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Session 5. A Unit with Built-In Checks, Reviewed Together
Objective. Build checks with planned responses into a unit, and use a respectful protocol to review and redesign a colleague's unit with evidence from the course.
A well-designed unit is only as good as the information it gives you while it is running. If the first real check is the end-of-unit test, you learn about problems when it is too late to fix them for this class. This lesson shows how to place a few small checks inside the unit with decisions agreed in advance, and how to use the same design lens to review a colleague's unit in a way that is useful, respectful and safe. Both skills make a school's planning stronger over time.
Key ideas
Checks built into the unit
- A check is a planned moment when you find out what pupils can do now, in time to act. A test at the end tells you after the chance to act is gone (see course 5.5 Assessment Fundamentals).
- Plan three to five checks in a unit: after the key new idea, after the first mixed practice, before the transfer task. Use quick tools: a hinge question, an exit ticket, a 5-question no-notes quiz.
- For each check, decide in advance what you will do with each result. Without a planned response, a check is only a record.
The decision rule
- A simple rule has three bands: most pupils correct (move on, plan a spaced return); about half correct (re-teach the step with a new example, then check again); few correct (go back to the earlier idea).
- Choose the numbers with your class size in mind and write them in the plan. The exact cut-offs matter less than having them agreed before you see the results.
- A good check tests the key step and shows wrong ideas: write the wrong answers you expect as options, so each wrong answer tells you what to do.
Reviewing a colleague's unit
- The purpose is to improve the design, not to judge the teacher. The owner decides what to change. Agree this and confidentiality before reading anything.
- Protocol (30 min): the owner says the purpose and one worry (3 min); reviewers read in silence (5); each reviewer says I notice (evidence from the plan), I wonder (a question) and A suggestion (one change) (12); the owner chooses at most three changes (5); all agree how they will check the effect (5).
- Use the course ideas as a lens: retrieval, spaced return, mixed practice, worked examples, transfer, challenge, phases with releases, and checks with decision rules. Do not review all at once; pick the three that matter most.
Hard conversations and follow-up
- Speak about the plan and the evidence, not the person: 'In lesson 6 I notice pupils meet 6 problems of one type' rather than 'You always drill'. Ask a question before you suggest.
- If the owner disagrees, accept it: 'You know the class; what would you want to try instead?' Disagreement is information, not defeat. The reviewer's job is to help, not to win.
- Close the loop: after teaching the redesigned unit, meet again for 15 minutes and compare the check results. Keep notes private unless the owner agrees to share them.
The check-and-respond cycle
Writing a check that reveals wrong ideas
The best checks are short and diagnostic. A hinge question has one right answer and several wrong answers, each built from a mistake you expect. For example, to check 'adding fractions with unlike denominators', the options might include the correct sum, the sum of numerators over the sum of denominators, and an answer that adds only the numerators. When a pupil chooses an option, you know which idea they hold. Write the question before the lesson and decide in advance what each pattern of answers means.
Keep the format light: cards, mini whiteboards or a five-line slip. Then record results as a simple tally by question. A tally of 30 pupils takes two minutes and gives you what a mark book cannot: the next teaching step.
Making review safe in a school
Peer review fails when it feels like inspection. Protect it with a few agreements: the owner chooses the unit and the worry; the reviewers speak about the plan, not the person; the owner decides which suggestions to use; notes stay with the owner unless they agree otherwise. Time-box it to 30 minutes so that it fits in a planning slot. Start with a unit that is working, so the first experience is of learning, not of criticism.
Evidence for lesson study as a way of improving pupils' results is mixed, according to the evidence portal linked below, but it is a well-known way of organising teachers' joint planning and reflection. What matters most for your school is that the review ends with a small change that is tried and checked, so the cycle closes.
Examples from the classroom
A hinge question on fractions
Scene. Jasur teaches Grade 6 mathematics in Tashkent. After lesson 2 on common denominators he asks: 'What is 1/2 + 1/3?' with four options: 2/5, 5/6, 1/6 and 2/6. Of 36 pupils, 21 choose 5/6, 11 choose 2/5 and 4 choose others. His rule: below 25 correct, re-teach with a second worked example. He re-teaches and checks again two days later with a new question.
Insight. Wrong options built from real mistakes tell the teacher what exactly to re-teach.
A trio reviews a unit in a planning period
Scene. In Namangan, three Grade 4 teachers use a 30-minute slot every second Thursday. Aziz owns the unit on 'Our region', worries that the final project is too big and brings his plan. Malika and Dilnoza each say what they notice, ask a question and give one suggestion. Aziz picks two changes and says he will report the check results next time. No notes go to the head.
Insight. A simple protocol and a fixed slot make review habitual and safe.
A head of studies who protects the process
Scene. At a school in Bukhara the head of studies hears that two teachers reviewed a unit. She does not ask for their notes. She asks what they learned and whether they need time or materials. She offers one extra free period for the redesign. A month later the owner volunteers to show the unit at a staff meeting.
Insight. Review grows when school leaders ask about learning, not about ratings.
Common pitfalls
- Adding checks but deciding what to do only after seeing the results.
- Writing check questions with no useful wrong options, so a wrong answer tells you nothing.
- Letting the reviewer's preferences replace the owner's decisions.
- Sharing review notes with the head or other colleagues without the owner's agreement.
Review and Redesign a Unit
- Trios (10 min): alone, read the SAMPLE one-page Grade 6 mathematics unit on fractions, written by 'Jasur'. Fill the design checklist with evidence from the plan (a page or line number).
- Trios (15 min): run the protocol: one is the owner (read the owner's note in the Kit), two are reviewers. Each reviewer says I notice, I wonder, A suggestion. The owner chooses at most three changes. Rotate roles if time allows.
- Trios (15 min): redesign. Add three checks to the unit, each with a decision rule and the wrong answers you expect; add one spaced return and one transfer task from your earlier sessions.
- Second activity, whole group (10 min): rewrite the four vague review comments in the Kit using I notice / I wonder / A suggestion. Practise the reply to an owner who says 'I disagree'.
- Alone (10 min): plan the real review with a colleague in your school: when, which unit, how you will protect confidentiality, and how you will check the effect. Write your school-based task.
Your facilitator will guide you through this activity in the session.
Questions to discuss
- Which comment helped the owner most? Which sounded like judgement?
- How did it feel to receive a suggestion on your own plan? What made it easier or harder?
- What will you stop doing in your own units because of this course?
Reflect
- Which colleague would you trust to review your unit, and why?
- What do you do now when a check shows that half the class has not understood?
- What is the first small change you will make in your school after this course?
Try it tomorrow
- Write one hinge question for the key idea of your next unit and decide the rule for each result before you use it.
- Agree a 30-minute review slot with one colleague and the confidentiality rules.
- After the review, check one change with a short exit ticket and meet for 15 minutes to compare.
Further reading and links
Build checks with a planned response into the unit, review the design not the person, and let the owner decide.