Interns at Sparks Elementary School – Megan Clarke, Jessica Wertz, Colleen Misera, Ariana Merrifield, and Courtney Craig – co-led a Professional Learning Community on Checking for Understanding Strategies.
Each intern researched a number of classroom strategies to use when checking if students understand what was being taught during instruction. Among the strategies were “Philosophical Chairs” to promote discussion and decision-making and help students learn to express their views and learn from one another. Other strategies were Entrance and Exit Tickets to assess prior knowledge and collect feedback, Every Pupil Responses to gauge the understanding of the class, Example/Non-Example to sort examples and non-examples of a concept or provided with examples and non-examples and students attain the concept. Fill In Your Thoughts has students complete the blank at the end of a statement to check for understanding. These and other strategies were shared among interns to increase their repertoire of teaching skills.
Megan Clarke shares strategies with interns.