Blog Post #4

What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher?

            As teachers we spend a lot of time asking questions but are we asking effective questions? For blog post number four we were introduced to many resources that address this specific topic. “Asking Questions to improve learning” (http://teachingcenter.wustl.edu/strategies/Pages/asking-questions.aspx) was the website that I found the most helpful. On this website you learn about general strategies for asking questions, responding effectively, open ended questions, and refining your questions. This website talks about almost every step of the questioning process beginning with your planning. Then goes over how to specifically asking your questions while teaching. I learned that you should always ask a second question following a yes or no question while teaching. I found this website the most helpful!

            The second source I enjoyed was “The Right Way to Ask Questions” (http://www.edutopia.org/blog/asking-better-questions-deeper-learning-ben-johnson). This article is less factual and more about the general do’s and don’ts. This beginning talking about mistakes teachers often make when asking questions in the classroom. I found this very eye opening. For example a teacher asking the class if everyone understands and without making sure that all the students actually do understand they automatically moving on. This is an example of an ineffective question that many teachers ask. Teachers should give their students a moment to take in the question and make sure that they all do actually understand before moving on to the next concept.