Blog Assignment #4

           As teachers, it is essential for us to know how to ask effective questions. Questions are used on a daily basis in classrooms. According to The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom, teachers will ask questions for understanding. When I ask questions, I usually need clarification, and students can help with that. Questions give students the chance to communicate verbally.
           When watching  Asking Better Questions in the Classroom, I really gained a better understanding of open ended and closed ended questions. As future teachers we should know how to ask more open ended questions to provoke discussion and brainstorming in children. These types of questions allow students to think! And to reiterate how important open ended questions are, I explored the source called Open Ended Questions. In this short video, different types of question starters were discussed. Phrases like make a list, explain in detail and what were the reasons are ways to promote advanced thinking.
           Lastly, I wanted to share some of my philosophies on how to be an effective teacher through asking questions. I think it is important to understand the content, audience, and reason for a question to be asked. To ask an effective question about the Civil War, you must understand the Civil War intensively because students' responses are unpredictable. Audience is important as well; making sure questions are appropriate for first graders is very different from preparing questions for advanced PACE students in the sixth grade. And to conclude, reasons for asking a question seem to get lost in the cycle of question asking. Teachers must know why he or she may want to ask a question on a particular subject. Long gone are the days where questions were just used for understanding. Classroom discussions, provoking emotion and aiding in student thought process are just some of the ways questions are used by an effective teacher.