What does a research based classroom look like - blog 5

I want to go back to my first blog because the original blog needs further development.  The blog is located here and it will help your understanding of this blog to read the original first.  The basic summary of the initial blog (for those of you who did not click on the link and read the original blog) is how teachers can use guided questioning to allow the students to move the classroom towards the objectives that the teacher has in the lesson plan.

In the original blog, I discuss a card trick that uses questions and answers to "magically" uncover what the selected card is.  After our classroom discussion on Wednesday, I would like to add additional thoughts on the activity.  The original activity is considered a magic trick because the responder is able to uncover the selected card but they have no idea HOW they uncovered the card.  That is a significant shortcoming in using guided questioning in the way I described in the initial blog.  Using guided questioning requires the use of open ended questions where the students can direct the course the class will take.  The teacher will always know the end destination, but based on the path the students want to take, it could take several class periods to get there.  In the card trick example, the student uncovered the selected card without knowing how, which is like teaching a lesson with an activity and no content.  The card trick is a quick, introductory activity to get the audience's attention; however if the card trick is not followed by a series of questions and answers that uncover the shortcomings of the card trick, then it is a wasted activity.  To be clear, the card trick would not be used in education, but it could be used in a education classroom to demonstrate how guided questioning can find answers.

Guided questioning a process that takes several steps and quick mental agility to complete.  It is easy for a student to start down the wrong path and then for several students to follow.  The teacher must have several "breaks" ready for when this happens.  Examples of the breaks would be to call the students back to the concrete example, restate the question, or to simply say "Let's back up, I would like to re-think my question" which is similar to the student behavior of rethinking their statements.

Guided questioning is a very effective way to lead a classroom, but it is a very difficult way as the students have the freedom to respond in any way they seem fit.  The key to the success of guided questioning is teacher preparation and having multiple ways to get the class back on track when they stray.

Next up on my blogs is an interesting article about scientific inquiry curriculum in a multi-user virtual environment.  (Lots of big words but it means learning by playing a computer game!)