When I was on prac I saw a tool. A teaching tool. ‘Thumbs.’ Throughout the class, a math class, the teacher would ask “Thumbs?” and the students would present their hands with either thumbs up, down or sideways to show how confident they were with the topic. It was a tool that students understood and used maturely to either get help or progress. It is simple and effective, but it could be improved by using technology to make it a live marker of student understanding.
The idea stood out to me because one of the major problems I had had as a teacher to this point was understanding when students had grasped the lesson concepts and when they were just nodding and smiling, or more accurately when the blank stares were comprehension and when the blank stare were confusion. This can be a problem because as a teacher you may be wasting breath preaching to the choir if they have already understood a concept, or you may be progressing too fast with students getting lost but not wanting to be held accountable.
In broad strokes the issue is akin to the teacher needing to make guesses, albeit educated ones, on student understanding. It is a gamble that may pay off in many cases but with improved teaching tools to address the problem there could be an increase in lesson efficiency with less time spent on already understood concepts and greater equity in making it easier for all students to understand concepts.
I was never that good at poker so the idea of having a tool to help me read students understanding rather than looking for ‘tells’ of where their comprehension is something that is very interesting and I would even say exciting (#Teacher Interests).
So, as invested parties would you give the need for checking for understanding the thumbs up, thumbs down or you might need a new tool to let me know how you feel.
WeAreOnTheLine 
August 24, 2015 at 2:49 am
‘Thumbs’ gets a thumbs down from me… I also saw this on prac but my concern is that the students often looked to their peers for ‘guidance’ as how they should respond. It seems that when kids are put on display and have to ‘prove’ their competency, conformity quickly becomes their only concern. I think anonymity would be a pretty effective tool when checking for understanding – can technology be used to disguise student responses?
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August 24, 2015 at 3:29 am
@Tuckwastaken, this is an interesting concept that will prove relatable to teachers in gaging understanding of their students. I can see how ‘reading’ students would be a real issue for pre-service teachers, especially in trying to see if students have understood concepts and information. What were you thinking about in terms of trying to overcome this issue? If it is a poll through technology, does this kind of thing already exist (like the clickers and the use of a graph to show student understanding?) How could you make it better/ different from what is already used? I do however see the relevance of having a tool to help you read students understanding!
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August 24, 2015 at 5:09 am
Really like where this concept originated. It sounds like an excellent teaching strategy that will increase ‘quality learning’ time. Very interested to see how you will enhance strategy through the use of technology. I think something important to consider while moving forward would be how this technology can increase confidentiality among students. One flaw with the thumbs up and thumbs down strategy I envisage might be an issue is kids not wanting to put their thumbs down in fear of other kids judging their abilities. Perhaps, with the use of technology you can make students blind to each other’s perception of understanding.
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