Some thinking from a recent Maths meeting.... As we are trying to improve our pupils' thinking, Teachers ask questions all the time. They serve a wide variety of purposes: to keep learners engaged during an explanation; to assess their understanding; to deepen their thinking or focus their attention on something. Unfortunately, there are many common pitfalls.
• asking questions with no apparent purpose;
• asking too many closed questions;
• asking several questions all at once;
• poor sequencing of questions;
• asking rhetorical questions;
• asking ‘Guess what is in my head’ questions;
• focusing on just a small number of learners;
• ignoring incorrect answers;
• not taking answers seriously.
In contrast, the research shows that effective questioning has the following characteristics:
• Questions are planned, well ramped in difficulty.
• Open questions predominate.
• A climate is created where learners feel safe.
• Probing follow-up questions are prepared.
The prompts above help us understand how to frame questions in a Mathematical context.
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