Questioning Strategies...

On Thursday, I used the Muddiest Part of the Lecture questioning strategy. I was teaching my students about rhyme scheme in poetry that day. After handing out the index cards to the class (we only have six students) I told everyone to write down any questions they still had about that day's lesson on the card. Then I'd collect the cards at the end of class and we'd go over the questions the next day. Later, one of my students said he didn't have anything to write down because he understood everything. So I decided to make the questions mandatory as a way to make him think harder and find something that could be confusing for him, and I think this was my first mistake. Making it mandatory for the students to write down a question created an atmosphere that allowed the students to take the task less seriously. There were at least two students that couldn't think of a question to write on their note cards; at the end of class they were making jokes about how they only had a minute or two left to think of a question, and in the end, did not write down serious questions--they wrote down questions that I know they already knew the answers to. So I'm thinking I won't make it mandatory next time I decide to use that strategy in class.

But at the same time, I was surprised how helpful it was. Although I had to take the time to explain every step of determining the rhyme scheme of a poem, I really felt that all the students were with me by the end of class and understood how to do it. I asked them if everyone understood exactly how to do it and they all said they did. I had them figure out the rhyme scheme of a stanza in class and they were able to do it. So it was kind of startling when I collected the note cards and saw that a couple of students had said that they don't understand rhyme scheme. Those students went through the entire class saying they understood it when they actually didn't. And on top of that, I couldn't tell. That alone scares me. But this is helpful because it lets me know what I need to work on: my informal assessment technique(s) either suck(s) or just isn't suitable for my class, so a new method of informal assessment will help me make sure that they are truly comprehending the material.

There were some students in the class who just didn't follow the instructions. Instead of writing down a question about the class lesson, they asked a question they were thinking randomly about poetry or a question about homework or something like that. But even having this happen is helpful because it tells me that if I really want their questions to pertain strictly to the current lesson's material, then I have to be more explicit in my instructions.

Overall, the questioning strategy was very helpful in my class, just not in the way I expected it to be. Benefits? It tells me what's going on with my students, whether or not they're really getting the information. If they say they're understanding the material and then I find out that they're not, I know that I need to find a better way to make sure comprehension is actually taking place and that it takes place the first time around.