Blog Post #4

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

What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher?

When a teacher asks questions in class it can help her to know if the students understand the subject being taught. Asking questions also helps to encourage class participation.  Putting some time into thinking about how questions will be asked can in turn help the students to develop a deeper level of thinking. In the article Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom by Maryellen Wiemer, I learned there are three recommendations she has for improving the questions teachers ask.

1.) Prepare Questions - taking time to write down and evaluate the questions you will ask can help you to know if it will be the right question at the right time. It will also help you to make sure the question is clear to the students. Also make sure to ask the questions in a way that leads the students to give more detailed and specific answers rather than just a "yes" or "no."

2.) Play with Questions - if a question is left unanswered for a few moments you can take that opportunity to include some tactics that would help motivate the students to think about it. Perhaps even give the students the opportunity to write down their answers as well as discuss it with classmates. 

3.) Preserve good Questions - teachers can keep records of the questions they asked as well the responses from previous students and use it to help current and future students.

However, regardless of the time and thought a teacher gives to the questions she will ask in class, there will be students who choose not to participate in answering questions because they do not know the answer or don't care. The article  The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom  by Ben Johnson gives a beneficial approach to this issue. By asking a question and giving a brief pause the teacher can give the students a few moments to reflect on the question asked. Then the teacher can call out a name at random to give an answer. The teacher can also make it known that if a name is called once it CAN be called again. If a student knows their name can be called at random and more than once, it would hopefully motivate them to better study their class material to be more prepared if they are asked a question.

I have learned that in asking questions in class I can be a more effective teacher in remembering to do the following: prepare my questions before class time, make sure I ask questions that leave room for discussion to help encourage deeper thinking, ask my questions clearly and in a way that is not confusing to the students, and call on students at random rather than asking for a raised hand to ensure everyone an attempt at participating.