Using Checklists Improves Outcomes

Before starting any project, I take a sheet of paper and create a checklist of things I need to do to complete the project.  List can go from the very simple to the complex, such as writing an unassuming grocery list to a checklist for a grandiose home improvement project.  Creating a written list helps me focus on what I want to accomplish, to gather needed resources, and  motivation to get the project started!  Plus, I derive tremendous satisfaction as I check off each completed item!

However, the use of checklists has a much wider application than my own personal projects. In a book written by surgeon Atul Gawande titled The Checklist Manifesto, How to Get Things Right (2009 Metropolitan Books), Gawande suggests that even the best-trained professional can skip critical steps in a complex process.  Using a checklist can be beneficial to help practitioners focus on the most critical steps to get the best outcomes.   There are two common types of errors individuals frequently make, those of ignorance and those of ineptitude.  Errors of ignorance are mistakes made  due to lack of knowledge; the individual just doesn’t know enough to perform the task.  Errors of ineptitude are errors made because people don’t apply information already known.  Most mistakes made on a regular basis are errors of ineptitude; people forget to apply what they already know.  Gawande asserts that this is why a checklist can be a reliable reminder for consistent and successful completion of complex tasks.

In fact, many teachers are applying concepts from The Checklist Manifesto to their instructional toolbox .  Middle school teacher Heather Wolpert-Gawron states: “Developing and providing checklists speaks to college and career readiness in the Common Core. After all, organization, preparedness, goal setting and the independent learning that comes from utilizing resources are all folded into the expectations of these new standards.”   She goes on to say: “Because I teach using project-based learning, I find it very important not only to let students in on what our main goal needs to be, but to let them in on the process and steps it will take to meet that goal. My checklists, therefore, become almost a sequential narrative through an academic unit.”

Checklists are not just for middle and high school students.  Pinterest has excellent examples of checklists for younger children.   Recently while  visiting a  1^st grade classroom, I observed children proof-reading  their own written paragraph using a horizontal checklist at the bottom of the paper. The checkboxes were simple and useful. They included: I checked the word wall for correct spelling?; Each sentences starts with a capital?; Each sentence has an end mark?  This checklist  encouraged  1^st graders to independently check their work for conventions and involved them in  metacognitive awareness of their own work. 

In the curricular planning process, once a teacher decides on the lesson's instructional objectives and the performance tasks, she's ready to create the assignment's checklist.  Checklists should be brief and clearly focused on the most critical steps needed to produce desired results.   When the child turns in the assignment the completed checklist is attached.  The teachers can see at a glance that all essential steps have been completed.  Checklists have the power to improve metacognitive skills, differentiate instruction, increase participation, and track progress.  Why not give checklists a try!

A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary. 

                                                                                                              ~Thomas Carruthers

Featuring One of Our Own: A Classroom Tour

Shelbi Wiken is teaching first grade in a private school in Honduras.  She reports that everyone at the school is extremely helpful to new teachers.  Shelbi has 19 students and a wonderful team of four other first grade teachers.  Two of her colleagues are from Honduras and the other two are from Canada.  Enjoy these photographs of Shelbi's classroom!

"Testing Season" Strategy: Curriculum Mapping

The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.

                                                                                          -Albert Einstein

“Testing Season” is what I affectionately call the months of March, April, and May.  As “Testing Season” is officially launched next week, the new PARCC Assessment will be administered for the first time in the State of Illinois.  And with other standardized tests thrown into the mix, many class sessions this spring will exclusively be dedicated to testing.  At this time of year you can’t help but wonder how you'll have time for test prep and administration plus time to cover the operational curriculum.  While the end of the school year is coming into sight, you probably are becoming more and more aware of the fact that there may not be enough time to teach all the topics listed in your curriculum guides.  Decisions have to be made to modify the prescribed content in order to make the most of the precious instructional time still left to the school year. 

Teachers are not powerless in this testing environment.  Instead it’s time to be proactive and dig out the curriculum documents to identify what still needs to be taught and what topics you might drop, combine, or teach as part of another class or discipline.  Curriculum mapping, the procedure for looking at curriculum in reference to the calendar and data results, is best accomplished on an institute day when there is adequate collaboration time.  However, with all the recent snow days, you may not have the luxury of extended time.  As an alternative, a few focused grade level meetings may be the ideal time to work on curriculum alignment. One thing to consider is the fact that some members of your team may be more interested in getting every topic covered superficially while others may choose to teach fewer topics, but teach them in depth. 

After you have completed the curriculum-mapping process, you’ll have a new curriculum guide indicating what still needs to be covered the rest of the year.  There’s always the temptation to pick up the pace and race through new content.  Although it feels anti-intuitive to slow down to make forward progress, it’s been shown that teachers achieve better outcomes by slowing the pace to concentrate on critical content.  When instruction moves too quickly there’s the temptation to do more lecturing and have students do more in class reading.  By using a direct instruction approach students actually remember only 10%-15% of what’s taught.  When students are actively involved in purposeful experiences, learning increases and retention rates are closer to 50%-90%.  Consequently, demonstrations, dramatized experiences, and hands-on learning, while they take more time than lecturing, can generate powerful outcomes.  Consider changing homework assignments from a worksheet completed after instruction to the use of a video or online resource that allows for the generation of background knowledge for future learning.  Since more and more of your students have access to home computers, smart phones, and tablets, this kind of homework is now a realistic option.

In an age of accountability, curriculum-mapping allows for mid-course correction to the curriculum and allows for targeted instruction to meet learning outcomes. Using curriculum mapping coupled with data analysis can transform your classroom into a powerful learning community.  Ultimately, you will be able to provide quality student-focused instruction that provides curriculum coverage and standards-based instruction.

 Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.

                                                                                                 -Socrates