Blog Assignment #4

What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher? The first article is called, The Right Way to Ask Questions in the classroom by Ben Johnson. His opening question is, have you ever thought about how silly we teachers can be. He explains that teachers are the ones teaching and giving your information then turns around and starts asking questions like they do not know anything they were just teaching. I have never really thought about how silly that really seems. He then starts to explain the certain groups of students who answer the questions. The smart kids are the group of students who answer questions weather they are right or wrong. The students who are not as smart or the ones who do not care are perfectly fine with letting the smart kids answer. The teacher may think that the student who answers will help the rest of the students learn but he says most likely two-thirds of the class will be not paying attention. He also explains that when a teacher calls on a students and ask a question that the rest of the students that were not call on do not worry about the question or answer because they were not called on. I do believe that is true because it has happen to me several times. The best effective approach to asking questions is to ask the question then pause for a couple of seconds then call on a student. This allows the student to think about the answer before a student is called on.

Asking Questions to Improve Learning explains the strategies for asking questions and how to respond effectively. When planning questions you have to keep in mind your goals and aim for specific questions. When you are planning for your lesson make sure you make a note where you will ask questions. Try to avoid asking leading questions because it discourages students to think on their own. It is good to ask a mix of different types of questions. When you ask a question make sure you wait 5-10 seconds for the students to think about the question. Weather the student is right or wrong; make sure you are interested in what the student is saying. If the student is wrong, ask the student a follow up question to lead the student to the right answer.

The third article is Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom by Maryellen Weimer. Throughout this article, she explains three ways to ask better questions. The first way is to prepare questions. When you are preparing for thee questions you are going to ask you have to think to yourself is this question important? And when should I ask this question? The second way to ask better questions is to play with questions, which means leaving the question unanswered for a while and using strategies to make the student think about the answer. The third is to preserve good questions. It will be effective it you write down the questions the students ask so you can revise the question and the content.

The YouTube video, Asking Better Questions in the Classroom by Dr. Chesley explains opening and closing questions. Close ending questions can be answered with usually one word like yes or no. Open ending questions are questions that the student has to think more about what the answer is. It allows the student to provide more information and come up with a variety of responses.

This YouTube video is called Questioning Styles and Strategies. This video is taking place in a fifth grade classroom. The teacher goes over the four comprehension points which are mastery, interpersonal, understanding and self-expressive. He asks the students what does Terabithia look think. He then tells the students to turn to their neighbor and see what they put too. He calls on a random student and then asks that student to call on another student. He then asks if any student has any other additional information to add. I really liked this strategy because it gives the chance for all the students to get involved.