Blog Post 4

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

Asking questions to a class may seem like a no-brainer thing to do, but that's not the case. A teacher can ask questions all day long and still not obtain any usable feedback as to whether the class is really understanding the material. That's why it's important for teachers to know how to ask questions and that's where The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom by Ben Johnson becomes essential information for teachers. Questions that are asked to the class need to be asked the right way. That consist of asking open ended questions and also asking questions that after a few seconds if no one answers the teacher will call on someone to answer. That's the most effective way to get the class to really thinking about the material at hand.




I found the video by Andi Stix about asking Open Ended Questions to be helpful also. Her video is not just about asking open ended questions, it's about asking a question in a way that students will be challenged to dig deep and really think about the question they're about to answer. As aspiring teachers, this is a tactic that we will need to familiarize ourselves with to better understand what the students actually know. Don't just throw out questions that don't support any real feedback. Make every answer count by asking the right questions.