Ahhhh, yes! To be a teacher. What a noble thing to do. I will stand up in front of my student(s) and let them hear my erudite and elaborate explanations about how the universe works, and they will hang on my every word. They will listen with every cell in their bodies, and then, almost as if by osmosis, they will suddenly know it. They will get it! They will have knowledge! Job well done I say! Job well done!

Not!

This is not the way it works my fellow friends, teachers and parents. The reality is very different. The student's mind is a very interesting thing... and place. Inside you will find that there any number of thoughts that are distracting them from the task at hand. For example: What will I do later today? Is so-and-so going to text me? Did I just feel my phone in my pocket? Was that a vibration? C'mon phone. Vibrate! Anything, but this... Wait! The teacher just said something important. What? I forget my pencil. Hey! My nose itches.

This happens to all of us. Yes- myself included (even though I hate to admit it). And those are just the "internal" distractions. There are also "external" distractions: dog barking, sister talking on the phone, blow dryer, car just went by, this seat is hard, sister's voice is going up in volume (ha-ha-ha), did I just hear my my phone again. Please notice that the cell phone keeps making it way into my examples. Hmmm...

Well, I think you get the point. So, that brings me to the point of this article: you must assess the student's understanding of what you are teaching as you go.

That bears repeating: you must assess the student's understanding of what you are teaching as you go. Only then do you know if you should proceed further with the lesson or reteach the skill, idea or concept until basic mastery is achieved.

Now, you might ask, "Well, Mr. Smarty Pants, just how do I do that?" Assessments should have three basic components, and all are equally important.

1. Frequency: assess early and often. Teach a basic idea, skill or concept and then quiz the students on their understanding of that item only. Ideally, an assessment takes place every few minutes. For example, if you were reading Tom Sawyer, you might read one to three pages and then stop and begin to verbally assess whether your students are understanding what they have read. So, staying with our reading example, in any twenty minute period, we might have five to eight verbal assessments.

2. Content: assess for basic understanding and then probe for critical thinking or application. This area takes practice to develop, and you must be patient with yourself; however, this method of assessment employs a sound strategy of "building" the student's ability to think independently (preparing them for mastery) and to think critically. So, the first assessment is always simple and straightforward. Staying with our Tom Sawyer example, we might ask, "What happened when Tom would not let his friend paint the fence?" This is a fact based question which allows the student instant success by locating the answer in the text. Our follow up question will build upon the first and require the student to access their own knowledge base of human characteristics and qualities. We might ask, "Why did these friends actually pay Tom to paint the fence, and if it was so great to paint the fence, why didn't Tom paint it himself?"

3. Praise: whether the student succeeds or not when answering the question, we always praise their attempt. A student answering questions right after learning the material for the first time is analogous to a baby trying to take those first baby steps. How many times does the baby try to get up and take those first steps? Over and over and over the baby stumbles and falls (trust me - I know), and yet the only thing that comes out of the parent's mouth are words of encouragement, lavish praise, and even cheering! Yes. Cheering! So, it is no different when a student is trying to answer an assessment, simple or complex, for some material they have just learned. If they get it right, then hooray for all concerned, and everyone moves on to the next item; however, if they get it wrong, or partially right, that it okay too. Our message to the student is that it was a great try, and they are still making progress. It becomes an opportunity for the item to be retaught or viewed from a different angle or perspective.

I hope this helps with your students. Remember: assess frequently, assess for basic understanding, and always, always, always praise your student's efforts.

R. Chris Wilkins
Certified High School English Teacher
http://teachforsuccess.spaces.live.com
rc.wilkins(at)hotmail.com