Building Question Askers Not Question Answerers - Trevor Bond

Building question askers not question answerers from EDtalks on Vimeo.

CORE Education's Trevor Bond helps us understand how to build active learners who ask questions.

Student Questioning Skills  - Notes  

Research shows that we are growing question answerers:
- 50% of questions are generated at home
- 10% at pre-school
- 0.08% at high school
- focus on answering teachers questions

Difference between a question answerer and questions asker:
Q Answerer: All they can do is share knowledge in their head.
Q Asker: Somebody who can think, find information, get the things that they need to solve problems, to think deeper and wider, to see new perspectives.

"If we go on doing what we have always done, we will go on getting what we have always got". 

Neil Postman - Teaching as a subversive activity - Questioning being our most important intellectual tool.

Cleaver teachers may provide experiences/learning that create stimuli for child's thinking
-  When that stimuli kicks in, there will then be that moment of cognitive dissonance.
- The stimuli has kicked in, then the questions will follow.

"Thinking is the process of asking and answering questions in your head". 

Moment three - negotiates questions - where student thinks whether or not they have the right to ask.
- Time constraints,  teacher planning, and teacher attitude can hold back those critical question moments.
- Fighting against it.

What does this mean in reality in the classroom?

- Have to change the environment - have to change messages/body language.
- Start out as three year old - full of questions - effective learners.
- Stop the negative signals - encourage it.
- Any time a kid has asked a question, celebrate they have! - even if irrelevant.
- Rather than answering it straight away, help the student to clarify exactly what it is they are asking.
- Wonderwall
- Framework - questioning waka

http://question-skills.wikispaces.com/Waka+graphic

Integrating Key Competencies In Reading

I am in the process of integrating the NZC key competencies in my classroom. As a class we have all discussed, understood, and have been using the key competencies through behavioral and social situations. For example prompting the kids to think about what KC's they need or needed to use in certain situations.

A simple google search of 'how to use key competencies in the classroom' led me to this amazing research project which involved a few schools working on integrating key competencies in reading.

Excerpts from the executive summary:

Lifelong Literacy Twist, J. and McDowall, S. (2010). Lifelong Literacy: The Integration of Key Competencies and Reading.

The study was featured in the NZC update newsletter issue five. An easy to read version of the report, which really highlight the benefits of integrating the key competencies and reading. 

NZC Update 5 - Integrating key competencies and reading

I am motivated to use the Lifelong Literacy research in my own teaching practice. Below are notes I took from the research: 

Lifelong Literacy 2010

- Using the KC’s in reading opens up the opportunity for student thinking and students experiences to be brought forward.

How the KC's were integrated:

Participating & Contributing
- Teacher models themselves as readers, share their own passion, show that they are literary critics.

- Look at the text as a whole and make connections, as opposed to look at the main idea of the text.

- Giving the opportunity for to kids to explore the author's meaning/message. Preparing them to be 'literary critics' actively participating in a community of practice.

Thinking

- Teachers wanting to move kids away from literal to critical thinking.
- Looking at news articles could provoke discussion - viewpoints on a subject - working only on two opposing views - recognising views and questioning them.
- Critical thinking - can apply really well to articles and current events - Must apply in writing.


Relating to others
- Exploring how characters feel. 

- Getting kids to feel empathy towards characters and relate it to their own world. 

- Support students to match emotions to those actions. 

- Support students to relate the character’s predicament to their own lives.- Kids responding to characters in the text - talking about the character

Link to reading lesson plan developed by the researchers and teachers. 



Reflection

In what ways might I change my teaching practice to fully integrate the key competencies into my classroom programme?

Participating and contributing:
- Model myself as a reader and a literary critic.
- Discuss texts, think about the authors message.
- Share  responses and contribute to the discussion as a reader of the text.
- Maintain the balance between responding as a reader and providing guidance as a teacher.
- Listen to students in an open way.
- Slow the lesson down, allowing time for conversations.

Relating to others:
- Model how to be empathetic to characters in the story.
- Match character actions to emotions.
- Gift in language that describes the emotions.

- Support students to relate the character’s predicament to their own lives.

Thinking:
- Respond to an article that kids can relate to, such as something that is happening in our community.
- Get students to respond and share points of views.
- Choose topics on which students see the need to generate knowledge.
- Choose texts that provide something to think deeply about.

- Ensure students are encouraged to express their views and are able to do so safely.

Now my next steps are integrating fully in my literacy programme. 

Term 1 Week 7 Update

Wow! The weeks have just flown by. We had camp last, week and now swimming for next two. Too see some of our amazing learning and experiences so far visit out blog here.



In terms of my MIT inquiry, I have planned and started Key Competency sessions in the afternoon. Hearing Helen's success with the KC's inspired me to implement them successfully in the classroom, and they have been working wonders. I have decided to implement the Key Competencies because my inquiry revolves around promoting high order thinking for all learners, especially those who stuggle to succeed at all five.  I used a presentation to base out sessions by (link here).

Each session we talk about one KC, share ideas, deconstruct the words, and create a lovely slide about each one. So far we have covered - managing self, thinking and participating and contributing. It is truly amazing how powerful they are if you really make a big deal out of them, integrate them throughout the day and if the kids truly understand them in real life contexts.  I have also incorporated them into my class rewards system 'Class dojo'. It has been a great way for the kids to think about which KC relates to certain behaviors. I am yet to cover the last two KC's, and hoping we will be done by the end of the week so I can start thinking about our next steps.

As for the high order thinking, at the moment I am stepping it right back to simply thinking! It is interesting how a day could go by and we possibly get through it without really thinking deeply. I have been focussing the thinking during reading time - So when we are reading in small groups, I have been getting the kids to fold their arms once they have an idea/answer, and we wait for everyone to think, I will sometimes choose someone who particularly looks like they have new clue in order to force them to think.

In terms of follow up, I am encouraging them make more inferences about  the text (example here). A colleague of mine suggested I look at the thinkers keys. At the moment I am in the middle of making a generic thinkers key presentation that could relate to any topic, and use these for future lessons.

The Thinkers Keys are twenty powerful strategies for generating quality thinking in many learning situations. To find more info on the thinkers keys click here.

So that is me so far! My next steps are to visit a few teachers from around the clusters to find out:

- How they incorporate the Key Competencies
- How they promote thinking and high order thinking
- What their cognitively engaging/high order thinking follow up activities look like
- How they plan for such thinking


Until next time :)

Promoting High Order Thinking - Kimberley Ouano MIT 2014