Reaction to "5 Powerful Questions Teachers Can Ask Students"

     Being in the position of hosting a student teacher during this first semester, I find myself offering a great deal of coaching. One thing that was often brought up in education courses was the concept of "wait time," but rarely are students given the chance to practice using that strategy until their actual student teaching experience. Likewise, beginning teachers are often told to ask a lot of questions, without much guidance in how to develop them. Blogger Rebecca Alper helps to address these issues in her piece on Edutopia.

     Of the five questions she offers, I am particularly a fan of "What questions do you still have?" It gives the impression that there are always opportunities for learning to continue, and that just because the instructor has gone through the planned material does not mean that there isn't further discussion to be had. Too often, I think, students consider instructors as a comprehensive source on any topic (when the truth often is that we are anything but!). Framing the question in this way allows us to develop further questions for study, and allows me to direct them to resources that they can use to answer those questions.

References: Alper, R. (2013, October 31). 5 powerful questions teachers can ask students. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/five-powerful-questions-teachers-ask-students-rebecca-alber