Knowing about asking simple minded questions, how can I change and use questions to be an effective teacher? Well, first I need to talk with the children not at the children. No one, even young kids, likes to be talked at like they know nothing. When asking questions to the children I need to keep away from yes or no questions, because no real thought goes into them. When you call on a child's name and then ask a question no one else in the class is thinking about the question; they are simply thinking "I am glad it is not me". In order to prevent this we need to ask the question, then wait a few seconds to give the whole class a chance to think about it, and then call on someone to answer. It is also a good idea to call everyone in the classroom, instead of just the kids who raise their hands, this gives everyone a chance to be involved in the class discussion. A good example in how to do this is have a cup and put the children's names on popsicle sticks, and pull them when it is time for questions. When you have pulled someone's stick you put it in an empty cup, and start all over when everyone's name has been drawn. Some of my teacher's did this in high school and it kept everyone tuned into the teacher.
When students answer questions, another effective way to get them talking is to ask them to elaborate on their answers. When we do not get the elaborate answers that we want it's probably because we do not ask the right kind of questions. We need to ask questions that require a thought provoking answer. What kind of question is that? Well, it is a question that causes the student to think about their response, and it is up to them how they answer it. Dr. Chesley calls this an "open ended question" in her video Asking better questions in the classroom. All of the information given leaves me thinking about the questions that I ask, and the responses that they get. It shows that we need to think more before we say anything.
Hello Heather,
ReplyDeleteYou made some really great points in your blog. One point that I could relate to was the one when you stated how teachers will call on just one student to answer; while leaving the others to think "Im glad it's not me". I would have to say that this thought has crossed my mind a couple of times in the classroom. Sometimes the questions techers ask can be confusing and hard to understand. When teachers call on their students and they dont know the answer, it does not always mean the child doesn't know it. Sometimes it could be that they dont understand the question that is being asked. So yes it is very important for teachers to be mindful of the way they ask questions because it's important for the students to understand them.
Heather, your blog addressed something that I hadn’t given much thought to: Dumb questions. No one wanted to call them that out of respect for the person, but that is a good point to make. We’ve all been staring at our teacher, thinking, “How in the world do I answer that stupid question?” It’s a little counterproductive when you need to give an answer and your brain pops in that question. So, you are right in saying that we should advance our thinking so that our children will be able to ask more substantive questions that will allow better responses. It is vital to know how to ask the right questions and have an engaging discussion, and our children deserve it.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I was expounding on ways to make sure every child had a chance to answer a question and getting them involved in the discussion, at one point or another. Out of the ways I came up with, none of them involved the popsicle stick, but that is a great idea that I will add with my own, of which one was to have a flag with stand on each students’ desk and they would take it down when they have answered a question, thereby feeling relieved they wouldn’t have to answer the next question. The central point is to include all the different techniques that involve asking questions and allow the students the opportunity to express their creative minds.
From your last paragraph, I see that you would like the video on my blog, Asking Effective Questions, which is a lecture and offers some great insight into asking questions in a college setting. You are right that students need to be asked questions that illicit more than one possible response and never a tactless yes or no reply. I’ve never liked close-ended questions myself and it seems like you don’t either, because what can anyone possibly learn from them, in a, let’s say, reply to something from a Shakespeare play? Staging the question to give a “beefy” answer is what we should be giving our students and I think you have learned a lot about that. I enjoyed reading your blog and very happy that you got a lot out of the subject for this week on asking the right questions.
Very good!
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