I Question… Therefore I Am

By. Craig Perrier

Have you ever told your students to “ask me anything,” “always ask your question because someone else is wondering the same thing,” or that “there are no bad questions.” Of course these invitations to your class to engage with content, you, and their world, promoting the openness and curiosity needed for a successful class. But these phrases propose two things –  1) all questions are equal and 2) students know how to ask clear questions.  Fortunately, the skill of creating and asking good questions can be taught and refine with practice.

Think about the goal you have for your students. Ideally, they mirror this approach to education – developing skills and dispositions by engaging with disciplinary content. Promoting inquiry based skillsets with students is a valuable outcome in any content area across K-12.  One way to teach question forming is to model the practice with students.  This can be done by verbalizing your thought processes when crafting questions.  Another is to use thinking routines that support inquiry. Using a the Question Formulation Technique is a proven process students can easily apply to their learning.

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• The Teacher Store: Offering Instructional Reading and Writing, Paperbacks and Collections, Professional Development and Teaching Resources
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• Wondrium: Pursue your passion. Quench your curiosity. Embark on an educational endeavor. Watch thousands of streaming videos on hundreds of subjects.
• Mindvalley: Every week a FREE Masterclass of 60 to 90 minutes is released with one of our Mindvalley teachers going deep into a powerful & transformational idea

So, what questions do you have?