Chapter 7 Reflection

I feel that closed ended questions are a good way to do informal assessments. It is important for a teacher to assess students at different points throughout the unit. By using closed ended questions you are assessing the students without the students being aware that they are being assessed. Open ended questions are a good way to keep a discussion going. Students may be more comfortable with open ended questions because there is more than one answer to a question. The students can also feel they can give a general answer if they are unsure and the discussion can continue to give deeper answers. This may also be useful in having students deepen their comprehension. If a conversation on a topic goes on and gets more involved some “pieces of the puzzle” may click for some students.

I like how the author stated to accept all student ideas and answers to questions, even if they are wrong. By doing this, you are not completely dismissing the student and making them feel bad for answering. This may help the student feel comfortable in the future to continue answering questions even though their answers may be wrong. The author suggests using verbal and nonverbal responses when acknowledging students answers. I liked how the author suggested extending student responses and probing students to get the right answer. This does not shut them down when giving a wrong answer at first, but can help the teacher help the student to lead to the right answer. The student may know the answer, but may have just mixed up information and stated the wrong answer. If the student does not know the answer, this can help the teacher lead the student in the right direction of figuring out the right answer.

I liked the section on wait time. I remember when I was in school and a teacher would call on a student. There was not much wait time. The teacher usually waited not more than a second or two. If you are the one being called on and cannot remember the answer that seems like forever. But in reality, sometimes students need more than a second or two to process the question and retrieve the correct answer from their memory. Students learn a lot of material throughout their school career. If the question does not pertain to something recently covered, it may take more than a second or two to come up with the answer. It also may take more than a second or two if the student does not like to speak up in class. The students’ nerves may take over and need more time to process information. The author made a lot of good points in this section. Some of these points certain teachers should really pay attention to and understand these concepts instead of waiting a second for a student to answer. Processing time takes more time than that most of the time.