A common expectation for middle school teachers is to reteach when students are not mastering the standards. But what does that really mean?

Here’s my take on reteaching: Teaching is an ongoing cycle, and needing to reteach is NOT a sign that you’re an ineffective teacher.

Let’s simplify reteaching in a way that allows you to be most effective with (hopefully) the least amount of stress!

I’ve also got a printable quick reference guide that highlights the key points of this blog post. Download it here.

First, let’s back up

Before we can identify times that we need to reteach, we need to have a good understanding of what mastery looks like and ways to figure out if students have reached that mastery. Let’s talk Learning Targets and Formative Assessments - exciting, I know. Hang in there!

We need to know “where are we going?” and “are we there yet?” before we can start reteaching.

Clear Learning Targets

If you teach in Georgia, you may have participated in GaDOE’s Formative Instructional Practices (FIP) training. If you haven’t (and you’re in Georgia), you may want to ask about it! The FIP training covers all you need to know about Learning Targets and Formative Assessments (plus, it covers how to give effective feedback).

Simply put, Learning Targets are the “where are we going”. Learning Targets can be broken down into daily targets that build to a weekly target (this is how I used them in my classroom).

Here’s an example:

Weekly Target

I can explain the causes and effects of air pollution in Mexico City, Mexico.

Day 1 Targets

I can define air pollution.
I can define smog.
I can identify common causes of air pollution.
I can identify common effects of air pollution.

Day 2 Targets

I can identify causes of air pollution in Mexico City, Mexico.
I can identify effects of air pollution in Mexico City, Mexico.

Day 3 Target

I can explain the causes and effects of air pollution in Mexico City, Mexico.

Day 4 Targets (extension) -

I can explain how Mexico’s City’s location (low elevation) and climate (hot and dry) contributes to air pollution.
I can analyze the relationship between the city’s population and its air pollution.
I can describe efforts to combat the city’s air pollution.

Learning targets are created directly from the standards. Oftentimes, the standard requires background knowledge before students can master the standards. In these cases, it is important to add learning targets to support the standard - as I did in my example. The actual standard didn’t show up until Day 3 because we need to make sure students know what air pollution is and the common causes before we identify the causes in a specific place. Then, we’re able to extend the learning with Day 4’s Learning Targets.

Essentially, you need to know “where students are going” to know if they’re there yet. This is where the Learning Targets are beneficial.

Formative Assessments

Formative Assessments are the “are we there yet” part of the equation. Formative Assessments are those “in-between” checks for understanding. You probably do more formative assessments than you even realize!

Here are some examples below. There are SO dang many formative assessments, so this is NOT a comprehensive list!

Exit tickets
Summary of lesson/standard/concept
Venn Diagram
Sticky Notes with “yes, I understand” or “no, I’m still confused”
Whiteboards (students answer on board and hold up)
Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down
Your visual observations also count!!

As I’ve worked with teachers, I’ve seen some teachers implement formative assessments, but then the data is lost. The teacher will do an exit ticket at the end of class, then take a grade on it, and that’s it. The end. No impact on tomorrow’s lesson. Are you cringing? …or are you relating? No judgment, here, I promise!

Don’t miss the opportunity to let the students guide your lessons! Use formative assessments to help you see where your students are in their understanding, then do something about it!

Sidenote - Formative Assessments do not always happen at the end of class. It’s best to have plenty along the way and at the end of class!

Reteaching

We’re finally at the meat of this blog post! So, let’s talk about when to reteach…

You’ll know when you need to reteach based on those formative assessments we just talked about. We not only need to figure out when we need to reteach, but also when in the schedule to reteach. I know we are always pressed for time - no matter how masterful we are at planning! I’ve got some tips for both of these obstacles.

When we need to reteach

Let’s make this super simple: reteach when students need it! I know, easier said than done!

The most effective way to figure out when to reteach (and what to reteach) will be to maximize your formative assessments. Strategically design your formative assessments to show you patterns. Can you create a multiple choice prompt that will show specifically where students are misunderstanding? If the correct answer is A, but the student chose B, what does that tell us?

Here’s an example.

Which best describes the relationship between investment in capital goods and gross domestic product?

a. Higher investment in machinery = higher gross domestic product

b. Higher investment in education = higher gross domestic product

c. Lower investment in machinery = higher gross domestic product

d. Lower investment in education = higher gross domestic product

In our example above, “A” is the correct answer. We’ve designed this question in a way that will show us whether students are misunderstanding vocabulary or the concept of the relationship. If students choose “B”, they are mixing up human capital and capital goods. If students choose “C”, they are misunderstanding the concept of the relationship. Students who chose “D” are misunderstanding both (or just guessing).

See how valuable that is?! This strategy will save you tons of time! I know this will be tough to do for every single question, but if you can do this for even one per day - that’s still helpful!

Use the results of your formative assessments to determine when you need to reteach. Sometimes, reteaching can be just a couple of minutes. In the example above, clarify the vocabulary mix-up to help students who chose B (take note that those specific students are listening) and check for understanding again.

Other times, reteaching will need to be a whole class period or a portion of a class period. This will take more planning on your part. If you can’t shift your schedule, you can add in a reteaching group by restructuring one of your days to stations. Have one station with a shortened/modified version of your original plans, and have one station in which you are reteaching. This can look a variety of ways. You can lead either group - depending on the activities you choose. If you can shift your schedule, try to add in a day to reteach multiple concepts at once (to save time). Stations are a great option for this, too. In this case, stations would not rotate. Students would get the reteaching they need specifically.

For example:

Station 1: how literacy rates affect standard of living

Station 2: relationship between investing in human capital and GDP

Station 3: relationship between investing in capital goods and GDP

Station 4: Combination of all 3

Reteaching should happen any time you see that students show misunderstanding. Reteaching can be quick and simple, but it can also be in-depth. You’ll know which you need based on your formative assessments and the nature of the standard/topic.

When in the schedule to reteach

Our teaching schedules are tight - especially if you’re a Georgia social studies teacher! You have a billion standards to get through. This is exactly why it is SO important to implement frequent formative assessments - as in, a few times during each class period.

If you are planning to check for understanding frequently during your lessons, you can very quickly identify and correct misconceptions. This might allow you to spend less time later reteaching. You could spend just a couple of minutes on this “reteaching” versus planning a whole section of your instructional time tomorrow for reteaching.

While you’re checking for understanding, you can also take note of students you may need to pull later for a more in-depth reteaching session.

In addition, I recommend planning for at least one class period before each unit assessment to reteach. I love using self-assessments to guide this process. I found that giving myself at least 2 days before the assessment was effective. This will give one class period for the self-assessment and one class period for the reteaching based on the self-assessment. This is still going to feel super tight! If you can spare 3 days before the test, that is ideal, and will give you some breathing room!

Blog post on reteaching strategies - coming soon!

Blog post on self-assessments - coming soon!

Reflection

After your formative assessments, it’s important to reflect on the results. This is the step I often saw teachers missing. This reflection is how you’ll know when and what to reteach. You need to begin looking for patterns in the results of the formative assessments. Look for patterns of misunderstanding and what they misconception is, plus make note of the students.

Closing

I promised to simplify the concept of reteaching, then I wrote a novel-long blog post - ha! Teaching is an ongoing cycle that includes: teaching, assessing, and reteaching. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

To make reteaching easier, it’s important to have clear learning targets, then to implement many different formative assessments, and use those formative assessments to identify patterns. Use these patterns to inform your decisions on what and when to reteach.