Blog Post 4

What Do We Need to Know About Asking Questions to be an Effective Teacher?

When I first read the assignment for this blog post I thought that it was going to be difficult to answer. But after looking at the links provided and doing a little research of my own, I realized that it was not going to be that hard. After reading "The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom" by Ben Johnson, I thought back to my earlier days in high school and how much I dreaded it when a teacher would ask a question. Looking back, I was one of the students that didn't really care, so I avoided any and all opportunities to respond. But at the same time, my teachers were asking questions like "Do you all understand?" To which we all nodded our heads because we were either bored or ready to go to our next class. The teacher was not truly engaging us with a question like this. However, I remember one teacher that routinely posed a question to the class as a whole and then after a few seconds, called on a student to answer it. As one of the comments to Ben's post points out, this allowed the entire class to ponder the answer without any pressure and got everyone thinking, even if it was just for a few seconds until we relaxed because she did not call our name. This teacher found a way to ask a question that would get the entire class involved and engaged, even if it was just for those few seconds until someone was called on.

Another thing that I remembered from high school was that there were some classmates of mine that were really shy and were uncomfortable answering questions out loud. In this instance, the teachers knew about this and instead of orally responding to the questions, we wrote down our answers on paper. This allowed everyone a way to express themselves fully but without drawing attention to themselves by speaking out. As I teacher, I think it will be very important to understand who I am teaching and how my students learn. That way, I can alter and modify how I teach so that my students will be getting the best possible results and learn in a way that suits them the best. I know that I will constantly be learning new things from my students while at the same time teaching them new things. We need to ask questions that will engage and stimulate our students and try to stay away from those that may distance some students from being active participants in our classroom. We need to look at these questions from both the teacher's perspective and the student's. Only then can we ask engaging questions that will help us to become more effective teachers.