It made me realise that maybe I need to be more open and share my teaching journey. So the idea is to write a few blogs about what I have done in the past and doing now.
This one came about while reading all the tweets during Steve Mouldey presentation at the Edchat.
Having spent the last 10+ years with Ofsted breathing down my throat you do develop some nifty skills and questioning was one of them. When observed, inspectors needed to consider whether: “teachers use questioning and discussion to assess the effectiveness of their teaching and promote pupils’ learning”
Therefore headteachers in our very regular observation used to follow a lot that was outlined here so that we all could ' be 'outstanding' teachers. Yes, many did turn up with the class list to make sure you asked every child!
Teachers are great at asking questions!
• Teachers ask up to two questions every minute, up to 400 in a day, around 70,000 a year, or two to three million in the course of a career
• Questioning accounts for up to a third of all teaching time, second only to the time devoted to explanation
• Most questions are answered in less than a second. That's the average time teachers allow between posing a question and accepting an answer, throwing it to someone else, or answering it themselves.
In a traditional teaching classroom, the questions are very teacher centred. Hands go up, teacher picks a frantically waving hand (which is usually accompanied by noise??), question is answer, response is usually a' no' (if they got it wrong) moves on to next waving noisy child who answers it correctly to which the teachers responds with either a ‘yes’ or ‘ well done' and then quickly moves on as they are aware they need to get this lesson done.
But has any real learning taken place? Has any of the class had the opportunity to reflect on their own thinking and learning? Have the children had the chance to ask questions as well? How do we then go about appropriately checking for understanding?
We end up ‘pinging’ all these questions out into the room but all that is coming back are ‘general’ answers. We also don’t allow children to ask questions. Majority of the questions asked in a classroom are from the teacher!
Effective questioning can be used to:
• Identify where pupils are currently in their learning
• Expand and deepen their learning
•Develop critical thinking skills.
•Increase motivation or interest
•Nurture insights
•Stimulate independent learning
"Good learning starts with questions, not answers," says Guy Claxton. The consensus is that questioning leads to more effective learning - and more enjoyable teaching - than explanation alone.
So how can we improve our questioning techniques?
Questioning is an integral part of a teachers everyday life. But if you're going to be asking millions of questions, it's probably worth making sure you ask the right ones in the right way.
I love asking questions! A colleague of mine will tell you I tend to great him most days with a question.
These are just a few things I do in the classroom. I am no expert and all these ideas have come from readings, professional developments other teacher etc.
• Ask fewer questions- As they always say 'less is more'.
• Prepare key questions
• Involve the whole class (multi choice, on line, moving to a place etc)
• Think, pair, share
• Provide think time- 5- 10 seconds. If you’re asking deeper questions you need to allow the class to have time to think and ponder their answer.
• Try no hands up
Stop now and think of your class and I bet you can name those same 3 who always put their hands up? How often do you go straight to them for the answer? The 'no hands up' is great. I was one of those students who hated putting my hand up to ask a question- the fear of being made to look silly not wrong. Research shows that student's main fear is not of being wrong, but of looking silly. Such "peer fear" is the main obstacle to students answering and asking questions Lots of children are like this. It also means that you are more likely not to always choose the same students as well, meaning you are engaging everyone. Try using lollipop sticks (where you have the entire classes name on sticks and randomly pick one out) or the IWB that randomly picks children names or like me, I just pick. Even if they are not comfortable at answering the question, offer two or more options and let the student choose one e.g. 'phone a friend' where they get to ask someone else to answer the question.
• Avoid NO!
We can't always be right but what we need to do is foster an environment where children feel safe to answer questions. Reward every answer regardless by the way you respond.
“What do you mean by…?”
“Can you give me an example?”
"What are your reasons for saying this?”
“Can you be more specific?”
“Let me see if I understand you. Do you mean…?”
“Could you explain your answer further?”
“Can you rephrase your answer?”
• Ask more ‘open’ questions, question the answer, develop deep thinking questions, Ask why?
Blooms Taxonomy provides a structure for developing questions that encourage students to think on different levels. In order, the levels are:
Knowledge (facts, recall, recognition)
Comprehension (translation, interpretation, extrapolation)
Application (to new or unfamiliar situations)
Analysis (break into parts)
Synthesis (combine elements into a new pattern)
Evaluation (apply criteria to defend the conclusion)
"Asking good questions is the basis for becoming a successful learner," says Guy Claxton. "If children aren't asking questions, they're being spoon-fed. That might be effective in terms of getting results, but it won't turn out curious, flexible learners suited to the 21st century."
It is about getting students to think more critically enabling them to have a better understanding of what they are learning. Effective questioning isn't a one-way process. If we asks the kind of questions that stimulate thought and debate, there's a strong chance our students will also start to ask more.
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