Friday Fun: A Riddle! Versatile teaching tool You already do it Works with all subjects Works with all levels FREE Amber – Intro: We are going to begin with a little riddle: What is the world’s most versatile teaching tool that you already use, it works with all subject levels and best of all…. Its free!? Stay tuned to find out But first, what are the long term goals for the work you do with your students?

Abby -- go beyond receiving and consuming. we need to increase their opportunities to produce. - tool - small chances for MAKING. Writing, connecting Explaining solving

-Teaching tool -Riddle -Experiment, learn, enjoy Amber- How in the world can we start moving our students beyond strictly consuming knowledge? Well- Remember the riddle we started with? The amazingly versatile teaching tool? It’s.. a.. question-- TA DA! We can use this tool to encourage our students to experiment more, learn more, and enjoy learning more. Abby - We’re are not masters of using these but we’re having an adventure in our classrooms and we’re inviting you to come along.

Chirp, Chirp…. -Don’t respond -Know- No share -Know I didn’t teach -I don’t know Amber- Challenges- But Abby, question are scary! What happens when your students don’t respond to your questions? Do they know the answer?- why don’t they share? How can they know something I haven’t taught them yet? What if I don’t the answer?

Abby- ? challenge even when the students DO answer. Sometimes answer seems disconnected from the lesson objective.. and my focus shifts from the learning to lost time. Student may also become unnerved by our questions -- Thinking we’re saying they are wrong. . More on this later

Learning Magic My Comfort Zone -Important -Valuable -Uncomfortable -create engage and active -Baby steps Amber We all know that using questions in our classrooms is important and valuable (and sometimes uncomfortable) , but what we want to stress to you today is that if you are unsure of how to use a variety of questions to create more engaged and active learning, the best way to start is through baby steps.

Why? So what? If…then? I wonder… Tell me more… I notice.. -Broad questions into tool kit -Any subject/level -Decrease teacher- increase meaningful participation Amber- A perfect place to start is by incorporating broad questions into your teaching tool kit. These questions can be used in any subject area with any level. Once you start asking these questions, our hope is that you’ll find more opportunities to decrease your teacher talk and encourage more meaningful participation. I notice..

Why? So what? If…then? I wonder… Tell me more… I notice.. Abby and Amber (abby stars, amber lines) *Why do we say he walkS but I walk?   --Why do I need to find a common denominator?    *If this axis on the graph is talking about distance, then what is happening to the car? --You look puzzled. What are you wondering about that? --Tell me more about why you did that step. *What is one thing you notice about that word? --Should we add answer to one challenge= questions are not just open ended to tangent wandering – targeted toward what you want student to learn, (how else to we keep on track) I notice..

Take it up a notch! Abby- You already ask questions. We can add more critical thinking by enriching how we use them. Try one change - the students get used to questions, even start asking each other, -Pick -- broad questions and try to use it once a class. -- a part of a lesson where you usually don’t. -Ask a why question about a a key skill the students - Plan a moment that gives the students an opportunity to wonder and ask questions. Its long… cut some or split in two?

-Pick -- broad questions and try to use it once a class. -- a part of a lesson where you usually don’t. -Ask a why question about a a key skill the students - Plan a moment that gives the students an opportunity to wonder and ask questions.

Create Evaluate Analyze Apply Understand Remember -Higher order not just recall -Do More with questions -Draw picture/tell story Amber- We want to ask questions to encourage higher order thinking rather than just recalling information. Abby and I have found it helpful to look at the questions we are asking and look for opportunities to do more with them. For example encourage students to draw a picture or tell a story to explain what happens when you multiply. Ask students to do research to support a problem they have been doing. Encourage producing their knowledge! Understand Remember

Research to support problems- encourage producing knowledge (Slide 10 continued) Abby Let’s try – look at the student made word problem in the next slide and think of a rich question you might ask.

Student created word problem: i asked a guy how many cars he’s got he said two after the cops took 7 How many cars did he own? SILENCE

Student created word problem: i asked a guy how many cars he’s got he said two after the cops took 7 How many cars did he own? --Amber & **Abby --Are there any changes you could make to make the question more clear? **I notice you paused after got when you read it. How can we show that in your writing? --If most solvers subtracted, then how could we change the problem so that they do a different operation? **What do you notice about your work? --What operation did people use to solve it? Why did people know to subtract? **I would add quotation marks. Why do we use them? --Did people answer the question the way you expected. What did you notice? **What is the difference between he’s got and he has?

Correct ! Not exactly…. I’m stuck…… -Other times to ask questions 0Right -Not sure -Wrong -Conditioned to only ask when wrong -change answer Amber- Lets look for other opportunities to use questions. Like when a student gets something right, when they aren’t sure what to do next, or when they’re wrong. As teachers, Many of us have a habit of only asking questions about errors. Maybe you’ve notice students who are conditioned to change their answer as soon as you start asking a question about it. Not exactly….

Abby and Amber **Right! 2+2= – How could you prove it to me? Right, how did you know? **What information would help us to figure out the answer? --That’s It, so how did you know the answer was a? --Is there something similar to this in another question? **What would you tell a new student about paragraph writing?

Ask questions without saying a word… Abby- It may work better for certain styles or settings, to have students ask or answer questions in a Journal, in Exit tickets to have students question each other these give us time to really consider their answers And can also be a lower risk way to get our feet wet. 17

Ask questions without saying a word… Abby- It may work better for certain styles or settings, to have students ask or answer questions in writing - like in a Journal orExit tickets Or to have students question each other these give us time to really consider their answers And can also be a lower risk way to get our feet wet.

Visual Cues Post Your Questions Remember Students are Smart -Lots ot think about -If stuck: -post visual cues for you -Posters with questions for everyone -Students = smart Amber- I’m sure we’ve given you a lot to think about. During our adventures in questioning, we have found times where we have been stuck or overwhelmed.   We want you to remember these things: Post some visual cues in your classroom to remind you to ask questions. Make posters with your broad questions to help you and your students utilize them more during instruction. Remember our students are smart in many different ways and each brings something new and valuable to the table – They will rise to the opportunity your question offers. Don’t be afraid of wait time. Provide your student with a quiet moment to think and answer. Remember Students are Smart

Abby Our students can be more engaged if we implement richer use of questions. I hope you’ll join us! Thank you!