Blog Post 4

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

 How and What Questions Do We Ask? 

This weeks assignment was focused on questions within the classroom. We were assigned to read and watch videos on how to become more involved with our questioning. One of the videos that stuck out to me was "Asking better questions in the classroom" (2:27) by Joanne Chesley. Which focuses on the differences between open and close ended questions that provoke the way that students answer. Check it out here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFMfEVdfDys
In her video, Dr. Chesly describes different ways in which teachers word their questions and how the students respond to their questions based on their wording. The ultimate goal is for teachers to get more than just a yes or no answer from the students. We want the kids to become more engaged with their answers, which would ultimately would lead to more in depth discussions in the classroom.  Simply changing the phrasing in a question you ask will change a close ended question to an open ended question.

                                                  

Another video that I watched that was of interest to me was "Questioning Styles and Strategies" (7:49) by Dr. Harvey Silver. In this video Dr. Silver uses many different techniques and strategies to get the students involved in a discussion about a novel they have read. He ask the kids questions about the book in ways that force them to dive into their feelings and emotions. There were definitely some useful tips in this video, especially for the elementary grade levels. Check out his video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uKqs3D0Z0M

                                              

This blog assignment made me realize just how easy it is to get students more involved with classroom activities and learning. Sometimes you have to think outside of the box and ask yourself what kind of teacher you are going to be. Do you want to be a teacher who just gets a yes/no answer to your question, or do you want to go above and beyond the burp-back.

Created by Jordan Sweat
2/8/2015