As a student, sometimes there are days where you don't want to learn.
You might go through your day of classes, take a couple notes, play on your phone at times, and stay quiet in the back row of the class. While it may be good that the teacher could carry on with their lesson uninterrupted, you (the student) will leave that day without having learned anything and will have to reread your notes come test day to understand the material well enough to pass.
This is not an ideal situation.
I have to admit that I was once one of these students as well. While I may have done well in my classes, once I thought I understood what was happening I mentally checked out of the class. I've learned that many students (especially at the university level courses) do this as well, and would actually prefer you don't ask them questions so that they "don't have to think as hard".
This, to me, is the reason asking questions during your lesson is so important.
Asking questions seems to me like possibly the easiest way to differentiate instruction for varied academic levels of students. In that moment, provided you can think a little on your feet, you can ask a student a question based on what you're learning that challenges them just the right amount. This is a skill that obviously needs to be acquired, but in my short experience in placement so far I found this to be the easiest way to challenge all students and to keep them engaged.
Asking good questions also allows the teacher to scaffold each student's learning. With the right question, the teacher can help a student move to the next step of a problem in a constructive way that they will likely remember (since they were the one to come up with the solution).
Sadly, I couldn't think of any good images or videos to coincide with this blog post. Maybe I'll do better next time.
Stay Tuned
- KJ
You might go through your day of classes, take a couple notes, play on your phone at times, and stay quiet in the back row of the class. While it may be good that the teacher could carry on with their lesson uninterrupted, you (the student) will leave that day without having learned anything and will have to reread your notes come test day to understand the material well enough to pass.
This is not an ideal situation.
I have to admit that I was once one of these students as well. While I may have done well in my classes, once I thought I understood what was happening I mentally checked out of the class. I've learned that many students (especially at the university level courses) do this as well, and would actually prefer you don't ask them questions so that they "don't have to think as hard".
This, to me, is the reason asking questions during your lesson is so important.
Asking questions seems to me like possibly the easiest way to differentiate instruction for varied academic levels of students. In that moment, provided you can think a little on your feet, you can ask a student a question based on what you're learning that challenges them just the right amount. This is a skill that obviously needs to be acquired, but in my short experience in placement so far I found this to be the easiest way to challenge all students and to keep them engaged.
Asking good questions also allows the teacher to scaffold each student's learning. With the right question, the teacher can help a student move to the next step of a problem in a constructive way that they will likely remember (since they were the one to come up with the solution).
Sadly, I couldn't think of any good images or videos to coincide with this blog post. Maybe I'll do better next time.
Stay Tuned
- KJ
It is really just that simple (as asking questions) and also just that hard (as asking the right ones!). Asking the best questions at the right time is so key to the art of teaching and something I feel I have worked on, and continue to work on, throughout my entire career!
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