Blog Post Assignment #4

What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher?
As future educators, there are several things we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher. The post The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom on the website Edutopia gives more insight on this topic. According to the author Ben Johnson, when questioning students teachers should ask specific questions to appropriately check the students understanding. Students should not be asked "Does everyone understand?" because although students will answer yes, they may be responding with the answer they think the teacher wants to hear. The students also may not realize they do not understand. The best way to ask a question and get all of the students involved is to use Mary Budd Rowe's strategy. Her strategy is for teachers to ask a question and wait a couple seconds then call a students name. This way all of the students are thinking of answers and prepared to participate in the discussion. The post Asking Questions to Improve Learning by The Teaching Center website suggests using some of the same strategies as Ben Johnson. The Teaching Center states that teachers should keep in mind what their course goals are when asking questions. It also states that "yes or no" questions should be followed by asking the student for an explanation. I agree with both of these post. As a student, when sometimes asked by teachers "Do you understand?" I have often replied yes although I may not have fully understood the lesson. I think that it is a good idea for teachers to use Mary Budd Rowe's strategy because then students would attempt to participate in class more. I believe that it would make students pay attention to the lesson because they would know afterwards anyone could be called on to answer questions. Teachers should also ask students for explanations because from my own personal experience I have just guessed on some "yes or no" questions. Explanations would make students use their critical thinking skills which could be apart of the course goals. I believe this information about asking questions would help future and current educators become effective teachers.