Into the Classroom: A Practical Guide for Starting Student Teaching

Chapter 9: Asking Questions

Chapter 9 Asking Questions Asking questions is an essential part of teaching. Asking questions is also central to good learning. One study revealed that new teachers ask roughly one question per minute. Another showed that 80 percent of classroom talk centers on asking, answering, and reacting to questions. Anything teachers do that often should be done well. Requesting that students answer questions is a great way to move students out of passive learning into active learning. Passive learners absorb what they are taught. They often sit and listen. “You teach me” is their maxim. Active learners participate more fully in the learning process. They ask and answer questions, interact with new information, and respond with ideas of their own. Active learners engage with the material presented. Helping students make the transition from passive to active learning requires a skillful teacher. The teaching objective is to move passive students beyond simply restating what you have told them to pulling ideas together and drawing conclusions. In this chapter, you will gain insight into the difference between passive and active learning. You will learn nine techniques for using questions effectively in your classroom. You will also learn how to deal with wrong answers. Examine the Intent and Purpose of Your Questions To examine your use of questions in the classroom, you need to distinguish between two types of questions: procedural and content. Procedural questions are those that deal with classroom routine (for example, Does everyone have their textbook? Who needs a worksheet?) Content questions are those that advance the lesson. Early in their preparation to be teachers, I request that students write a purpose for each content question in their lesson plans. (If you recall, I include a list of questions in the instructional sequence section of my lesson plan.) The exercise is difficult. It makes the students ponder the intent and value of each 80 Classroom Instruction question, and how individual questions fit into the set of questions, and what the set of questions accomplishes. At first, students tend to write questions that exercise recall skills. After seeing the word recall marching down the list of questions, they begin to change the kind and purpose of the questions. When they finish the assignment, their lessons include a variety of questions. The purposes often include: review, monitor comprehension, practice application of a formula, develop prediction and estimation skills, use analytical skills, practice skills used in assessment, and transfer knowledge from one situation to another. Usually, one use of this exercise is sufficient to make student teachers aware of the value of analyzing questions. With time, analyzing questions and question sets becomes an automatic, subconscious process. I also request that student teachers analyze their sets of questions for progression of difficulty, logical order, and balance between convergent and divergent questions. Questioning Techniques The following is a description of nine techniques that will increase the effectiveness of asking questions in the classroom. I suggest you practice them the next time you teach a lesson. Remember, the techniques here are based on observation and research. The way you implement them is your artistic expression. (1) After asking a question, wait three to five seconds before you call on a student to answer it. This one technique alone will improve the quality and quantity of your students ’ responses. This short wait time produces near miraculous results. Your students produce more complex and longer answers. The wait promotes higher levels of thinking. More students are ready to answer the questions, not just the verbally quick and intuitive students. Also, increased wait time is helpful to English language learners. To the new and nervous teacher, three seconds can seem like an eternity. To the enthusiastic teacher who has a discussion rolling, it may seem like a break in the momentum.Iassureyou,athree- tofive-secondwaitwillnotdamage your lesson; it will enhance it. Increasing your wait time to three to five seconds takes practice. I fall into the enthusiastic teacher category; I find myself increasing the pace of the class during discussions when the students are answering well; however, I know that to keep their answers of high quality, I have to let them think before talking. To use up some of my energy and keep Asking Questions 81 the pace of the lesson slower, I stroll from one side of the room to the other between asking a question and requesting a specific student to answer. When I first...