Why Questioning?

Found at From-Student-to-Teacher Tumblr
From Joy of Literacy

Last week became questioning week with student teachers. It came up in two action plans and we were able to have some really interesting discussions about it.

A lot of what I'm writing about here is from work with David Coffey, inspired by Kathy Coffey, and processed from Mosaic of Thought (link includes Chap.1 as a sample) among other books. Neither Dave nor I can remember the actual origin... which is sometimes symptomatic of having done it yourself.

In my own growth as a teacher questioning is definitely one of the places where effort and reflection have helped me improve. The first level was just asking better math problems. More open-ended, that required more problem solving. When the problems are better, there's more interesting things to ask the students about later. The next was to ask more appropriate questions. Some of those excellent problems I gave to students were too much for students. This is a zone of proximal development idea. When it was too much, I needed to scaffold. Later I learned about rephrasing the question instead of narrowing it. Later still I learned about demonstrations of how I think about a problem, sometimes more appropriate than guiding students through it. Then you ask 'what did you notice?', which is - of course - one of the all time great math questions.

One of the best things I ever learned was to stop being the authority. I don't say what is right or wrong. I ask the students if they 'agree or disagree?' That might start an actual conversation. 

One of the first things I really noticed about teaching was that students would tell me that they couldn't do it (whatever it was at the time) but when I asked them questions they could get from beginning to end with no difficulty. So, obviously, I needed to teach them to ask those questions of themselves.   It was difficult. Really difficult. Shifting from asking them 'how to do (next step)?' to 'now what?' and 'how do you know?'

Literacy learning experts are good about this idea of questioning as a process, with the idea that questions are how we move ourselves forward. I like this framework to help me think about the kinds of questions that I'm asking.


Obviously, we have had a tendency to ask too many literal and application questions in math class.  I think about inference questions being predictions, reading between the lines, hypothetical questions and the like. Analysis questions are reflections, synthesis, connections, recommendations and so on.

What I shared that seemed to tie it together for the student teachers is a simple idea: ask to find out what I want to know about. I don't need to ask for answers - I know those. I don't need to ask right or wrong. I need to ask about what they are thinking. Students know when a question is genuine, and this simple idea has improved my assessment more than anything else.  I'm more persistent in getting answers when I really want to know them, also.

From A Softer World

Some good student teacher writing on questioning:

• Caitlin - Open Ended Questions
• Stephanie - Questioning Techniques

One Page Wonders

One option for my students to review, in this mini-6 week semester (odd but true that it seems equally as hard for students to remember the beginning of the course), is a One Page Wonder. I can not remember how I stumbled across them first, but this page at the bookpublisher Tor was the first one I'd seen. They use an old topologists trick to turn a single sheet of paper into an 8 page mini-book that can begin at any page, also be several different four page mini books, or fold to show any one single panel at a time.

When making a story for a one page wonder, it's important to have panels that can go in various orders to get the maximum effect. The first one of my own I made was this Batman one for my son's birthday, and my daughter has made a clever Warriors (the cats) one for herself and a neat gift wonder. Doesn't take long to try, and you'll surely enjoy it - so give it a go!

What's the value for my students? Connections and synthesis are two of the comprehension processes from Mosaic of Thought, the seminal text on teaching for comprehension. (That link goes to the publisher, where there's a sample chapter. Also, they're just now having a sale, $7.50 off. Go quick!). In a one-page wonder summary for the class, you'll have to narrow down to 8 important points, and get to see them connect to each other in different ways. If I get any neat ones turned in, I'll share them here.

Here's the Batman one: (click images for the full size picture)




I even used them in a bible class (also with a vid of how they work).