Blog Post #4

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

When you prepare for class, make up specific questions that you will ask the students or that you think they will ask you.  Doing this will increase participation and will also encourage active learning.  The resources that were given, to help me figure out the answer to this particular question gave me a lot of thought on how questions should really be asked. 

In the post, "The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom" by Ben Johnson, it mainly focuses on how the teacher was asking questions to see if the students understand what they just covered and then just moving right along is really not enough.  To fully get the students undivided attention, you have to be excited in what you are talking about and call on them to make sure they are paying attention.  When asking certain questions, it's not necessary for all of your questions to be directed to one person, give all of the students a chance, because you don't want to embarrass a student if you continue to call on them and they may not know the answer.
                                           

Another resource I enjoyed reading was "Asking Questions to Improve Learning", which had some different strategies for asking questions and how to respond effectively to them.  A few examples of them are when planning questions, always keep in mind your course goals, aim for direct, clear, specific questions.  When in a class discussion, do not ask more than one question at once, do not interrupt a student answers, and develop responses that will keep the students thinking.  While I was reading these examples,  they really stuck with me because some I was familiar with and some I didn't know of.

After reading the posts and watching the videos, I feel that they were a very helpful tool for me.  Going back to the main question, "What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher?"  I have an idea on how to handle it.