Monday, December 05, 2016

Teaching Tip #65


Teacherscribe’s Teaching Tip #65
What kinds of questions do you ask your students?
I still – after 19 years – fall in the trap of asking too many ‘yes’ and ‘no’ questions or even leading questions (you know the kind where you fish for one specific answer and one specific answer only).
This edtopia post offers some alternatives: 5 Powerful Questions Teachers Can Ask Their Students.  They aren’t game-changers, but they serve as a good reminder to me that I can ask simple questions that still cause the students to think and respond in broader, more complex ways.
1.  What do you think?  Simple, right.  Yet, this little questions gives students a chance to give us feedback on how they are processing our instructions or lessons.
2.  Why do you think that?  Not so simple.  At least for me.  I don’t know that I have ever even asked this question before.  This pushes students to support their thinking.  Imagine that?  Rather than just telling me what I want to hear!
3.  How do you know this?  Again, simple but so effective.  This allows them to make connections (and that is something I’m big on, yet I have never asked this question in class either!) to what they have read, seen, or heard.
4. Can you tell me more?  This allows students to extend their thinking and share their connections and experiences.
5.  What questions do you still have?  A last call for those who maybe didn’t want to volunteer anything with question number one.

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