Check-ins
Overview
Checking in with learners, or taking the time to talk with individual learners about their experiences or goals, is important for fostering a positive classroom environment. Check-ins allow educators to understand learners' experiences more deeply and build trusting relationships that can support students' Emotions and Learner Mindset. Check-ins may be informal, yet intentional, or involve more formalized procedures such as those in the "check-in, check-out" (CICO) system, an evidence-based practice aligned with the Positive Behavior and Intervention Supports (PBIS) framework. "Check-in, check-out" provides touchpoints for a student to support progress towards a goal with other adults outside of the classroom such as an administrator, guidance counselor or buddy teacher. The emphasis on consistent, positive, collaboration with an adult embedded within formal and informal check-ins make this an effective practice with trauma-exposed youth, promoting trust, safety, empowerment, and supportive relationships between students and teachers. When implementing check-in strategies, educators should ensure they are framed within culturally responsive practices, respecting backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives of all learners.
Example: Use This Strategy in the Classroom
Watch as these elementary school teachers implement Check-ins with students focused on goal-related behavior and feedback.
Design It into Your Product
Watch as educators use this digital tool to help to organize data collected from utilizing the Check-in Check-out protocol with students. Keeping all of this information together digitally can help educators respond and adjust to meet the needs of individual students.
Additional Resources
Additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
Factors Supported by this Strategy
More Culturally Responsive Strategies
Developing empathy in educators and in learners is an iterative process that requires taking the time to understand and honor others' perspectives.
Developing cultural awareness as an educator is an ongoing process that includes building empathy for the full diversity of students, intentionally recognizing how one's own identity intersects with students' identities, and creating an awareness of how the learning environment can impact students' Sense of Belonging.
Discussing race with students can range from celebrating the importance of diversity to understanding the impact of racism from the perspective of those who have been historically marginalized.
A first step to supporting learners is truly understanding who they are.
Equitable grading systems and practices reimagine how to assess and communicate student progress through various methods that reduce subjectivity and increase opportunities to learn.
Family engagement happens when educators and schools collaborate with families to collectively support their child's learning in meaningful ways, both at school and at home.
Learning about students' cultures and connecting them to instructional practices helps foster a sense of belonging and mitigate Stereotype Threat.
Selecting culturally responsive materials, including multicultural and diverse resources, is critical for supporting all students.
Shadowing a student involves an educator, administrator, or designated adult observing a learner across different parts of their day to deepen their understanding of that learner's experience beyond their classroom.
Student-led conferences are meetings between students, parents, and teachers where the student actively leads the conversation by reflecting on their progress toward goals and sharing examples of their work.
Translanguaging is a flexible classroom practice enabling students to listen, speak, read, and write across their multiple languages or dialects, even if the teacher does not have formal knowledge of these additional languages.
