang up job at teaching that information!”

This is a call for teachers to stop using these questions to effectively check for student understanding. This is also a call to begin adding new (and relatively simple) ways to get a sense of where your students are in their comprehension of course concepts and lesson ideas. 

Before getting into a few ways you could more effectively check for understanding during instruction, I wanted to first share the kind of foundation all teachers must have in their repertoire: Wait Time. In order to ensure all voices have an opportunity to respond, and when seeking to genuinely check for understanding, it is imperative to provide students with three to five seconds of wait time after posing a question. Research has proven that when students are provided this time, you get more hands raised, responses are of a higher quality, and you gain a wider array of student voices in your room that transcend race, ethnicity, gender, and viewpoints.

Listed below are five different ways to check for understanding, all of which you can implement immediately:

Questioning: explicitly planning out questioning during lessons is an often overlooked, yet effective strategy for checking for understanding: 

1. 1. Once your learning objectives have been created, take time to record a variety of questions you may ask students in order to ascertain their level of understanding about the lesson. 
   2. As part of one’s classroom routine, you could start by easing your way into the practice. After the lesson warm up, use your pre-planned questions to figure out where students are in their baseline understanding, almost like a pre-assessment. E.g.: “What do you already know about the Boston Massacre? Why do you think it’s important to evaluate texts? What does evaluating texts actually mean? What are the three things you need to keep in mind to properly throw a softball?” Check out this resource for how to compile a list of effective questions that you can refer to during a lesson.

Reframe Your Questions: as aforementioned, and almost reflexively, we ask students “Do you have any questions?” 9 times out of 10, I would bargain that most participants in a lesson will not raise their hands – unfortunately, when one has a question, it is sometimes perceived as a weakness. We have to change this mindset. Questions are meant to help you understand. Let’s change this mindset with somewhat of a mantra; “In our classroom, questions mean that you are thinking deeply about the subject, and/or you want to make sure you understand what is being taught. Questions, indeed, are a sign of strength and growth.” 

1. 1. Instead of “Do you have any questions?” Try: “What questions do you have?” and provide students with 3-5 seconds of wait time. In this way, you are inviting questions, rather than demanding them from a select few.

Think Pair Share (TPS): this is a tried and true strategy that is super easy to implement in any classroom, and is something that most students are comfortable with being a part of. TPS is one of many strategies that help students individually and collaboratively consider responses to questions posed by the instructor. TPS requires four simple steps:

1. 1. Students listen while the teacher poses a question and when/where possible, posts it on the board for all to see and consider.
   2. Students are provided wait time, so that all students can consider an appropriate response.
   3. Students are cued to pair with a partner to discuss their responses. 
   4. Students are then invited to share their responses with the whole group (sometimes, I also provide them an alternative option: “You may share what you came up with, or to challenge your listening skills, share what your partner talked about.”)

Think Jot Speak: this is a more individual, and abbreviated version of the TPS. In this situation, students are provided a question, provided wait time, and then invited to share their ideas that they came up with.

In all classrooms, the purpose of checking for understanding should be to ascertain where students are in their understanding. Whether you are dipsticking to get a broad check for understanding or using questioning to deliberately and concisely build student understanding toward a concept in the lesson, it is necessary to be planned and prepared to a) shift the lesson if students are not understanding, and b) ensure you are not just pushing through the lesson because “that is what has been planned.” “Does that make sense” might make you feel good, but in reality, it is not a useful question nor a strategy that has merit.

PS: One of the things in my classroom that I took pride in was how I never kept any secrets about the strategies I was using with my students. Whether it was 6th graders or 11th graders, I always went to great lengths to share the strategies I was using, why I was using them, and provide age-level explanations of the brain science and research behind each strategy (this was also part of my opening routines / lessons of the year). It’s called the “No Secrets Classroom.” Here is one poster that I used to place on my classroom walls and also shared with my students.