Weekly Vitamins: The Essential Nutrients for an Involved Classroom

This week we read about asking effective questions in the classroom. There are many reasons teachers ask questions and there are many types of questions they can ask. 

Why ask questions?

Cornell University says that there are several reasons:

• check student understanding of the materials
• keep student's attention and encourage participation
• review or summarize what they've just learned
• promote critical thinking
• encourage students to put their reasoning into words rather than linger in their thoughts

In my mind, questions are the most effective tool a teacher can use to teach. You don't have to buy it, don't need to physically put something together.. you don't even need to write it down (though it's recommended)! Just asking questions lets the teacher know where their students are at in their learning and can get them refocused if they are off track. 

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Questions should hold meaning, and meet the goal the teacher is trying to reach, not just going through the motions. If the students need to know something specific, they might hear a closed question. Open-ended may have multiple answers that students can use their prior knowledge to figure out the best response. Discussion can be a great tool to not only practice critical thinking and reasoning skills but also communication and debate skills. Rhetorical questions are also effective by forcing students to think.

What techniques can make questions more effective in the classroom?

I think a lot of it depends on the context of what students are learning and the goal the teacher desires to reach. However, there are some really good tips offered by the University of Florida. 

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One tip is to avoid asking "are there any questions?". How many times have I asked that and was received with blank stares. Whether it was in meetings or workshops or classrooms, I assumed silence meant my audience had no questions and completely understood. But I know there were times when that question was turned on me. Did I have questions? Yes. Did I ask them when the teacher asks if anyone has any questions? Most likely no. Unless I was confident that other students had similar questions or I knew I was not going to be judged for my question, I tended to stay quiet and wait until the end of class. If I can rephrase that question so that I am asking students more meaningful questions, I'll be able to determine who needs help and with what.

Another tip I saw was to wait 5-7 seconds after asking a question for a response. Teachers want to ask these meaningful questions but sometimes expect these equally meaningful answers right away. Students don't know what they're going to ask, so they need some more time to process the question and come up with a good answer. By pushing after only a second or two isn't giving them enough time to think and have a quality answer. I think I've even heard that teachers should wait at least 10 seconds on complex questions. Some students simply need more time. 

Who are our students?

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In some of the TED talks we watched, they talked about student value. Students are very talented and intelligent. And they are not too far off from being thrown into the real world once they reach high school. They should be respected as adults and valued for their thoughts and innovative ideas. Teachers are teaching them how to be adults and yet, when they want to talk about complex and more "adult" things like politics or news, some may automatically assume they can't handle a conversation like that. Teachers should use their wisdom to share, not hide for only those around their age. 

Leaving Thought

"When you ask for genius, it will show up, if you believe it"--Angela Maiers