Chapter 7

Chapter 7 - Effective Questioning

This chapter focuses on asking effective questions - an essential skill for a teacher to practice. There is a place for closed-ended questions (when learning singular facts is important), but generally I believe that we should always strive to ask open-ended questions, because the fact that they can be answered in many ways and in depth promotes maturity in thinking and problem-solving abilities. Also, I liked how in this chapter they correlated the 5-E model of lesson planning with question-asking at each step, as this is very practically helpful, especially with the examples provided as well. The section on responding to student ideas is very good for the development of teachers' communication skills - I liked how they broke down and focused the teacher's response according to the purpose they (should) have in mind with the response: to accept, to extend, and/or to probe the student's thinking.

Finally, the additional tips given toward the end of the chapter were very helpful. In previous classes I've heard of the tip of increasing wait-time, and I think it's great. We should have patience and establish an environment where the students aren't constantly feeling pressure. Providing adequate wait-time when asking questions works for that purpose, as the students are put more at ease when seeing their teacher has peace and calm and is not about to pounce on them for not giving an immediate answer. The students should be encouraged to think, reason, and problem-solve...especially on the spot, which they can do if given some wait-time, but which they won't do if not given wait-time, as they'll just quickly say "I don't know". If they can learn to on-spot think instead of on-spot react, and apply this to decision-making in appropriate life situations, this can be a great benefit for them.

by Jesse Foresto (bullsfan009)