Questioning Sequences

Robert Marzano, in his newly published Questioning Sequences in the Classroom, makes the argument that the exact same question can require Higher Order Thinking for one student but Lower Order Thinking for another.  He gives the example of this question:

Why is it that tides are equally high on both sides of the earth when the moon’s gravity is pulling from only one side?

If the student has not been exposed to this line of reasoning before, to arrive at a plausible answer, he or she must go through a complex thinking process in order to analyze the impact of the moon’s gravity and earth’s gravity and resulting force and counterforce.  No doubt about it: This requires higher level thinking.  But if the student has heard or read the explanation before and stored the information in long-term memory, it would be a simple act of recall to respond correctly to the question.

This creates a dilemma: How do you ask questions that keep all student working and thinking?

The solution, according to Marzano, is to use Questioning Sequences, rather than single questions.  His research, which is always impeccable, verifies that using a sequence of questions will elicit deeper and more rigorous thinking in students.  In his book, Marzano goes into great detail about why sequencing questions works so well.  He also gives exemplars from multiple content areas and makes suggestions of how to successfully incorporate questioning sequences into your classroom. 

If reading a full book right now seems overwhelming, save it for the summer.  But you could still experiment yet this year.

A Place to Start

One alternative that you could implement today is to use the questions listed below.  This poster from Edutopia is trending right now on educational Twitter channels and looks great.  Try using these “Five Simple Questions” and explore the impact they have on your students’ thinking and learning if you used them in sequence.

From Rebecca Alber, Consulting Online Editor, Edutopia, April 2014

Using questioning sequences is a doable, simple, concrete approach to questioning.  You can implement this strategy today with almost no training.  Give it a try—and let me know your results.

No question about it, HSE, I hope you have a great week.

Bring it home strong!

Phil

“Effective questioning brings insight, which fuels curiosity, which cultivates wisdom.”  

                                                                                                                       --Chip Bell

Of Snow, Spring Fever, and Diligence

I was talking to a student at lunch last Tuesday, and he was complaining about the overnight snow.  I said to him, “At least it’s not snowing now” and then looked out into the courtyard to see I was wrong.  The weather may not have caught up with us, but spring is supposed to be here, and with it comes spring fever.  It’s the time of year when we struggle to keep focus—both our own and of our students.

I recently read an article by Atul Gawande about this tendency of ours to lose focus.  Gawande is a surgeon, Harvard professor, and journalist and has been widely published and referenced in a variety of ways.  In one of his books, The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, he argues that creating checklists and sticking to them with diligence makes a difference.

His words: “Better is possible. It does not take genius. It takes diligence. It takes moral clarity. It takes ingenuity. And above all, it takes a willingness to try.”  He agrees that diligence seems mundane, but it is the daily effort that makes the difference over the long haul in all areas: “Understood, however, as the prerequisite of great accomplishment, diligence stands as one of the most difficult challenges facing any group of people who take on tasks of risk and consequence.”

That is us, by the way.  Educators “take on tasks of risk and consequence” on a daily basis.

Based on Gawande’s suggestion, Bryan Goodwin and Elizabeth Ross Hubbell, educational writers and consultants, created the following checklist for educators.  This is what they think should happen every day in your classes:

• Create an oasis of safety and respect in the classroom.
• Use standards to guide every learning opportunity.
• Make performance expectations clear.
• Have students set personal learning objectives.
• Engage students’ interest.
• Interact meaningfully with every student.
• Make the most of every minute.
• Use feedback to encourage effort.
• Coach students to mastery.
• Help students develop deep knowledge.
• Help students apply their learning.
• Measure understanding against high expectations.

That’s a pretty tough list for every day in every class!  I wonder about narrowing the scope, at least to start.  If you had to pick a few of these, which would you pick and stick to with diligence until the end of the year?  If you had to create a checklist of your own, what items would make your list?

These are interesting questions think about at any time of year, but they may be essential questions to ask in April.

Have a great week, HSE.  I hope no metaphorical or tangible snow falls in your courtyard this week.  Keep fighting the good fight all the way to the end of the year.

Phil

A Call to 911

Since the last “From B106” was about questions, I have a few to ask:

What is the purpose of school? 

When I was in elementary school in the 60s, part of my reading education came through the SRA reading program.  SRA was housed in a large white box with color-coded “cards” containing short readings and a series of required questions.  Students would move at their own pace through these cards from red, to yellow, to purple and green, and end up with the blues (pun intended).  Each level successfully completed was recorded on a wall chart for each student, so everyone had a colorful visual of who the good and struggling readers were.  It was the 60s, after all.

I recall the thrill of making it to the end of the box, placing the last blue card neatly back in its folder, and reporting to my teacher that I had finished.  Rather than sharing my joy, my teacher said, “Come with me.”  She took me to the back cupboard, opened it up, and showed me Box Two sitting right beside Boxes Three and Four.  It turns out that “finished” is only a relative term.

I started on my first red folder of Box Two that day.  I honestly don’t remember if I finished Box Two, but I do remember the moment I realized SRA was going to be a long journey to an unclear destination.

Do we SRA our kids at HSE?  Do we teach with the primary goal of getting students ready for a test or for the next level or course?  Comments like this might be an indicator: “Okay third graders, you will need to know this for fourth grade?”  Or “You have to know this for the test next week.”  Or “When you get to college, you will have to write a paper just like this one.”  Perhaps there is nothing wrong with these statements.  This approach may even be necessary, but it seems somewhat joyless and artificial and to be honest, a bit depressing. 

I was pretty good at “doing school,” and fortunately I discovered the real joy of reading with a different teacher in a different class.  That is a story for another time, but I still wonder if we continue to send the message that students should learn to “do school” so they can “do school” at a higher level next year.  “Do well on Box One, so you can go on to Box Two….”

Shouldn’t it be more?

This is an email one of our students sent to her teacher recently:

Hola Señora! Excuse my English but I had a proud moment today that I wanted to share with you. After fourth period I leave to go to my internship at the Indiana State Police. Lately I have been with the dispatch just listening and learning their ways. Anyways, today a frantic lady called and she only spoke Spanish. The dispatchers on duty had no idea what she was saying so I got to take over and talk to her. It was such a surreal moment and it showed me that I often overthink talking in Spanish, but if I just let it go, it actually comes natural!

Sorry for the random email, just thought I'd let you know

No apology is necessary!  This student beautifully illustrated the value of her education by independently applying it to a unique situation.  It is also an example of the real purpose of school.  School is much more than simply doing school for the sake of school.  It is about doing life well.

Can we develop activities and tasks that recreate the authenticity and urgency of a call to dispatch?

The simple answer is likely “No.”  But a more complicated answer is “Perhaps.”  When our HSE student translated the call to 911 for the dispatcher, she put into practice her learning in a way that would be difficult to replicate in the classroom.  I wonder, however, whether or not other classroom tasks might be able to simulate at least a little of the situation.  To use our student’s words, could we create a situation that would allow students to “let it go”?

When we think about, create, and use Performance Tasks, we won’t always be perfect, but these tasks certainly are more engaging and purposeful than working our way through rainbow-colored folders.  There may be times for the SRA approach, but there are also times for creating an opportunity to call 911.

Those of you from my era, check out the picture again to bring back memories.  Tell me your stories.  What do you remember about SRA moments?  Those of you a few years younger, my guess is you experienced something similar on your educational journey.  Let me know what that might be.

Also let me know those experiences you had in school that you still remember as engaging, meaningful, or transformational.  If you are teaching now, my bet is you had these somewhere along the way.  In fact, those moments may be why you are teaching today.

Have a great week, HSE.

Phil