Manal Raoui  |  manalraoui.com A student puts down the pen and holds up a paper. “I'm done.” The teacher sees a question left blank or an answer that gives the result without explaining it. The information needed to check the work may be right in front of the student, who has not gone back to it. For these students, finishing the writing has become the cue to hand it in. The teacher has to point out gaps the students could have found themselves. “This question asks you to explain. You've described what happened” may lead to a useful revision. The teacher has made the comparison and identified the gap. The student still needs to learn how to compare their work with the task before handing in another assignment. Help students check their work against the requirements. They recall what it needs to do, examine what they produced using a suitable criterion, and decide what needs completion, correction, or clarification. A second reading is more useful when they know what th...

Manal Raoui  |  manalraoui.com A student starts a math problem and gets a result that does not fit the information given. They erase it, repeat the same calculation, and abandon the question. A student writing a paragraph may get through one sentence, put down the pen, and wait for the teacher to come by. Whenever the first approach fails, the work stops. Students can lose useful parts of their work or spend effort repeating an action that leaves them in the same place. Giving a student the next step may get the work moving again. Here the teacher has examined the difficulty and chosen the change. The student also needs to learn how to use an attempt to locate the difficulty and decide what to change. Help students examine and revise what they have tried. They identify what they accomplished and where progress stopped. They choose a change that addresses the difficulty, try it, and check what it contributes to the work. They might represent the data differently in a di...

Manal Raoui  |  manalraoui.com When the teacher asks what needs to be done, a student explains exactly what the task requires, then looks at a blank page and asks, “Where do I start?” Another begins one part, jumps to a second, and circles back before completing anything. The students understand what they need to produce. They have yet to turn that understanding into a series of actions that moves the work forward. Some wait for the teacher. Others do pieces of work that leave them no closer to the next step. The teacher goes from desk to desk telling each student how to start or what to do next. “Pull these figures out first and put them in the table” may give a student an immediate way in. The teacher has worked out how the required result connects to the actions needed to produce it. The student still needs to learn how to choose a starting point and put the steps in order when the task changes. Help students plan the work. They consider what the result will require...

Manal Raoui  |  manalraoui.com A teacher hands out a written task. A student raises a hand. “What are we supposed to do?” The teacher asks them to read the instructions. They read them and ask again. Another student starts writing, but describes the information in a document when the task calls for an explanation, or answers one part and misses the rest. Having the instructions in front of them does not mean students can tell what the task requires. Some wait for the teacher to interpret it before they begin. Others spend time on work that does not meet the requirements and then have to redo it. The same difficulty may return with every new set of instructions. Explaining the task again can clear up the immediate confusion and get a student started. When the teacher always identifies what the work must contain, however, the student has little opportunity to learn how to reach that understanding on their own. Teach students to interpret the task. They identify what they...