Kathy Dyer 
I can get really excited about a good sketch note… particularly one drawn by someone else. Dr. Hayley Lewis is a psychologist who makes psychology accessible, often via her sketch notes. Recently she shared one on check-in questions on LinkedIn that 1) I thought was insightful and 2) made me immediately jump to checking in with kids. Although Dr. Lewis’ topic was end-of-year appraisal discussion in the workplace, the questions she posed are solid prompts to use when performing social emotional check-ins with students at any time throughout the year.
Depending on your regular schedule of conferencing (checking in) with your students, the wording in some of these may vary. I think it will be easy for you to adjust.
- What are 5 words that sum up the [week, quarter, semester, year]?
- Describe your ideal day (start to finish). What would a good day look like?
- What are the 3 biggest lessons you’ve learned this [week, quarter, semester, year]?
- How have I helped you [week, quarter, semester, year]? What would you appreciate from me next [week, quarter, semester, year]?
- What’s been your proudest moment this [week, quarter, semester, year]?
- How have I hindered you this [week, quarter, semester, year]? How can we work better together next [week, quarter, semester, year]?
- What’s 1 thing you might do differently if you could do it again?
How to Prioritize Check-In Questions
Once you’ve chosen your questions, prioritize them. What makes sense based on the last check-in you had with your learners? What information are you looking for to make changes in how you support your learners and in your practice? For me, some of the questions above would be regular; I’d ask them all the time. The questions with numbers are easy for kids to help organize and focus their responses. If you are checking in frequently about where kids might be stuck in their learning, these questions may be logical follow-ups.
Also, consider some alternatives. Five words might be five pictures, as might be the three biggest lessons. Or the three lessons might even be work samples, as might the proudest moment. If a collaborative environment or learners becoming resources for one another is something you’ve been working on, you might consider questions about who helped you and how. And the corollary to that question could be who were you successful in helping, and how could be another.
Questions to Ask Yourself
Let me pause here and ask a few questions about your current practice. What questions are you currently asking during your regular check-ins with students? Are you providing opportunities to respond to the questions in different modalities? Are there particular questions that generate more useful information than others? How do you or your students use the information to adjust teaching and learning? What is one question from the list above that you would like to try?
Prompting learners to reflect on accomplishments, as well as goals for the next week, quarter, or semester has value in developing them as self-directed learners. Teaching them to reflect on their actions and interactions helps support them in using and connecting their social emotional learning, developing them as people.
Read more from Kathy Dyer here.
