One way to surface teaching issues/problems is to begin by checking your assumptions. – Tomas Galguera Professor Mills College

The notion of checking assumptions is a really important one. Not the idea of check your assumptions at the door and get rid of them. But, examine them for accuracy. Examine the idea behind the assumption and why it is that I am assuming what I am. Under my assumptions may be the issue of inquiry, the issue of equity that I need to get at to move my teaching practice forward. I talk to students all the time and I assume I know what they mean when I am filling in missing words, nodding my head why they say something I dont quite understand but I assume I know what they are getting at. Then I say, “ok my students comprehend this subject matter or they understand this story.” Then I ask them to write about the story or write about what they learned. SHOCK and CONFUSION, not on the part on my students, but all over my face as I read the written accounts of my students learning. The thing that I just new they understood seems to be all muddled when they write. Either there is a serious disconnect between what my students can orally describe that they know and what they can write, or in my attempt at filling in the language gaps I am assuming comprehension that students dont really have. This year I want to look/listen/read closely so I can check that assumption. As tomas states assumptions play a great role in inquiry. Checking those assumptions are essential to equity.