Blog Post #4

In Ben Johnson's article The Right Way to Ask a Question he says that we as teachers need to come to terms with the fact that we do not know everything. When a teacher asks his/her students does everyone understand, or any other kind of open ended question students rarely respond. We must ask specific questions that get students talking. When teachers ask students a question that requires them to give an answer other than yes or no they think and recall and the more the information the more likely they will learn it. Getting students involved in the learning process is very important.
Dr. Maryellen Weimer gives us some good pointers on how to ask students better questions in her article Three Ways to Ask Better Questions. First thing teachers must prepare questions. Teachers spend lots of time making the lessons, they also need to spend that time for questions too. When teachers have the time to sit down and write out questions it makes them think about what they are going to say. They may find that they are wording the question weird or it just does not make sense. Another thing teachers need to make questions engaging. Teachers who come up with thought provoking questions get their students exploring the subject. Teachers should also be on the look out for good questions. When ever a student asks a really good question teachers need to jot it down. They now can use it in different classes or to explore the subject further.