Temperature Check
A temperature check is a brief real-time polling move by which a workshop leader gathers cohort-state signal — who is ready, who is confused, who agrees, who has prior experience — without pausing for full reflection or writing. Temperature checks take thirty seconds to two minutes, use lightweight mechanisms (physical body signals, finger counts, spatial positioning, emoji reactions), and serve the leader's status-awareness function. The polling-and-temperature family is built around temperature-check mechanisms of varying forms: Stand-Up / Sit-Down (binary), Fist-of-Five (five-point scale), Four-Corners (four-position spatial). The principle maps to the Status Awareness guiding principle, which names real-time cohort-state reading as one of the seven Active Learning principles.
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Related Terms
- Status Awareness
- Status awareness is the active-learning principle that the workshop leader maintains an accurate, real-time pulse on participant comprehension through designed signals — temperature checks, polls,…
- Graduated Signal
- A graduated signal is a polling mechanism that captures response along a continuous or ordinal scale rather than a binary yes/no. Graduated signals produce richer distribution data than binary polling…
- Spatial Positioning
- Spatial positioning is the polling mechanism in which participants physically (in person) or digitally (virtual) move to a designated location corresponding to their chosen response. Spatial…
Mentioned In
- Stand-Up / Sit-Down
Stand-Up / Sit-Down is a brief real-time polling activity in which the workshop leader asks a question and participants respond with a physical body signal — standing up for "yes," "agree," or "true…