Going through school as a kid, I always picked up on the different techniques each teacher used to interact with their class and most importantly, how they asked the class questions. I've had the teachers who go through the role and ask each individual student a question. I have had a teacher who would draw names out of a jar. There were even the ones who would ask the class in general and usually get no response at all. Sometimes these methods were effective, but those moments were few and far in between.
In The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom, Ben Johnson addresses these different techniques and boldly challenges each one. Based on his observations, it can be concluded that the way in which students react to these methods are very predictable. Therefore, we as educators must take a different approach in which the students will not expect and have no choice but to predetermine their answers. Each student must be randomly selected and asked questions. Johnson brings a universal, successful method to the table that every educator should use. First, ask the question. Next, wait three seconds (I would wait a few more). Last, call on a random student's name. This appears to be a very good go-to system of asking questions. I will admit that I tucked this trick in my pocket of things to remember for teaching in the future. This helps us answer the question of how. Now, what kind of questions should we ask?
 |
| Poor Sam |
Now, just what kind of questions should we ask in the classroom? According to Mrs. Chesley in Asking Better Questions in the Classroom Pt. 1, we should be asking open ended questions and not closed ones. Yes, of course, there will always be some students who can take a closed ended question and still go into detail with their answer. This may be true, but there are still students who will answer it as simply as you give it to them. This means that they will answer only yes or no if that answer suffices the question being asked. But by using Mrs. Chesley's example from her video, it is extremely simple to take a closed ended sentence and turn it into a question that forces the students to think. It's all about sentence structure and leaving it up to the student to explain.
Let's take it a step further. We have how to ask a question and what kind of questions to ask. But how does this all come together? We have to have a strategy in our classroom. We have to have a way we interact. In Questioning Styles and Strategies, the teacher displays his strategy in the classroom. Based on the response from his students, he seems to have a very productive method. What I liked best about his strategy is that it throws in the students' creativity. He wasn't simply asking facts or simple questions about the book the kids had read. He was allowing them to use some of their own creative techniques to interact with the text and their fellow classmates. He always left the questions open and took his questions further after each answer he received. He used random calling of names to answer questions and even allowed his students to call on the next student. I completely agree with his methods and will definitely be stealing a few of his ideas!
 |
| Let's Have a Discussion Shall We? |
Excellent
ReplyDeleteThanks Dr. Strange!
Delete