Mike’s Blog
Strategies, Ideas and Insights for Teachers and Leaders
Tag: effective questioning
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Using questions to challenge, probe and provoke (and how that can swiftly change the dynamic in your classroom)
Questions do things. They have more power than most statements. They cause people to act. Here we will look at four specific things that questions can do and that are…
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Easy-to-use, tried and tested techniques for effectively differentiating your questioning in any lesson you teach
We can use questioning to differentiate in any lesson, at any time. The simplest way to do this is to vary the difficulty level of the questions you ask. Here…
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Understanding the fine-grained differences between oral questioning and written questioning – and how you can use these to your advantage
It is important to be aware of some of the differences between oral questioning and written questioning. This is so that teachers can achieve the most effective outcomes when using…
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Why making knowledge provisional transforms how learners hear your questions
Here are some beliefs that, in various societies and at various times, have held sway: All these beliefs have been subsequently disproved. Yet, at one time – and in some…
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Harnessing the power of questioning to frame your lessons and your activities
The pursuit of knowledge is built on the asking of questions. The development of understanding, the expression of beauty and the search for meaning are predicated on questions. Questions formulate…
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Five of the most effective ways to encourage responses from any and every learner you teach
In the classroom you can find yourself in the frustrating position of asking a question and getting no response (and the question is not meant to be rhetorical!). The situation…
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What is a question? Part 1
Research suggests teachers ask approximately 58,000 questions a year. That’s a huge amount of questions. And a huge range of opportunities for teachers to get learners thinking, doing and reflecting.…
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What is a question? Part 3
Having considered what questions are we can now take a step from the general to the specific and look at what implications our analysis holds for classroom practice. To make…
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What is a question? Part 2
Let us make a brief diversion to the courtroom. When a barrister examines or cross-examines a witness, the content of their questions is important. It is this which determines which…