Blog Post #4

"What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher?" (John Strange. Blog post #4). This is our main focus for this blog.

This week we read a few articles and watched a couple of videos on asking effective questions(references listed at the bottom). There were a lot of great suggestions on style, technique, and types of questions. Some of the articles spoke about how, as an effective teacher, we need to steer away from general questions. It is important to be very selective with our questions. One way to do this is to write questions prior to the lesson. This allows for questions to be thought out and well placed. You can also save good questions such as ones a student might ask in one class to use in the next.
A topic mentioned in multiple sources is that of open-ended questions versus close-ended questions. Close-ended questions are ones that require a short answer such as yes, no, or a short phrase that fully answers the question asked. These types of questions also are known to lead a student to the answer. For example, "If a community has a high poverty level, there would be more families on welfare, right?". An open-ended question is one that requires more thinking. An example of an open-ended questions could be "Can you list  some of the effects high poverty levels might have on a community". By asking to list answers one allows a student various ways to answer a question. These types of questions tend to give the student an option as to the form of the answer given. It is better to ask open-ended questions in order to get students thinking more critically.
Style and technique were two other topics brought up multiple times in the source list. I found it interesting to realize that what style you use in questioning directly effects what style your students use to answer. Sometimes students will even repeat the question back to you as they answer the question. That is one reason it is so important for effective teachers to model good questioning styles and strategies. Learning proper questioning strategies is important for students to learn and use throughout all aspects of their life.

The article I found, Asking Good Questions, did a great job explaining and breaking down Blooms Taxonomy and other paths of questioning. This article talks about different methods we, as effective teachers, need to know and practice.

Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom
Asking Questions to Improve Learning
The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom
Asking better questions in the classroom
Questioning Styles and Strategies
The Right Question Institute
Open Ended Questions