Managing questions in class

"Asking questions is a useful skill which, if properly acquired, can last a lifetime. As the students will not always have the benefit of a teacher to ask the questions, they must learn to ask their own questions and search for the answers."

the purpose of the question;
the nature of the question
to whom the question is directed;
the wait time before expecting an answer;
who is chosen to answer the question;
the interaction between learners and learners,
when one would use closed questions
when one would use open questions
and the interaction between teacher and learners that follows from the questioning.

Never be afraid to admit that you do not know something – when using ICTs you will often find that your learners know more than you and many times they will certainly know different ways of doing things. So allow them to show the others – teaching is the best way to learn. Alternatively, if you do not know the answer and nobody knows then you can always suggest a resource where the answer can be found.

"Be a model for the questioning mind - share your own curiosity, reveal your own doubts, be open about the things you don't know or aren't sure of."

It is difficult enough to get children to answer questions let alone to get them to ask questions themselves. It is very important to consider how you react to their answers and the questions they ask. You must show that you are listening and show that you want the rest of the class to listen. No child who responds to your question should ever be ridiculed - so always try to be encouraging even if a learner gives a completely wrong answer - and never interrupt.

Question:
"What promotes deeper thinking and answers of substance?"

Answer:
"active listening (by the educator)
and quality thinking time (for the learners)"

Educators can respond to learners in a number of ways. If the learner responds to the question or asks another question, the educator can reinforce the answer by making positive statements about the response or can probe further and ask the learners more questions about their responses. Sometimes it is necessary to refocus the learners if the answer is not absolutely accurate and sometimes it may be necessary to rephrase the question. Sometimes you may want to ask an easier related question and then return to the difficult question.

Research shows that learners need on average at least 3 seconds to comprehend the question and to respond. In contrast, educators tend to allow less than 2 seconds of wait time. So try to make yourself wait longer for children to respond and just see what happens.

Next time you are having a lesson that involves questioning, take careful note of the amount of time you allow learners to answer. Make a real effort to consciously lengthen this time and deliberately improve your feedback comments and see if it makes a difference. You may write to your group about this if you wish. (This is not a compulsory activity)

This is a bad question, since it is not directed at anyone and gives the teacher no useful feedback, and, by the way, the answer to this question is ALWAYS "Yes"!!

Rather try to get into the habit of asking your learners questions such as, "What do you understand?" or "What have you understood / learnt so far?" Remember that if you phrase it negatively, "What have you not understood so far?" then nobody will want to answer. You may be able to sound more approachable if you say something like "Where do you feel stuck?" or "What do you think the problem is here?"

The teacher is directing the question at the Science class and no one in the class knows whether they are going to be asked to answer, so everyone thinks about the answer. The teacher then waits and chooses a learner to answer. If there is no response the teacher can encourage the learners with further (leading) questions such as, "What would you like to ask?" or "What else do you need to know before you answer that?"

To empower your learners the whole class can be asked questions such as

What would you like to do about this?
How important is this?
If you could change one thing about this what would it be?
Just suppose you were in charge, how would you resolve this?

This method of addressing people directly is often used to get their attention. Direct questions are often used as instructions. The teacher may have chosen Peter because Peter was seen to be inattentive, or because Peter is known to have struggled with remembering this previously. Unfortunately, the rest of the class is passive, knowing that they do not have to think while Peter answers (unless the teacher then asks Sipho whether Peter’s answer is correct).

Generally, it is better to ask the whole class, then wait a few seconds, giving everyone sufficient time to think about an answer before asking someone to answer. Remember, rather than pouncing on someone who may not know the answer, give a few more minutes or rephrase the question. You will find that your questioning technique is working if you find yourself talking less and your learners talking more.

The arrangement of desks in the classroom can also influence the way your learners respond. Learners often complain that they are not allowed to consult before answering. Most learners do not want to "look stupid" in front of their peers so that is often the reason why they do not want to answer – they just want to avoid the possibility of looking stupid. To help them, you may like to allow them to talk about an answer with their neighbour or in their group. Even better, they can write down some ideas for answers and then try them out on their partner first before telling the whole class. Have a look at the this suggestion for paired activity.

My fourth graders teach me how to be a good teacher through their comments and behavior. Sometimes, they get off-task because I assign math problems that are too easy. In other situations, they become frustrated and despondent because the problems are too hard.

Sometimes learners do ask stupid questions but sometimes it is just that we do not take them seriously. e.g. "Please sir, why do we have to learn Maths?" (or whatever subject it is that you teach). You may dismiss the question as being from a learner who is just wanting to waste your time with a distracting question. However you could turn this into an interesting discussion about how valuable maths is or for older learners, about who makes curriculum decisions and why.

Some children think that when their teacher tells them to discuss something in pairs or groups, this is when they can talk about what they did at the weekend! So make sure that the groups are talking about your topic and not about their social life.