Blog Post #6

Asking Questions: What questions do we ask? How do we ask?

Ben Johnson's blog post The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom points out some good facts. It addresses the how do we ask part of asking questions as a teacher. After reading this post it dawned on me that what he says is probably true of most teachers. I remember this being true with most of my teachers in elementary and high school. We all know the famous question teachers ask "Does everybody understand?". Ben stated a point that I agree with, because I remember being this way in school, that question is useless. The truth is some students are not even listening when the teacher ask this question, some just nod yes to move on to something else, and some are not even aware that they do not understand fully. The question is a yes or no question,and students will just say what the teacher wants to hear. I can remember sitting in my desk in high school and the teacher asking that questions and 1/3 of the class not even answering. However, the teacher would hear a few yeses and that was conformation to move on. The question is useless. Ben mentions how to use a simple effective approach to asking questions by Mary Budd Rowe. The approach is to ask a specific question. For example, instead of "Does everyone understand?" ask "How do the planets rotate?". Also, after asking a specific question pause three seconds for a response then call on someone. This way is effective because everyone will be thinking of an answer, and only when someone is called on will they be relieved. Everyone will be randomly called on so the students will be prompted to pay more attention and think of an answer to the questions.

Asking Questions to Improve Learning really helped me with the question of "What questions do we ask?" I learned about a few different types of questions and how to properly ask them. Leading questions are questions that suggest the answer and cause students to not think of one on their own, we should avoid these. It is easy to guess correctly to a yes or no question, so it is best to ask an additional question after that. For example, after answering yes or no ask them why is it yes or why is it no. Make sure your questions are clear, specific, and asked one at a time. I learned about three types of questions: open questions, closed questions, and managerial questions. Open questions are questions that are good for discussion and active learning because they bring about multiple or conflicting answers. Closed questions are good at testing comprehension and showing if a student has retained the information well because they have only a limited amount of correct answers. Managerial questions are used to make sure the students have the needed materials and are understanding. This website also helped with how to ask them students questions too. We need to make sure we ask students and give them a reasonable amount of time to respond to our question. Ask and then wait for their response for 5-10 seconds.Make sure not to interrupt the student will they are answering. Show the students that you are listening and are interested in their answers, whether right or wrong. Help the students see what was incorrect about their answer if it is wrong.

The videoQuestioning Style and Strategies is very useful for learning how and what questions to ask also. The teacher provides four questions with one in each learning style. This is useful because it covers comprehension for all types of learners. He uses techniques with each question. He uses the techniques of: provisional writing and cueing, think pair share, random calling, surveying, student calling, value feedback,extending, wait time, and many more. I really liked the techniques because it made the students very alert. They were all waiting to be called on or listening to their classmates answering. He had the whole classroom involved in the discussion and questioning. He not only was calling on students but was getting other students to call out one of their classmates for their answers or discussions.

In conclusion, I learned that as teachers it is extremely important as to how and what questions we ask. Questions are the core of teaching and learning. Teachers should always remember to ask specific and clear questions and one at a time. It is important how you ask students. They need positive feedback whether their answer is right or wrong. Be sure to mix up the types of questions and to randomly call on each student to make sure everyone gets a turn to be asked.