Questions used during instruction have many purposes. The main reason for using them is to engage students. We need higher-level questions to keep the higher-level thinkers interested. I could use more of these questions throughout my lessons. Sometimes I feel like the higher students get bored. In addition to engaging, questions can be used to connect material to their prior knowledge. I use these types of questions when we start a new reading. Along with the two previous examples, questions are used to check for student understanding. After we have talked about a topic, it is beneficial to see if the class as a whole understands the material. Maybe I didn't do a great job covering a topic, so we need to review the concepts again.
My questioning skills are not great yet, but I taught a social studies lesson about scale and legend that had some good questioning components. At the beginning, I presented maps of the world before Columbus's voyage to the new world. I asked inquiry questions about why the people thought the world was flat in the 1400s, and I asked the students to talk about the differences between the maps. The students seemed interested, and I was getting a lot of the answers to the questions from the students. My main job was to direct the conversation to the topic of scale towards the end. By looking at the maps from Columbus's time, the students could see how much land was undiscovered. It gave them a real reason for creating maps with accurate scale. Then they connected the concept of scale to their lives. They could see that an error in scale could mean a trip taking double or triple the amount of time when traveling. This lesson had a real purpose for them.
I know I need to work on developing a variety of questions in my lessons, but my main obstacle is the time it takes to write out these questions. I find that I use the questions provided by the teacher materials much more than creating my own questions. I should create a goal to force myself to focus on this aspect. For each lesson I create, I need five questions of different thinking levels. This might be a time consuming goal for myself, but it will benefit the students learning and understanding.
To move on to a new subject, I have a moral dilemma, and I would like your opinions. I have a fourth grade student who qualifies for special education in reading. His fall test scores in mathematics were the lowest in the class. Last year he struggled in math, so the special education teacher tested him to qualify for services in mathematics. He did not score low enough, so a decision was made to have him repeat the second grade math curriculum in the third grade classroom. Now he is in forth grade and needs the third grade mathematics curriculum taught to him. My dilemma is that he has a paraprofessional to help with organizational issues during mathematics. She is not there to teach him new material, but I don't have time to teach the fourth grade curriculum and pull him aside to teach him the third grade curriculum. What do I do so that he is not taught by the paraprofessional all year? I have an obligation to teach all the students in the room. Some days the class only get five minutes of work time and that is not enough time to teach a new concept to a struggling student. Does anyone have any suggestions?
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Hi Rose,
ReplyDeleteWould you agree that you would never look at questioning this way or so in depth before student teaching? I can't believe how much I have grown and learned in only 5 weeks! I imagine you feel much the same way.
I feel your pain with the struggling student in your classroom. Catering to one or a few students that need individual attention has been one of the hardest things for me to grasp this year. Not only is it impossible to find time to help them, but when you are helping them, you need to give them 100% of your attention, when everyone else in your classroom needs you to be available as well. Arrgh!
We have a math coach in our building because of AYP scores and he pulls students based on their post-test scores for each math unit. But he pulls them during our Social Studies time. So when do these kids learn the Social Studies content or keep up with the work? They don't is the simple answer. The hardest part is that it isn't always the same students and one day eight kids left the room! I had to reteach them one by one when they were ready. It's exhausting, but you have to do something about it because if they fall behind, then your schedule gets bumped, etc., etc.-a neverending cycle.
I also had a student (who has since left the school) that was doing 3rd grade math in 4th grade. She was pulled out for 3rd grade math during about half of our math time. She would come back to the room in the middle of a math lesson and would sometimes want to join in. I couldn't give her close to enough of the attention she needed.
In other words, I don't really know how to respond to your dilemma. Is there any after school tutoring services at your school that he qualifies for? I am sorry it is hard.
Hi Rose,
ReplyDeleteMy first thought about your dilemma was whether or not you've talked with Jane about the situation. Surely she has to figure out the best way to address this issue, too, and it's likely she's been in this position before, so she'll have some strategies.
My second thought was noting how conscientious & ethical you are; lesser teachers, with more experience, would decide that the student was fine in the hands of a paraprofessional. In fact, this observation of mine begs a question: Is the school itself "fine" with having this child instructed by the para? Maybe that's why she's there? Let's talk about this when I visit on Tuesday!
To follow up on your suggestions, I have talked to Ms. R. We both seemed puzzled. It has worked all right because when I am teaching she can pull him aside to give independent instruction. This dilemma actually raised an important question during our team-meeting day. Are we doing justice to the lower skilled students in math? We broadened this question to all lower students and not just this boy. The school does not have any extra programs for lower skilled math students. In reading, students can receive Title One help if their scores are low enough.
ReplyDeleteI guess my questioning created more questions. I have come to find out teaching is filled with questions. When you ask one, there are a million new ones that follow. I will try to do my best to divide my time during math, and hopefully, he can gasp onto the concepts. This just seems like an injustice to this individual and others like him.
Hi again, Rose.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you've had a chance to wrestle with this question with Jane; you'll find it's a lifelong quest to feel confident that you're meeting the needs of all the students in your class. In my experience, it ebbs and flows. You nail it for a few students one week, then your attention shifts to that group who seems to be falling through the cracks and you improve learning for them. Let me know if you ever figure all this out :-) The important thing is you're aware of the difficulty and that you're not willing to say, "I guess that's just the way it is." Keep thinking and adjusting and you'll be surprised at the progress you a make.
As for questioning, I agree that become skilled at this strategy takes time. In my post to Joanna, I pointed out that as you become more familiar with the content of what you're teaching, the more easy it is to recognize the opportunity to ask high-quality questions.
I can make an analogy to learning to read. When kids are first "cracking the code", most of their mental attention is taken up with phonics work--matching letters to sounds, etc. As kids develop better sight word vocabularies so that their reading is more automatic, they can devote attention to comprehending what they read and their brains have opened up to let that happen.
Right now, you're learning to "crack the code" of teaching and your brain is consumed with learning the content and creating an environment in which to deliver that content. Eventually, you'll know "states of matter", for example, like the back of your hand and suddenly your classroom conversations get "bumped up" because you have the mental space to recognize where you can push kids to think a little more deeply about an idea. It all happens very naturally when you're looking for ways to question meaningfully--which I can tell you are!