Thursday, June 13, 2013

Blog Post 6

questions

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

When I was in K-12 I hated when teachers would ask the class a question, wait until someone, well no one, answered the question, then call on a random student. It made me uncomfortable and scared I was going to be the one they called on. Maybe it was because I didn't know the material, some of the time, but many times I just didn't know if I had the right answer because of the way they worded the question. Now, especially while being in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class, I have realized that asking questions is very important!

If a teacher never asks his/her students questions, how do they know if the students understand? Also, why just give them the answers rather than letting them explore and figure it out themselves? In doing that, students are only being hurt in the long run.

I think Asking Questions to Improve Learning does a very good job at pointing out the important things about asking questions. Asking questions can help involve students in the classroom, understand how much they are learning and comprehending, learn to talk in front of peers and adults, and have confidence to answer a question they know. As a teacher, I will try to plan the questions I will ask my students while I'm planning my lessons. It is important to be specific in the questions you are asking students. It is also important to ask one question at a time so they aren't confused about which question they are supposed to be answering.

I agree with Dr. Strange in that "questions are more important than answers." Especially with the technology we have today, children have the resources to find out the answer to any question! One of my professors told us a story the other day about his eight year old daughter. She came to her dad and told him that she didn't know how to figure out the circumference of a circle. Instead of telling her the answer, he told her to go use her iPad, computer, or tablet and find the answer. About thirty minutes later his daughter came back to him with her iPad in one hand and a pen and paper in the other hand. She had searching online for "how to find the circumference of a circle", found a video that gave her instructions and practiced suggested problems. He was so impressed with how she was able to go and research and find the answer to her own question. That just confirms why we shouldn't just give children the answer!

3 comments:

  1. What sources helped you reach these conclusions other than me?

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  2. Kaylee,

    I like that you are already planning what you will and will not do in your classroom. I am totally with you on the asking one question at a time. I feel that when multiple questions are asked at one time they are turned into an off topic discussion. I enjoyed reading your post and seeing your monkey picture!

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  3. I can sympathize with being afraid of being called on to answer a question in class. One way to maybe remedy this is to hand all your students a small whiteboard and have them all answer the same question by writing on the whiteboard and raising it up!

    Did you read any of the sources Dr. Strange provided for you guys? If you did, go back and include it here!

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