Blog Post 4

Photo By: Article: Lead Me On

Asking Questions: What do we ask? How do we ask it?

The driving question that I will be discussing is "What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher?" I think there are many different ways that this question could be answered and I don't think there is a wrong answer either. I believe that asking students questions is the main way students stay engaged in any activity they are doing. As teachers, we need to base our questions off of how we think they will best benefit our students understand the material being asked. With every classroom students are different and as teachers we will have to use our own judgment call as to how our students will benefit from them. A point, that Ben Johnson makes in the article The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom, is that we as teachers ask the question "Do you understand?" and if no one answers we assume all the students understand. In actuality, Ben Johnson points out that if the student really doesn't understand he/she will not know they don't understand. In other words, there is no way they can answer a question they know nothing about or don't understand. As teachers, I think we should take the time to make sure our questions are not so vague in order to get good responses from the students.
In the article, Asking Questions to Improve Learning, it mentions that as teachers we should avoid asking "leading questions." I think that this is so true because a leading question gives the student a sort of hint to the answer, so they are not fully thinking critically on their own like they should be. Also, as teachers we should let the students fully answer and not interrupt or fill in what they are leaving out while they are still developing their own answer. To further answer the question "What do we ask" According to the article Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom, we need to prepare our questions ahead of time. I think that this is a great suggestion. Not all teachers remember to do this, but while planning the lesson it is best to jot down potential critical questions that will better the lesson or activity. This way the teacher will be ready to ask questions that will benefit the students and help them to stay engaged.
Lastly, to look at "How do we ask the questions?" According to the video Questioning Styles and Strategies, teachers should ask in a self-expressive way to get the students attention or use an extended questioning method to further students thinking. There are many ways that teachers ask questions to students. If we (the teachers) take the time to value our questions and really think about how we ask them, then the students will benefit greater than listening and not comprehending questions being asked.