Effective Questioning Strategies Cont.

Team discussed in pairs what we researched yesterday in terms of effective questioning and then shared out with the whole team. Websites were shared to create a data base for continual research on the topic.

• www.brockport.edu/~slc/tips/questioning.html
• http://www.ndt-ed.org/TeachingResources/ClassroomTips/classroomtips.htm
• educationnorthwest.org/webfm_send/569
• slideshare.net/maryosbonor./essential.questions-for-students
• towson.edu.ows

Transferring Cluster to the Classroom

• Our Goal is to have students accurately restate what they've read
•  
• Use "R's" everyday
• ------> To determine if we are achieving our GOAL we'll track student restatements and schedule appointments to view restatements in your class...

Tracking Student Restatements

1. With your team, discuss ways to keep track of student restatements IN 1 class ONLY.

• Will you track frequency of restatements?
• Accuracy of restatements?
• By student?
• Will you use tally marks or write down what they say?
• If you just tally how can you measure accuracy?
• What about referencing the visual?

2.  After you determine how, create the document that you will track student restatements with.  Begin gathering data today!!

Effectively Questioning Students

Suggestions for Effective Questioning

Below is a list different types of questions. The questions are listed in order of their recommended usage. The types of questions at or near the top should be used with more frequency than those at or near the bottom.

1. Ask students to seek out the evidence:
   • What kind of evidence did you find?
   • What makes you think that...?
2.  Ask students to explain:
   • How would you explain this?
   • What were some of the causes that led to...?
3. Ask questions that relate concepts, ideas, and opinions:
   • How does that compare to...?
   • What did other people discover or say about ...?
4. Ask questions that encourage your students to predict:
   • What will you do next?
   • What will happen if you...?
   • What could you do to prevent that ?
5. Ask students questions that encourage them to describe:
   • What did you do?
   • What happened?
   • What did you observe happening?
   
   

   • Maximize...	Minimize...
     ...asking questions that begin with words like "What if," "Explain," "Analyze," "Create," and "Compare and contrast," etc.	...asking questions that have a "yes" or "no" response and questions that require merely direct recall of definitions etc.
     ...the amount of time you wait after you pose a question, i.e. wait-time, in order to allow students to process the question in their minds.	...calling on students directly after you pose a question and calling on a student before you even ask the question.
     ...asking students to elaborate on their answers and asking students "why."	...telling a student their answer is wrong and not asking them to think of why it is wrong.
     ...opportunities for students to pose questions amongst themselves.	...straight lecture without student interaction.
     ...providing opportunities that challenge students' original conceptual understandings.	...providing opportunities that do not encourage creative and critical thinking.
     ...encouraging students to work through their decision making process, even if it bring frustration and makes them leave their comfort zone of learning.	...giving students direct answers to their questions without allowing them to think through the decision making process.

     Learning is an active process. Teachers must work hard at encouraging students to think on their own and construct their own explanations. This will allow students to maximize their learning potential.
     
     (clicking the back button will reveal the original source)
     

Cycle 2 Goals

As the 9th grade teachers have been digesting the various parts and rubrics associated with TAP, two main goals have been established for cycle two.

• By the conclusion of cycle 2, all students will be proficient in, and actively using, RAPS in the 4 core subjects to increase their analysis scores by at least 5 percentage points.
• By the conclusion of cycle 2, all teachers will demonstrate proficiency in the area of questioning as measured by our cycle 2 observation.

RAP Strategy & Reading

R A P S 

• R - Read & Restate
• A - Annotate the
• P - Picture or Passage
• S- Solve

Apply the RAPS strategy to Reading Comprehension

A major problem students have in state standards across the four discipline areas was their ability to Analyze.  For students to be able to Analyze:

• Read visuals and texts
• Distinguish relevant v. irrelevant information
• Define & identify the verb
• Connect evidence to find the answer

Why students feel that they aren't able to Analyze correctly...

•  Time - not enough time
• Reading endurance - too long, not going to read this
• Vocabulary Comprehension - don't know what the word mean

 Visual of RAPS will be provided

• Verbal Restate
• Written Restate
• Clarify Annotation
• Reference the Visual
• Practice Refine

Reading Comprehension

When I am reading for academic reasons, I like to be able to

• underline or highlight within the text.  It helps me to remember what is important.  
• I pay close attention to bold terms or defined vocabulary within the reading.  This is a little bit different when I am reading online. 
• If I come across a word that I am not familiar with or don't know, I look it up.  I am not as quick to look up words immediately when I am not online.  
• I try to keep SQ3R in my head when I am reading.

Pros & Cons of Grouping

Statistics show that students learn better when they work collaboratively.  Often times it can be a positive experience or a negative one.  When students are all participating and on task, it can be rewarding.  Students have a way of re-wording concepts that make it easier for peers to understand. Classmates will ask a question of their classmate when they may not ask it of the teacher in front of the class.

Grouping can be difficult when students fail to participate.  Often times, a single student or two end up doing most of the work.  This makes higher level students dislike group activities because they feel that other students benefit from them without contributing.

How are your classes going? Feedback

Feedback based on picture :

a sleeping kid slaving on desk - tired, you are boring, etc.

a group looking & laughing - engaged, focused

a girl looking lost or uninterested - walk in close proximity, in the students line of vision

a class picture of students - some appears to be really engaged and others do not

Students give teachers feedback by their mannerism in class, their attention or lack of attention.  How can teachers use this information to improve feedback or re-structure what is taking place during the lesson.

Brainstorming Academic Feedback

• dry erase boards 
• written quizzes & exams
• oral feedback
• Check for understanding/active participation
• Explanation of most missed questions
• Where answers could be found to correct a wrong answer
• Actively monitoring w/individual feedback
• Smiling & thumbs up at individual students
• Commenting on students blog or use of Moodle
• Provide analysis score of exams - ours versus the other teacher!!!!
• Pair-Share to justify answers

# 7 is one that I think that I will try using the Blog

• Assign students the task of summarizing the previous day's class content in one page or less.  Then, have them write three quiz questions and hest a neighbor's knowledge. (Excellent way to get students to provide information to each other)

Journal Entry 10/5

How can teachers use academic feedback to help students experience success in any classroom situation?

• It provides an opportunity for teachers to clarify information that students mastered
• Indicates students level of success
• Indicates areas that need improvement
• Recognize improvement
• Use whiteboards for immediate feedback from students allows teachers to see who has it & who doesn't.
• Encourage reflection
• Allows for individualized feedback
• Strengthens the teacher-student relationship

Academic Feedback

• developing new activities for the use of technology in preparation of our first EOC state test