Blog Post # 4

What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher? This question can be answered in all types of ways. As a college student now, I believe an effective teacher should asks questions that will accommodate each students' learning styles. Half of the class may learn better from a visual approach while the other half may learn from an auditory approach. Personally, I prefer teachers to ask questions from a visual standpoint because sometimes I may not hear every little detail of the teacher's question.

According to Dr. Harvey Silver's video,Questioning Styles and Strategies , he emphasizes that teachers must ask questions in different styles and strategies in order to get students' involvement in the classroom. In the video, he demonstrates the styles of questions, such as surveying and student calling, in Ms Hannah Coblin's 5th grade class. I love how Dr. Silver gives students the questions prior to asking the students the questions, which I believe this gives students the opportunity to write down his or her thoughts instead of being expected to answer a question on the spot.

However, if a teacher decides to ask a question verbally, he or she must be aware that it is best to ask an open-ended question. According to Ms Joanne Chelsey's video, Better Questions in the Class, an open- ended questions allows students to elaborate in depth asked questions, which this method allows teachers to get feedback back on students' understanding. As a student, I know if a teacher asks an closed- ended question ( yes or no answer) instead, that we ( the class) are going to say yes regardless because we are either ready for the class to be over with or just ready for the teacher to move on to the next subject.

Most importantly, it is our job as teachers to make sure that each student is able to answer the questions. I know we, as teachers, this could be a challenge for us dealing with students who will never answer a question of ours out loud due to low self esteem or nervousness, but with practice, preparation, and understanding of our students from different levels, it can be done.