After some thought, I noticed that my education was very limited when it came to questions. For the most part, the questions we were asked were close-ended questions. “When did this happen?” “Who wrote this?” “What does this mean?” Very rarely were we asked how we felt about certain things. For a while in middle school, I had a teacher who did push us to think outside of the box, but for the most part, our opinions and feelings on a topic never seemed to matter. Even in high school, there were a few times where we were asked to explain ourselves or asked to express our thoughts on a certain idea. Everything was black and white, and it wasn’t hard to feel as if our thoughts and ideas weren’t valid. If this wasn’t frustrating enough, most teachers would call on the same people for everything. As a student I remember I was okay with answering questions, but I was so annoyed when I would be writing, no one would answer, and the teacher would randomly call on me rather than someone else.
When it comes to asking questions, I like to ask my favorite question… “Why?”. In class, I liked being asked why I felt a certain way. I was learning to express my own ideas and I was learning to form opinions. My ideas felt important at the moment and I was being challenged. It was also nice having a discussion where we were asked to feed off of each other’s ideas. In class, it helps to understand if everyone is understanding an idea by asking them to expand on someone else’s idea. In the classroom, I think it is important to ask students to expand on their ideas. Ask them why they think a certain thing if they want to expand on someone’s idea or to reflect on their own life experiences and how they have shaped their ideas. I think we forget that by asking questions we can do more than just get a basic answer, we are helping students to find their voice and form their own thoughts and ideas.
As for who you ask…I am guilty myself of calling on the same students over and over to answer a question or going to the person who raises their hand every time. I have learned a few different tricks, but two of my favorite tricks are popsicles sticks/playing cards or the “everyone call”. One teacher I worked with had a list of students with boxes next to their names and the date above them. Every class she made it a goal to call on every student at least once. Once she called on them she would put a check next to their name. The other method I’ve seen is having popsicle sticks with student s names on them. When you need a random student to call on you pull a stick and call on the name on the stick before putting it aside. Similar to this I’ve seen teachers place a playing card on every student desk. When they need someone to answer a question they pull a card from their deck and call on the student whose desk has that card on it. These methods always seem to help make calling on a student more random so no one is targeted. It also helps keep everyone on their toes and can even be fun to see who will be called on next. There may be flaws with some groups using these ideas, but sometimes we need to learn to adapt and roll with the punches until we find our perfect strategies.
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