Saturday, February 23, 2013

Question Dissection


This week, I had the opportunity to observe in Allison’s classroom.  She was teaching a lesson on maps, making sure students were familiar with features such as the key, scale, and compass rose.  She used foldables to make the activity more interactive and had their large world map as a reference.  Her goals for the lesson were appropriate, but between procedures, classroom management, and the content of the learning experience, there were a number of directions our coaching conversation could go.  As I looked back on my observation notes, I decided one high-yield conversation we could have would be about students’ higher-level thinking.

Having determined an area of focus for our debrief, I thought about approaches that might be useful.  I’ve been working with Allison for some time, so she’s had lots of modeling, and I’d made plenty of recommendations.  It was time to go beyond these coaching moves and give Allison more responsibility.  I decided that asking questions that probed Allison’s thinking was the way to go.  And it was worth spending the time to come up with just the right question so that our time together would be well-spent.  After going over several possibilities, I settled on this question:  “As you think back on the lesson, what might have been some of the times when students were engaged in higher-level thinking?”  I wrote it on a sticky note and tucked it in my pocket so I could peak at it before our session and have it handy just in case my mind went blank.  I knew it would be the pivotal point in our coaching conversation.  And it was.  Allison’s eyes opened wide after I asked the question as the realization dawned that there were few examples she could pull from her lesson in answer to the query.  I wasn’t trying to put her on the spot, but rather to help her to come up with this realization herself instead of having me make a judgment that might not sit well.

Let’s take a moment and dissect the question I asked Allison.  This question dissection can help us identify question characteristics* that support teachers’ thinking during a coaching conversation.

The question begins with an invitational stem “As you think back on the lesson…..” This phrase sends the teacher’s mind back to the lesson and welcomes reflection.  It also has an embedded positive assumption that the teacher is already taking that thoughtful, reflective stance.

“What might have been…”  This phrase includes the tentative word might that lowers feelings of risk.  Teachers sense that you are open to any possibilities they might pull up.  Might suggests unrestricted thinking. 

“What might have been some of the times….”  The plural word some steers teachers away from thinking there is one right answer and instead opens them up to considering multiple possibilities.  Using plurals also builds trust in the relationship and increases feelings of teacher responsibility; the teacher does not feel she is playing “guess-what-is-in-my-head” when responding to the coach’s questions.

“What might have been some of the times….” also phrases the question in language that expresses a positive assumption that the teaching did indeed include these times.  Positive language assumes capability and empowerment.  Questions that grow from positive assumptions encourage teachers to explore their own intentions, enhance understanding, and support a respectful relationship between teacher and coach.

“….students were engaged in higher-level thinking?”  The rest of the question gets specific about the topic of inquiry.  In any coaching conversation, there are multiple directions that could be taken.  Think about the needs of students first when determining this focus, and take into consideration what this teacher knows and is able to do.

One final characteristic of a good question doesn’t come across in the print on this page.  That is the tone of voice.  As a coach, it’s important to monitor your voice quality during a coaching conversation.  That firm “teacher voice” that got your students’ attention and let them know you meant business will not get you far in a coaching conversation!  Use an approachable voice, one with lilt and melody, rather than a flat, firm voice.  To wrap your head around this one, think about the different tones of voice a parent might use when asking their teenage daughter this question:  “Why are you home so late?”  Try out the worried tone, the accusing tone, the angry tone, and the frustrated tone.  It’s clear that the way we use our voice when asking a question can make a big difference!

By selecting a meaningful topic for the conversation, monitoring voice quality, using plurals, tentative language, and invitational stems and expressing positive assumptions, coaches encourage teachers to consider students’ responses to instructional practices.  It can be difficult, however, to keep all of these principles in mind during the flow of a coaching conversation!  If you want to improve the effectiveness of your questioning, you might choose one of these principles to focus on at a time. 

When a teacher is ready to take on more responsibility, asking questions can be an important part of your coaching conversation!
 

This week, you might want to take a look at:
Speaking of questioning, let’s take a look at some resources to help teachers refine their own questioning:

Check out this video about questioning in the language arts classroom:
 
https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/structuring-questioning-in-classroom

Or this one about questioning in math:


Questioning the text is one of the comprehension strategies identified by Brenda Powers:


Here’s a reference form from “The Sisters” about the comprehension strategy of asking questions:


That’s all for this week – Happy Coaching!


*These suggestions are drawn from Cognitive Coaching, by A.L. Costa and R.J. Garmston. 

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