How to Check for Understanding in a Lesson

Craig Chae looks at a lesson in which the teacher didn't say a word to help students understand an order of operations problem. The result was that kids held up their mini whiteboards and everyone got it right. Craig says teachers often give hints before they check for understanding so there is confusion between what he could see from the answers and whether or not his children were able to follow along with him. He suggests this would be a much more valid reliable check for understanding but also points out how scaffolding can reduce its validity.