ASKING EFFECTIVE QUESTIONS IN THE CLASSROOM

I had a Spotlight visit last week and during the debrief I was asked about the questions I posed to my students during the lesson.  I gave a very mediocre response in that I said I just kind of see where students are having trouble and ask questions or for students who are getting it ask them the 'why' behind their answers.  After some reflection on my answer (actually a week later), I realized that there is much more to their important question.  And I realized that what may come very easy for me now was actually a struggle several years ago.  I read an article, "Asking Effective Questions", several years ago that has become my personal guideline every year in the classroom.  I still have the article and it sits in the back of my lesson plan book as a constant reminder that asking effective questions is as important as the lesson itself.


The article states eight tips for asking effective questions.  Here are the ones that I currently find meaningful and why they do - it is interesting to note that certain ones do not have meaning for me one year but then the next year it becomes meaningful to me.  I believe that is because we are always at a different place in our teaching career and our needs are always changing based on so many different factors.



1. "Anticipate Student Thinking"
I like this tip the most because it challenges me in so many different ways.  The tip states, "an important part of planning a lesson is engaging in solving the lesson problems in a variety of ways."  Wow.  I am challenged to find another way to solve the problem and find another way to solve the problem and another way, etc.  The value in this tip is that it forces me to think of a problem in multiple ways and gives me an opportunity to see how students might approach the problem.  I will be honest, it is difficult to do this for every single problem, but the philosophy behind the tip resonates so much with me - there is no one way to solve a problem!



3.  "Pose Open Questions"

The tip states, "an open question is one that encourages a variety of approaches and responses."  The opposite of an open question is a closed question which is defined as a question that has a single answer.  Here are some examples - "What is 4+6? versus Is there another way to make 10?  and How many sides does a quadrilateral have? versus What do you notice about these figures?"  While open questions may be difficult to ask all the time because we want all students to know that problems do eventually have one and only one right answer, the challenge is to ask more open questions during the class period in an effort to challenge students to think at a higher level.  My favorite question and the one I always default to when I am stuck myself, is, "Why?"  I did not notice I how often I used it until someone pointed it out that I am always asking my students why.  I want students to explain themselves in an effort to make them better communicators.




8.  "Provide wait time"
This is my weakest area for sure.  It is an area that I continue to tell myself that students need a safe moment or two to think about the question and to form a proper response.  I have a quick paced classroom and this tip forces me to slow down and allow students the process time they deserve.  Some days are better than others but I try and remind myself to follow this tip.


The ultimate challenge the article leaves me with every time I read it is,

"Never say anything a kid can say?" (Reinhart, 2000, p. 480)

I encourage you to read the article, "Asking Effective Questions" through the Capacity Building Series.

Asking Effective Questions Article
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/cbs_askingeffectivequestions.pdf

Teaching and still loving it,

Kevin Stott

De Anza Middle School