Sunday, February 8, 2015

Blog Post #4

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

   Asking effective question's is a important factor of being a teacher. I never was really the type of student to immediately raise my hand an answer questions, whether I knew the answer or not. I also never realized how the wording of questions can make a difference on what kind of answer you get from your students. As a future educator, I want every student to be engaged in answering questions and even asking questions of their own. In my future classroom, I want to generate a strategy to get my students actively answering questions without me forcing it out of them.

I found that all of the sources that were suggested were very helpful. Two sources that I found very helpful were: Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom and Questioning Styles and Strategies.
    A sun with a question mark about his head.
  • In the blog, Three Ways to Ask Better Questions, the author makes wonderful suggestions to take into consideration when asking questions. Her first tip to asking good questions is preparing your question. I never knew asking questions could required prep time before asking, but when dealing with students you never know what kind of answers you will get so you need to be prepared for any type that is thrown your way. The second tip she suggest is, play with your question. Playing with questions means, asking it but leaving it unanswered and come back to it once your students have had time to think in depth about the answer. You can also play with a question when you are preparing them. Make sure you ask your questions in the best possible way that students understand. Finally, her third tip is preserving good questions. You want to preserve the good questions for possible test questions, pop quiz's questions, and even bonus questions on test.
  • My most favored source was the Question Style and Strategies video. I love how the teacher in the video uses a variety of different techniques and styles in his teaching. A few techniques that were used in this video were: provisional writing and cueing, think pair and share, random calling, surveying, student calling, and value feedback. Having students answer a question in a journal and then compare their answers with another classmate may help students feel less nervous about answering questions, especially if they are questions that can have a variety of answers. Randomly calling on a student makes sure that all of your students are thinking about the questions asked, because no one wants to get called on and not have some kind of answer ready. I also like how he had a student call on another student to share, it makes students aware that their teacher is not just "picking on" them. Giving students valuable and positive feedback is a MUST! Boost their self confidence! When they answer correctly or if they give elaboration to an question without it being forced, repeat that adverb or descriptive word and show them that you acknowledged and appreciated their effort and it will make them want to answer more frequently.


1 comment:

  1. Alison,
    First let me say I enjoyed reading your post because of how detailed and specific you were. While there is a large amount of text, I did not feel like you were being repetitive or rambling. I agree that giving students positive feedback is extremely important. Few thing will crush a child's spirit like a teacher telling them their opinions are completely wrong or do not matter. I think you pulled out some great points from these blogs and videos that will help you ask better questions as an educator.

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