Simulate student questions before you print the task

Simulate student questions before you print the task

The fastest way to write clearer instructions is to hear the questions first.

The prompt

You are simulating [YEAR LEVEL] [SUBJECT] students reading a task their teacher just handed out.

The class profile: mixed ability, [ANY SPECIFIC CONTEXT: EAL learners, students with reading support needs, one bright kid who reads instructions closely, students who tend to skip past the rubric, etc.].

Here is the draft task:
"""
[PASTE THE FULL TASK BRIEF, INCLUDING ANY RUBRIC OR SUCCESS CRITERIA]
"""

Do three things.

1. List the top 8 questions a student in this class will actually ask in the first five minutes, ranked by how many hands would go up. For each, name the confusion type honestly (unclear verb, ambiguous scope, hidden expectation, format uncertainty, missing example, undefined term, wall of text).

2. Quote the exact sentence or phrase in the task that triggers each question. If the confusion is about something missing rather than present, say so.

3. Rewrite only the sentences that need it, keeping my voice and roughly the same length. Do not rewrite anything already clear. Do not add new requirements or extra scaffolding I did not ask for.

Return the ranked questions first, then the sentence-level triggers, then a clean version of only the sections that changed.

What it does well

It names the type of confusion, so you know whether to rewrite a verb, add an example, or cut a sentence. When it lands, you get eight questions mapped to eight fixable sentences and a rewrite you can drop straight into the document.

Where it falls over

The model does not actually know your kids. Its ranking is a plausible average, not your class. Read the list with two or three specific students in your head, and expect it to miss the question your quiet ones will hold onto until Thursday.

Try it like this

• For Year 5 English: paste the task plus one sentence about the reader who never asks a question, and see what surfaces for that student first.
• For VCE Chemistry SACs: paste the task alongside the relevant study design dot points, and ask it to flag any question about scope that would push the SAC outside the study design.
• If you only have five minutes: paste the task brief with no extra context and take the top three questions as your read-out-loud check tomorrow morning.

You will still get the hand up at 09:07. Just not for the sentence you already fixed.