This week, one of our readings included an article from Cornell University titled: Using Effective Questions. This article has really helped me think about different ways to use thought provoking questions in the classroom. When students are given the chance to ask questions, and in some cases given the chance to try and answer their own questions, There is a real opportunity for them to learn or even spark an interest they never realized they had. Unfortunately as students get older, they tend to ask less questions. In order to combat this, we as educators need to be sure we are giving the students the opportunity they need to ask questions.So what type of questions should we ask?
According to Cornell University, when we are asking our students questions, we should be very careful that we do not ask them close-ended questions if we want them to really think about a topic. These questions can be used to do a quick comprehension check though. We should also avoid questions that may be considered "loaded" or a questions that we are looking for a specific response, as the students may just try to guess what you are thinking of. The questions we should be asking are the more open ended and probing questions. These questions give the students an opportunity to take what they have learned or are going to be learning and try to come up with not only a response to the question, but also a way to defend their response.
There are five powerful questions that we should all be asking our students according to Rebecca Alber in her article at edutopia.org, These questions include:
- What do you think?
- Why do you think that?
- How do you know this?
- Can you tell me more?
- What questions do you still have?
As you can see, these are all questions which would really make the students think and come up with ways to defend their answers. Each questions works off of the one before it to ensure student understanding of the materials.
So how will I use this in student teaching in the Spring? Well as I begin teaching, I believe I will get better at asking students questions. As I get better at asking questions, I will continue to look for more questions I can ask the students during lessons. Once I get to where I am comfortable with asking these questions I believe my student teaching is going to go much smoother than if I were not to get better. Asking questions and helping students answer questions is a major part of the learning process, When I learn how to do that in a more clear and concise way, I will definitely be one step closer to becoming a teacher.
