Improving Questioning in the Math Class

  As a teacher, its easy to get in the habit of answering all student questions rather than taking time to determine if answering the question is the best solution.  I need to take time to think about the question being asked and my response.  I'm going to share something I discovered in regard to questions and answering them.

Let's look at the questions so many students love asking the teacher.  "Is this right?"  In a way its asking for immediate feedback but it also means that many students rely on the teacher's response rather than checking the answer themselves.  It is quite possible they rely too much on the teacher responding and not enough on learning the process or concept themselves. 

When a child asks this, it might be better to respond with "Are you sure?" weather its right or wrong.  At first students may panic but they will eventually get used to it and might start responding with their thinking.  This can lead to the next question of "How do you know?".  This question requires them to explain their thinking.  Often as they state their logic out loud, mistakes will become obvious and they can fix it.

If you write two equations on the board, then ask "What do you notice?" it gives students a chance to comment on similarities, differences,  and helps build understanding of variations in procedures in addition to assessing their understanding.  If students have limited English, you might ask "What's the same?" or "What's different?" which is a more specific set of directions.

Another way of making students think is to have them convince you of something such as all multiples of 8 are multiples of 16 or taking a square root is the opposite of squaring a number.  This activity helps students develop generalization of mathematical ideas.  You could also ask students if there is another way to work a problem because it shows students there is more than one way to do a problem.  It also allows them to see they don't have to do it like everyone else.

If you want to improve generalizations, help develop reasoning skills, or deepen understanding, ask questions that are NEVER, SOMETIMES or ALWAYS True.  A question like "Is it always, never, or sometimes true that the four angles in a quadrilateral add up to 360?  This makes them think about all situations before answering.

These are a few ways to make questioning more effective in the classroom.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.