DTC central training on using effective questioning and starting lessons

1. DTC central training on using effective questioning and starting lessons • Using questioning at Key Stage 3 to get pupils to think harder and for longer Phil Smith Foundation Strand Consultant Bury LEA

2. Before 5.30pm we will • Are we fully aware of the range of questions we use in our classrooms? • What’s good questioning? Planning for successful questioning? • What practical things can we do after this training?

3. Before 5.30pm we will • See how more purposeful lessons are linked to the way they actually start • Develop an understanding of many different and varied ways of starting lessons to encourage greater motivation, engagement and challenge.

4. Why have training in which we just focus on questioning? What do you think the reasons are? • the most common form of interaction between teacher and pupil; • b. an element of virtually every type and model of lesson; • c. a key method of providing appropriate challenge for all pupils; d. an important influence on the extent of progress made; • the most immediate and accessible way for a teacher to assess learning.

5. Can you spot the dodgy questions? • They must capture interest • Focus on real worthwhile aspects of that subject’s thinking, concepts or processes • Result in a tangible, lively, substantial and enjoyable “outcome activity” through which pupils can genuinely answer the key question

6. Can we spot the dodgy “questions”? • Electricity • Weather patterns over Europe • Do different people in different countries respond the same to natural disasters? • Telling the time in French • How would you cope if you were lost in Paris after missing the school coach? • What structures do musicians use to organise sounds? • Tempo • School trip to the art gallery • How effective is the art gallery in portraying different styles of painting from the 20th century? • When did the French Revolution happen? • Why do we still bother to study the French Revolution?

7. What’s the purpose of good questioning in a classroom? • To interest, engage and challenge pupils • To check on prior knowledge • To stimulate recall and use of existing knowledge and experience in order to create new understanding and meaning • To focus thinking on key concepts and issues • To extend pupils’ thinking from the concrete and factual to the analytical and evaluative • To lead pupils through a planned sequence which progressively establishes key understandings • To promote reasoning, problem solving, evaluation and the formulation of hypotheses • To promote pupils’ thinking about the way they have learned

8. Pitfalls of questioning It is easy to fall into the trap of: • asking too many closed questions; • asking pupils questions to which they can respond with a simple yes or no answer;

9. Pitfalls of questioning It is easy to fall into the trap of: • asking too many short-answer, recall-based questions; • asking bogus ‘guess what I’m thinking’ questions; • starting all questions with the same stem;

10. More pitfalls of questioning It is easy to fall into the trap of: • pursuing red herrings; • dealing ineffectively with incorrect answers or misconceptions; • focusing on a small number of pupils and not involving the whole class;

11. And some more… • making the sequence of questions too rigid; • not giving pupils time to reflect, or to pose their own questions; • asking questions when another strategy might be more appropriate…See Handout 4.2

12. Using questions to promote thinking….There’s nothing so practical as a good theory! Achievement at NC Level 5+ require such higher-order thinking Bloom researched thousands of questions that teachers asked and categorised them And yet pupils’ level of achievement can be increased by regular practice of higher-order thinking The majority of questions asked (95%) by teachers were factual recall and comprehension Few questions developed higher-order thinking skills

13. Goldilocks and Bloom • Knowledge…Whose porridge was too sweet? • Comprehension…Why did Goldilocks like Little Bear’s bed best? • Application…What would have happened if Goldilocks had come to your house? • Analysis…Which parts of the story could not be true? • Synthesis…Can you think of a different ending? • Evaluation…What do you think of the story? Was Goldilocks good or bad? Why?

14. What did Bloom discover? • Evaluation being able to judge the worth of material against stated criteria. Sees pupils judging, assessing comparing and contrasting • Knowledge or recall of bits of “stuff”…..can be the foundation for higher levels of thinking • Synthesis being able to put together separate ideas to form new wholes, or to establish new links • Analysis being able to explain how the various parts fit together, infer and analyse • Application using learnt information, ideas and skills in new topics/situations. • Comprehension where pupils start to understand the basic information so that they can explain it

15. How much of Bloom is in your classroom? • In groups of 3 or 4 can you identify what range and styles of questions are being asked to these pupils…Handout 4.4 • Use Bloom’s list to classify and sort these questions. • This is pretty tricky to do since we are taking these questions out of context.

16. Some suggested answers

17. How much more of Bloom can you get into your classroom? Knowledge • Questions for learning • What three things are the most important? • Describe them to me • List for me the key characters in the book • Write your list, turn it over, repeat it • Where in the book would you find • Name as many characters as you can, go for 5 • Activities • Tell • Recite • List • Memorise • Remember • Find • Name

18. How much more of Bloom can you get into your classroom? Comprehension • Questions for learning • What do you think is happening here? • Can you think of any other examples? • What might this mean? • What 3 things are the most important? • Activities • Explain • Give examples of • Summarise • draw

19. How much more of Bloom can you get into your classroom? Application • Questions for learning • Plan and deliver a presentation to… • What is most significant for your chosen audience? • How can you best demonstrate your understanding? • Activities • Demonstrate • Based on what you know • Model

20. How much more of Bloom can you get into your classroom? Analysis • Questions for learning • What information is needed? Where will you get it? • Organise the data using a flow chart/concept map • List arguments for and against, compare them • Separate into fact and opinion using a Venn diagram • Activities • Investigate • Classify • Categorise • Facts and opinions

21. How much more of Bloom can you get into your classroom? Synthesis • Questions for learning • Provide a portfolio for evidence showing your case for… • Taking the theme of stillness produce three pieces for piano • Using all the evidence available… • Based on the evidence and your own feelings, what do you think is likely to…? • Activities • Create • Compose • Forecast • Formulate • Argue the case for • Predict • Imagine

22. How much more of Bloom can you get into your classroom? Evaluation • Questions for learning • Re-order with a justification • Design a mechanism to evaluate the performance • Discuss the relative merits in relation to… • Following your critique, say which is better and why • What is the bst option? Why? List five reasons. • Activities • Prioritise • Rate • Grade • Critique • Judge • Recommend

23. Tactics used in a real classroom • Use Handout 4.5 to record some positive features of the questioning

24. Ms. History • Stimulated thinking by • Having an unhurried pace • Allowed wait times….(the average wait time is less than 1 second and below average pupils are given even LESS wait time). • Open ended questions • Pupils asked speculative “What if” questions • Extended/sustained responsesby • Requesting explanations • Posed challenging “Why” questions • Pupils’ answers are valued by the teacher

25. Ms. History • Encouraged active listening by • Poising questions to conscripts as well as volunteers • Using a variety of questions • Encouraging pupils to generate their own questions • Created an interaction between pupilsby • Carefully structuring “think, pair, share” sessions • Encouraging to ask each other questions • Requesting pupils to add to and challenge the answers provided by others

26. Handouts 4.6 and 4.7 Great use of departmental time…spend 25 minutes as a department using 4.6 to identify possible benefits and contexts for using each tactic with a particular class in mind. Whilst 4.7 provides the basis for further discussion

27. Ready for more? • Begin to build key questions into your medium as well as short-term planning. • In a departmental meeting discuss how you might plan sequences of questions that build up pupils’ understanding of important concepts.

28. Pacey starts can be crucial

29. Common ways of starting a lesson • Sit down and get your books out • Copy the date and title then listen to teacher • Quick recap on the previous lesson • Take the register • Answer a few brief questions before the lesson fully develops • Stand behind your chair • Hand books out • Waiting for silence

30. The ideal learning state High Challenge Low High Low Stress

31. Activity…the High Challenge-Low Challenge game • High challenge refers to the extent to which “high-order” thinking is demanded by the starter activity

32. Activity…the High Challenge-Low Challenge game • Challenge is not the only factor in an effective start to the lesson… (i) Pace…with focus on thinking and learning rather than on the business of the activity. (ii) Interaction…essentially the pupils are active. (iii) Involvement…bewary of the “Put your hand up and tell me what we did last week” syndrome setting in.

33. Activity…the High Challenge-Low Challenge game • Challenge is not the only factor in an effective start to the lesson… (iv) Connecting with prior learning.. ”Do you remember when…?” (v) Arouse pupil curiosity and intrigue…are they thought provoking? (vi) Can include brief, small-group activities. I’d like you to think about what you think were the three most important things which you can remember about….which we did last week. Turn to your partner and explain what you have chosen and why?”

34. But what is the BIG picture you’re trying to create? Starter activities work best when they are placed within challenging and fun sequences of lessons (See art/geography examples) Main enquiry covering a series of lessons over a period of weeks perhaps Starter Starter Starter

35. Multiple Intelligences and starting lessons

36. What this really means… • Logical/Mathematical • Puzzles • Charts • Graphs • Analysis • Forecasts • Predictions

37. Imaginative use of this model • Logical/Mathematical in English M-KD= (KM) Macbeth minus King Duncan equals King Macbeth-but not for long, so put it in brackets

38. What this really means… • Interpersonal • Group work • Team work • Interviewing • Chat shows • Drama • Teaching others • Group leading • Group co-ordinating

39. Imaginative use of this model • Interpersonal • This can free yourself up to work with those who really need your support. • Buddy-up systems

40. What this really means • Intrapersonal • WIIFM’s? • Empathy • Emotional • Metacognition • Target setting • Hypothetical…What if?

41. Imaginative use of this model • Intrapersonal • Encourage reflection…”Well done…how did you do it?” • Which bits did you learn quickest and why? • How would you feel if….? (Geography and the rain cycle) • Science experiments

42. What this really means • Visual/spatial • Learning maps • Posters • Highlighter pens • Symbols • Icons • Instructive display work

43. Imaginative use of this model • Visual/spatial • We have a better memory for pictures than we do for words (see “From the land of the gods”) • Using colour improves our memory • Mind-mapping

44. What this really means • Body/physical • Role play • Making models • Movement • Acting • Practical • Walking through the learning

45. Imaginative use of this model • Body/physical • English Dept used “Go high” and “Go low” when developing a new area of learning. • Happy-sad continuums. • Moving around the classroom (Trenches-table example) • Science lesson (solar system in the hall-moving to Holst’s “The Planets”) • Maths…Jumping from column to column

46. What this really means • Musical • Rhymes • Raps • Jingles • Songs • Background music

47. Imaginative use of this model • Musical • Creates the right kind of atmosphere for learning • Examples (Bach’s Goldberg Variations/Pachelbel)

48. What this really means • Verbal linguistic • Debates • Stories • Discussions • Poems • Word games • Speeches • Diary entries

49. Imaginative use of this model • Verbal/linguistic • Class discussions (think carefully about your enquiry question) • Radio commercials • Poems to help with remembering key concepts

50. What this really means • Naturalistic • Going out of the classroom to learn • Classifying into family groups