Blog Post 4

    People ask questions everyday. This is the main way people learn. It is important to ask questions in a classroom, but asking the right questions can make or break the class understanding the subject. This week we had many sources to aid us on how to formulate the correct questions to ask. I chose three of the sources, The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom, Asking Questions to Improve Learning, and Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom.

    From the article, The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom, Ben Johnson explained that it is important that the teacher should ask the students specific questions. Also, the teacher should use a certain technique to ensure that each student will engage in the thinking process. This technique is to ask a question, wait three seconds, and then call on a student, who could be random or not, so that each student is thinking of the answer to his or her greatest abilities.
    According to, Asking Questions to Improve Learning, there are a few good ways to ask questions to students. After asking a yes or no question, follow up with asking the student to explain why he or she gave that answer. Also, do not ask more than one question at a time. There are a few different kinds of questions that can be asked; these are closed questions, managerial questions, and open questions. Good ways to ensure the students have the best environment to answer questions are to wait 5-10 seconds before calling on someone to answer, do not interrupt the student who answers, show interest in the answer, even if it is wrong, keep students thinking through the whole process, and if the student answers the question wrong lead them to the right answer.
    The article, Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom, by Maryellen Weimer, has good insight on how to get ready to ask students questions. The first thing is to prepare questions. This means to think of what is trying to be accomplished in the lesson and plan the right questions to help the class understand the subject. Next, play around with different questions to see if certain kinds of questions can get the job done. Lastly, the questions that work, to get the right effect, need to be saved and used again on the new classes to come.