Questioning Technique

I have to admit, this blog isn't going to be as detailed as the others. There just isn't much to say about questioning techniques and I'm sure those of you back home who check out my blog are going to find this one less than amusing. The hard part of being a teacher is trying to involve everyone in the class, no matter how reluctant a student is, and believe me, I've had some pretty reluctant students. There are several questioning techniques that one can use to achieve this end. I decided to make note cards with each student's name and randomly pick a name out of the deck. I would even let my students shuffle the cards (for some reason they got quite a kick out of that!) just so they could be absolutely sure that the technique was not rigged.

I think the whole random selection thing went well for some students but not so well for others. Those who participate on a regular basis got a kick out of this technique. They were on the edge of their seats seemingly begging that their card would be chosen next. Those who didn't regularly participate had qualms about the technique. In fact, even when I called on them, they still didn't respond unless I pushed the issue (which inevitably I do). So essentially the whole class wasn't much different.

What was different was that people didn't raise their hands! I love the sight of hands raised. For some teachers, the perfect classroom is one of complete silence. For others it's the sound of productive chatter. For me it's the sight of 20 kids with their hands in the air, bouncing in their seats and begging to be called upon. I love that! That's my idea of a perfect classroom atmosphere.

All in all, I don't think I would use this technique in the future because I didn't really notice much of a difference between the status quo and the new technique. Maybe I'll get around to trying another questioning technique in the fall.

Ok, that's all for now.

God Bless