You can leave a lesson believing it went well and still have taught a wrong idea into place. The class was quiet. The practice looked finished. Three of the answers you glanced at were right. The misconception was in the other books, stated neatly, because the pupil was not confused. They were sure.
This is about the idea itself. Pupils who hide, echo, and agree with whoever spoke last are a different problem, covered in how to spot the ones quietly faking it. A misconception can be said out loud, hand up, with a smile. Catching it is also not the same job as writing the question, which is the hinge question page. The other in-lesson moves are in checking for understanding. More of this sits on the blog.
Slip, gap, or misconception
Sort the wrong answer before you reteach it. The treatment is different, and so is the time it deserves.
- A slip. They can do the thing, and this once they did not. Sign error, missed the word "not", used the right method on the wrong line. Ask them to look again before you teach anything. If they fix it unprompted, move on.
- A gap. Something earlier is missing. They cannot find a common denominator because they cannot find a common multiple. The lesson you planned is not the lesson they need. Note it, and do not pretend a plenary will fill a Year 6 hole in four minutes. You still have to say the missing piece, briefly, or today's work will practise the gap.
- A misconception. They have a model. It is the wrong model, and it is coherent. They will defend it. "The bigger denominator is the bigger fraction" explains a lot of their answers, including ones that came out right by accident. This is the one to stop for.
A quick way to tell a slip from a misconception: change the example, keep the structure, ask again. A slip does not survive. A misconception does. It may even get more confident, because they have now used it twice and nobody has stopped them.
Listen for the reason
The answer is the symptom. The reason is the model. "3/5 is bigger than 2/3" is not yet a misconception you can name. "Because 5 is bigger than 3" is. "The second bulb is dimmer because the first one used the current" is. "The source is biased so we ignore it" is. "It's" and "its" swapped because "apostrophes are for when it looks right" is.
If you only collect final answers, you will group different models together and reteach the wrong one. A pupil who picks 3/4 because the numerator is bigger, and a pupil who picks 3/4 because they compared twelfths, have the same answer and opposite needs. Ask "why" for the ones you are about to base the next ten minutes on. You do not have to ask thirty times. You have to ask until you can name the model.
Phrases worth writing in the margin of your plan, because they show up every year:
- Maths: the bigger bottom number is the bigger fraction. The equals sign means "the answer goes here". A negative times a negative is negative because two negatives make it worse. Multiplying always makes things bigger.
- Science: current is used up around a circuit. Plants breathe in carbon dioxide the way we breathe in oxygen, and that is the whole of photosynthesis. Heavier objects fall faster, in every situation. Particles melt, shrink, or die.
- English: a longer quotation is a better quotation. A comma is a pause you feel. "I" is always a capital, including mid-sentence where it is not the pronoun you think it is.
- History and geography: biased means discard. A primary source is true because it is old. A meander is a drawing to copy, not a process.
A question that separates the models
Once you know the models in the room, do not ask a question all of them can fluke. Ask one where each likely model picks a different option, and where the option says the reason. That is a hinge, and the worked examples are on that page. The discipline is the same at minute forty as at minute twenty. If you only have time for one, make the wrong answers do the diagnosis for you.
A spoken "who thinks A?" will under-count the misconception, because pupils look around. Boards down, then show. Or a private answer. The shy version of a misconception is still a misconception. It just does not volunteer.
What to do with the minutes you have left
Say you notice it with eight minutes to go. Do not start the extension. Do not hand out the homework as a way of escaping the room. Do this.
- Name the idea, not the pupil. "A lot of us are treating the bottom number as the size of the fraction." You can say this even if it was six of them. Shaming one child teaches the others to hide the next model.
- Say why the wrong idea is tempting. If you only say "no", they keep it in a drawer. "Five is bigger than three, so it feels as if fifths should be bigger. The five is how many pieces the whole was cut into."
- One example, the opposite way to the one that created the mess. If you explained with a picture and they still have the error, do it with numbers. If you explained with a rule, do it with a picture. Then stop talking.
- One new question, same structure, different surface. Not the same fractions again. If they repeat the model, you know the reteach did not land, and tomorrow starts here. If they do not, you can leave.
If the bell is already going, the new question becomes the first question tomorrow, before you teach anything else. Write it on the slide tonight. Do not trust yourself to remember which model it was. "Go over fractions" is how the specific error gets lost.
Do not assign thirty different reteaches because you saw thirty different slips. Cluster them. Two models is a lot for one afternoon. Three is a new lesson. Pick the one that will poison the next topic if you leave it.
What not to waste the end on
Do not spend the ending on copying a definition, reading the slides again, or asking if it "makes more sense" now. A right answer with the wrong reason is the same model, and it will be back when the numbers are less friendly.
When you need every reason, not the three you had time to hear, put the question through Get It?. You type the topic, you edit the questions, they answer in their own words on any device, and you see who has got it, who is unsure, and who is still holding the old model. Free for a limited time. No pupil account. Use the two minutes to choose the reteach, not to admire a spreadsheet.
Questions people ask
What is a misconception in the classroom?
A misconception is a wrong idea that is internally consistent. The pupil can explain it, and they will use it again on a new question. A slip is inconsistent: they get it right a moment later, or they cannot repeat the error on purpose. The reteach is different for each.
How do you identify student misconceptions?
Ask for the reason, not only the answer. Give a new example of the same idea and see whether the same error returns. Use a question where each wrong option is a mistake you have heard before. Listen for the phrases: "because the bottom number is bigger", "the current gets used up", "it is biased so it is useless".
What is the difference between a mistake and a misconception?
A mistake or a slip is often a lapse: a sign error, a missed word, a moment of not reading. A misconception survives an explanation and reappears when the surface of the question changes. Correcting a slip is a reminder. Correcting a misconception means replacing the model, then checking the new model on a fresh question.
What should I do if I find a misconception near the end of the lesson?
Do not start a new topic, and do not set thirty different corrections. Name the wrong idea without naming the pupil, show why it feels right, teach the replacement in one example, and ask one new question before they leave. If you are out of time, that new question is tomorrow's starter. Do not hope the homework will fix a model.
Try it on one class.
One lesson. One question. Two minutes. If it doesn't tell you something you didn't already know, walk away.
Try it free — no cardStudents need no account. They just need the code.
Read next
Hinge questions: what they are, and examples you can use tomorrow
What a hinge question is, how to write one, and examples in maths, English, science and humanities. The lesson bends on the answers.
How to spot the pupils who are quietly faking it
The echo, the confident wrong answer, the shrug with a smile. Six tells that a pupil has no idea, and three questions that flush it out without embarrassing anyone.
Checking for understanding: quick techniques that show you the whole class
Seven checks you can run without a worksheet. What each one shows you, what it hides, and when a private answer is the one that tells the truth.