1. MDC Improving Learning through Questioning Skills Day Three
This is a half day – with teachers staying for a second half make-it take it.
8:30 – 11:30
MDC Improving Learning through Questioning Skills
Day Three
October 30,2014
Joan Gillis, Capital Area Intermediate Unit

2. Each team will have 5 minutes to present their
Team Debriefing…
Each team will have 5 minutes to present their
experiences from their first MDC lesson
(the good, the bad, and the ugly! )
Goals for today…
Improving our role with an emphasis on
questioning skills
Overcoming obstacles (as a team)
Choosing our next FAL
This is a half day session so we will only have one break built in.
8:30 – 9:15 this debrief will take 45 minutes.
Many of your schools have excitedly given you permission to stay for the whole day – during which we will prep our materials for our next FAL. Another example of the importance of administrator support
My professor from shippensburg university is coming to plan with Shippensburg Middle School

3. “ The value of an education is not the learning
of many facts, but the training of the mind to
think.”
- Albert Einstein
Einstein quote – LOVE IT
Taking my granddaughter to legoland and finding Einstein – Priceless
(feel free to delete our picture )

4. Questions about Questioning
What are characteristics of a question that will encourage students to reflect, think, and reason ?
What are some ways in which teachers might encourage students to provide extended, thoughtful answers?
• Is there value in showing students what reasoning
skills you would use through a ‘think aloud’ ?

5. Comments ? This is a good reason why ask questions during all phases of a MDC lesson– reflecting on their own thoughts and posing a rigorous question vs a leading question

6. Getting our focus on building questioning skills ? Stations
Why we ask questions
Common Mistakes we make in asking questions
What types of questions develop thinking and reasoning
Advice for good questioning skills
Reasons Students ask questions or don’t ask questions
9:30 – 10 :30 ( 5 – 6 minutes at each station plus transfer time ) followed by debriefing
Have a different color marker for each team. The will take that marker with them as they travel. That is your team color.
Many of these posters have many answers by having the team travel together you can see their contribution and you can easily call on them to explain their thoughts ( run handouts if they want to take notes)

7. • to interest, engage and challenge
1. We ask questions for many possible reasons, including the following eight:
• to interest, engage and challenge
• to assess prior knowledge and understanding
• to stimulate recall, in order to create new understanding and meaning
• to focus thinking on the most important concepts and issues
• to help students extend their thinking from the factual to the analytical
• to promote reasoning, problem solving, evaluation and the formation of hypotheses
• to promote students’ thinking about the way they have learned
• to help students to see connections
After they do station rotation this is part of the share out…before you do a second click have them share out their reasons…how many did we get .

8. • Asking a question and answering it yourself.
2. The following is a list of some of the more common mistakes that teachers make:
• Asking too many trivial or irrelevant questions or too many questions at once
• Asking a question and answering it yourself.
• Simplifying the question when students don’t immediately respond.
• Asking questions of only the most able or likeable students.
• Asking only closed questions that allow one right/wrong possible answer.
• Asking ‘guess what is in my head’ questions
• Judging every student response with ‘well done’, ‘nearly there’ or ‘not quite’.
• Not giving students time to think or discuss before responding.
• Ignoring incorrect answers and moving on.
I am guilty of a few of these …like asking several questions at once…sometimes I rephrase a question thinking I am providing more clarity when in fact if I have planned the question – like I do my lesson essential quesitons I would do a better job. It is the planning part that can get away from you.
Are there any that you could work on in this list and how could you change this process.

9. 3. What types of questions develop thinking and reasoning ?
• What types of questions promote thinking and reasoning?
• Give some examples that you have recently used. .
Handout 3 “5 principles for effective questioning”… Read and highlight insights and then discuss with your table
The teacher plans questions that encourage thinking and reasoning.
• Everyone is included.
• Students are given time to think.
• The teacher avoids judging students' responses.
• Students’ responses are followed up in ways that encourage deeper thinking

10. 4. Tips for Effective Questioning
Remember wait time: Provide at least three seconds of thinking time after a question and after a response
Utilize “think-pair-share.”
Ask “follow-ups” (Why? Do you agree? Can you elaborate? Can you give an example?)
Withhold judgment: Respond to student answers in a non-evaluative fashion.
Require students to defend their reasoning against different points of view.
Report came out quite a long time ago ( 1994 , I believe,) saying average wait time is 1 second…not sure about validity now but it is something to be aware of….I still use my fingers to tap out time so I am not guilty of being too quick on the drawer.

11. Tips continued …
Ask for summary (to promote active listening) “Could you please summarize John’s point?”
Survey the class “How many people agree?” (“thumbs up, thumbs down”)
Allow for student selection: “Richard, will you please call on someone else to respond?”
Call on students randomly. Not just those with raised hands.
Play devil’s advocate
If teachers want to see model of questioning use handout 4 and video in professional development Effective questioning Video C

12. 5. Students ask questions because :
Students don’t ask questions because :
Do ask – need to clarify directions different from worksheet, or changing as teacher goes along, could there be more than one answer ? Good “risk taker atmosphere,
don’t ask - Shyness, language problems, relevance – hoping someone else will ask the question, roles – they think they shouldn’t ask the teachers questions,
How to change things :
Don’t worry I amsure others have the same question…Make yourself available outside of class, questions from or post its…getting them in pairs to ask questions. ( cards with answers on them)
This will signal the only morning break. (10 min)

13. Five Principals for Effective Learning
1. The teacher plans questions that encourage thinking and reasoning.
2. Everyone is included.
3. Students are given time to think.
4. The teacher avoids judging students' responses.
5. Students’ responses are followed up in ways that encourage deeper thinking
There is a video for support in professional development : asking questions
Video C
If teachers feel they need support with what a problem solving lesson looks like (with good questioning) observing an abbreviated but outlined lesson Use Hhndout 6 A Lesson plan on “sharing gas costs”
I am using this slide to watch the video and record when these principals are evident.

14. Is there value in showing students what reasoning skills you would use through a ‘think aloud’ ?
Optional : I did not get to this but I may come back for our last day…-
Teachers usually present science and mathematics as though they are a set of tidy results and procedures.
Students often don’t recognize the invisible, messy processes that go on inside the heads of scientists.
One reason why some students are reluctant to persist is that they do not recognize that it is perfectly
natural to get stuck, make mistakes, backtrack and look for alternative strategies. It is helpful, therefore,
for a teacher to model these processes by tackling a problem from start to finish, thinking aloud and
involving the class by careful questioning.
If teachers feel they need support with modeling think alouds or observing a whole lesson where this is scripted out. Use
Activity E
It s a good video ( Harry Potter style- we will have a PA version made this year !)

15. Can We answer these questions about questioning ?
What are characteristics of a question that will encourage students to reflect, think, and reason ?
What are some ways in which teachers might encourage students to provide extended, thoughtful answers?
• Is there value in showing students what reasoning
skills you would use through a ‘think aloud’ ?
Hopefully – planned, scaffolded, higher ended thinking in mind….conceptually demanding
Have them ask their partners questions first, use “parking lot” for those who don’t feel comfortable speaking in front of others…ask questions yourself ( model what difficulties you expected from your students – put them at ease creating a “risk takers” mentality
The value is in hearing others thought processes. Over and over again we hear that talking facilitates learning. Prime example hear. It also supports your students with some prior knowledge in how to get started in a situation.

16. Sketching Out Possibilities As a Team…
Review MDC lessons and district curriculum to decide what lessons would fit in the near future.
Use Calendar Planner to sketch out upcoming months
Use PA Core Alignment
Discuss with district team and/or grade level groups in and out of district.

17. Preparing for Your Lesson
Pull copy of your lesson from binder or ask to have it printed.
Read through the steps of the lesson.
Complete Pre Lesson Assessment.
Complete Formative Assessment Anticipation Guide. ( create or highlight questions to guide students’ thinking)
Act out lesson with team mate
Will any manipulatives assist in the lesson?

18. Copies are on your tables. – bright green
Copies are on your tables. – bright green . Use this as a precurser to your planning.

19. Strategies and Tools of MDC
Upcoming
Strategies and Tools of MDC
Questioning
Collaborating & Communicating
Scribing, White boards
November 20th
Data Analysis Excel Spreadsheet
Reflection Sheet
Observation Form
Questioning and Scribing are 2 of the strategies used by the teachers during the implementation of a FAL.
The Data Analysis Excel Spreadsheet is a tool the teacher can use to document student progress; we saw a glimpse of this in the morning and will visit iton Day 4.
The Reflection Sheet is a tool the teacher can use to evaluate the process and to make changes for future use.
The observation Form is the form your Administrator/Coach and the Intermediate Math Consultants will use when observing teachers as they implement the FALs.
The Expectations is exactly that what you will be expected to do.

20. Make & Take Directions Read through your FAL carefully
Focus in on the "Materials" section
Optional: Use the pink graphic organizer
Pick out your materials
Prepare your materials
Cut
Laminate
Package
PRACTICE teaching it to somebody!