The ten finger comprehension checks and required fist signaling moves provide false reads of student comprehension. Many of the students simply lie on the hand comprehension checks, fearful of being perceived as stupid.
Moreover, most don’t know, haven’t yet learned in their difficult young lives, how to self advocate. How, then, can they make the fist sign thing to show us that they don’t understand? Life is enough of a blur to them. They don’t know if they don’t understand. Plus, they are kids who are used to memorizing….
Therefore it is 100% our task to know which of our students are not getting our input, and then slowing down and directing our instruction more towards them, inviting them to comprehend whatever they can in a loving way instead of requiring them to take control of their learning.
In addition, it is possible that requiring a student to be aware that she doesn’t understand and call our attention to it interferes with the softly flowing river of input, the natural unconscious process of focusing uniquely on the message, the flow, that happy feeling of focusing only on the message that we know is happening only when the corners of their mouths are tilted upwards and their eyes are happy.
It is a good thing that the kids’ affective filters remain down as we take full responsibility for making ourselves 100% comprehensible to our kids.
The dominant faster processors can wait. They are still getting input. They are usually faster processors due to their family backgrounds anyway. Yes, this is about elitism because how can a kid be blamed with a lower grade if they haven’t learned at the dinner table or from loving and available parents how to interact in a reciprocal and participatory way with an adult?
Slowing down and teaching all the kids in the room, not just the few, is better accomplished by dropping the signaling requirement. It isn’t respected anyway.
Thus the kids’ affective filters remain down as we take full responsibility for making ourselves 100% comprehensible to them. It’s our job.