Quick!

Quick! How fast can I cover this stuff before the testing calendar negates the whole month?  

Omigoshican’tbelieveimthisbehindinmypacing wherewillifindthetimetodoanything imnevergonnagetthroughallthis?

Sooooo, April, huh?

I don’t know about you, but I think this is a tough time of year. There are weird schedules for testing with half my class gone on any given day. The kids are in a fourth quarter slump. Spring break is now just a memory as they try (and we try) to hang on until summer.

Oh, yeah. And I’m behind on my pacing. Again. As usual.

Right now, I really understand the temptation to just bulldozer your way through the content, teaching and teaching and teaching and teaching nonstop.

But hold up and take a breath.

Stop. (Hammer Time)

If you’re moving that quickly, how do you know your kids are with you? How do you know if they’re getting it? How do you know if they’re keeping up?

You have to stop and check sometimes.

I know that there are a million ways to check for understanding. But some of them, like quizzes, one-pagers, posters, skits, etc.

So how about my favorite, FASTEST ways to check for understanding?

Here are the Fastest Types of Formative Assessment that I can find...

1. One Minute Essay (or One Minute Question) -- A one-minute essay question (or  one-minute question) is a focused question with a specific goal that can, in fact, be answered within a minute or two.
2. Two Minute Pause -- The Two-Minute Pause provides a chance for students to stop, reflect on the concepts and ideas that have just been introduced, make connections to prior knowledge or experience, and seek clarification.
1. I changed my attitude about...
2. I became more aware of ...
3. I felt ...
4. I was surprised by ...
5. I related to ...
3. Observation -- Don’t stop class. Just walk around and really look carefully at student notes, answers, or progress.
4. One-Sentence Summary-- Students are asked to write a summary sentence that answers the “who, what where, when, why, how” questions about the topic.
5. One-Word Summary -- Select (or invent) one word which best summarizes a topic.
6. Muddiest Point -- This is a variation on the one-minute paper, though you may wish to give students a two minutes to answer the question. Here you ask (at the end of a class period, or at a natural break in the presentation), "What was the "muddiest point" in today's lecture?" or, perhaps, you might be more specific.
7. Headlines -- Create a newspaper headline that may have been written for the topic we are studying. Capture the main idea of the event.
8. Five Words --  What 5 words would you use to describe ? Explain and justify your choices.
9. Question Stems -- “I believe that because...”; “I am confused by...”
10. Twitter Post  -- Define_____ in under 140 characters  

How many of these have you tried? And can you try more? It’s important to do at least one (hopefully more than one) formative assessment check per period. Can you try a

new one or two of these? Pro Tip: Set a timer so you don’t go overtime.

Let me know how they go! As always, email me at newmantr@pcsb.org