Read this post because I have a clever title, or, The power of questioning in the classroom

Thanks for the tip, Dr. Franklin!

I cannot believe it's snowing outside after such a gorgeous weekend. Bleagh. However, snowy days are fantastic days to skip class and curl up a pot of homemade chili and a good textbook - namely Christenbury (and a nap...but that's beside the point).

Ch. 6 was a bit dry for me. I wasn't that interested in the wordplay exercises, and since my I-search was about teaching grammar, I was familiar with most of the concepts she presented (Though I loved them when I got them in Teaching Comp/Rhet with Dr. Weaver, and still do).

Ch. 8, however, was right up my alley. I worked at a church camp for high school students one summer and most of our activities utilized this questioning approach. I'm still not the best at it, but I have a bit of practice, anyway. These tips really helped me make questioning a success with high school kids, especially if they didn't really want to get involved.

1. There's a definite sequence to questioning, though the students will probably never notice.
- What? First, get students to describe something pretty basic, basically reporting facts. What is this movie about? What happened in last night's reading?
- So What? This is where you guide the group into the specific topic you want to focus on, getting them to share their own ideas. "So, they found Tom Robinson guilty. What did they cite as evidence? Do you think this was valid evidence?" The deepest "so what?" questions are those that ask students to share personal feelings. If a teacher starts discussion of a poem with "How does it make you feel?", he/she is likely to be greeted with silence. It's a rather personal answer, and there's no easing into it.
- Now What? Have students make applications to other situations, both in literature and in their world. This level is where Jerry Seinfield's question would have fit - the connection between the battle of Brittany and...whatever else. What a question to end a discussion! But at the beginning, it flopped (of course, it's funny when it flops on SNL - not in the classroom).
- Closure What have you learned?
This sequence really does help.

2. Have a clear goal in mind before you start a discussion - don't just think you'll see what the kids think and make it up on the spot. Have some questions in mind, too, for all the different levels. You have to adjust your discussion to what students answer, but sometimes they don't give much direction on their own...you have to be a little Socratic at first.

3. Your goal is to facilitate a discussion, not a q and a. Students should respond to each other, not you, as much as possible.

4. Encourage specifics. Dr. Franklin used this to great effect in the Think-Aloud she demonstrated - tie it to the text as much as possible.

5. Make sure everyone can hear everyone else. This is basic, but really important. It's good to rephrase the important parts of a student's comment/question, or get them to repeat it, especially if they ramble a bit or other students aren't listening.

6. If you can avoid it, try not to give answers, even if you have to act like every comment is a brand-new interpretation you've never considered. Sure, you have knowledge they don't, but often if you field the question to the class, someone will take a stab at it for you.

That was really long-winded, but these tips really helped me hone some skills. You could say Seinfeld's lesson flops because he does it all backward - he starts with the hard stuff, then when kids can't answer, he eases off just a little at a time, instead of starting at the very, very beginning and building scaffolding.