Blog Post #4

To learn more about Asking Questions: What questions do we ask? How do we ask?,  I explored the articles and videos, Asking better questions in the classroom by Joanne Chesley, 

Open Ended Questions, and Asking Questions to Improve Learning,  to better inform myself on the subject.

I have always thought the best way to get students involved more with their learning was to ask open ended questions.  In the YouTube video, Open Ended Questions, Mrs. Andi Stix gives us some great examples of how to properly ask open ended questions.  By doing this, we offer our students a broader question and in return we may yield  a broader set of answers.  Some examples would be starting the question by saying "For what reasons" or "In what ways".  This opens the question up for the students to create more of a list than just one simple answer.

Through reading the article, Asking Questions to Improve Learning, we should ask clear, specific and direct questions.  Being specific in your questions will demand more specific answers from your students.  Sticking to one question at a time is also a good concept.  Asking more than one question in a lesson can confuse students and cause them to just stay silent and not answer any question at all.  Making sure you are clear on what you are asking is important for them to compose their conclusion. Here is the link to the article, http://teachingcenter.wustl.edu/strategies/Pages/asking-questions.aspx#.VNgxKmh4ra4

In my humble opinion, the answer is only as good as the question asked.  I think that if you expect a great answer, you'd better ask a great question.  In the YouTube video, Asking Better Questions in the Classroom by Joanne Chesley, my point here is validated.  Here, she says, "we are getting exactly what we ask for".  This is where I agree with her.  If we ask closed ended questions we are only going to get short yes or no answers and we will not be giving our students the encouragement to think beyond the question.  Asking questions that are inviting or require thoughtful types of response are the kind of questions that we as educators should be asking our students.  Here is the link to her video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFMfEVdfDys

If you are trying to engage and inspire your students with strong questions and debates, you need to also be prepared for what they actually do respond with.  If their answers are way off, maybe we should take time to explore why they may have come to the conclusion that they did. Preparation is one of the best tools a teacher can possess.  You should always have your outline prepped and ready when you walk into a classroom.  How can you expect your lesson to be beneficial to your students if you are ill prepared to administer it.  I think that having your questions lined up and studied, you will have a better chance of making them more valuable to your students.