John Piazza makes a subtle but great point below. I am going to change my rules poster to reflect what he says:
Ben,
I just heard about a helpful practice on our Latin Best Practices list, from a fellow Latin teacher, Corrado Russo, a member of this PLC. When he wants to check comprehension, instead of asking students “intellegis-ne?” (do YOU understand?) he asks “est-ne manifestum?(is it clear?) This represents yet another shift in our stated classroom expectations from placing the burden of comprehension on students, back to OUR need to be undrstandable at all times. Last year, I changed my poster wording from “signal every time you don’t understand” to “signal every time Magister is not clear” and now I have the vocabulary with which to reinforce this every day.
John