Never Say This – Part 2

The Never Say This post has generated a lot of discussion. It’s been wonderful to hear what so many of you are asking your students to help discover whether they really understand a concept.  It’s also been good to hear that the post has caused a bit of thinking about the way we interact with our students.

There were such great comments and discussions in a variety of places (Google+, Twitter, and the comments section), that I wanted to capture some of these ideas in a follow-up post.  There were also some new teaching blogs that I was introduced to through these comments, so be sure to check out the links on everyone’s name for even more great teaching ideas!  Here are some of the great ideas from many of you teachers:

• Rachel Velarde:  I’ve been using – ‘What does that mean to you?’ in lessons this week. It’s really stimulating thought and illuminating areas where the student had said “Yes, I understand” but then demonstrates they DIDN’T understand.
  Me:  Sounds interesting. I bet your students looked at you a little funny when you said that to them the first time!
  Rachel Velarde:    They’re adapting to it – although there’s definitely some resistance to thinking “so much,” it’s not as far outside the realm of what I’ve asked them to do in the past. It’s amazing how often I catch myself either saying it or wanting to say it. Overall, I think it’s really contributed to student progress this week. We’ll see how next week goes! Thanks for the “prod” to improve my teaching!
  Me:   I love asking questions that make people think! Sometimes, I think thinking is a lost art and skill. Do you have other questions you ask to encourage them to think “so much?”
  Rachel Velarde:    Especially as singers, we HAVE to think, as that’s the only way to affect our instrument. Questions I ask are: “What was the difference between that time and the time before?” “What are you going to do to try to change XXXX; How successful was what you tried and why?” “What did you think about that sound?” “What did you do differently?
  Overall, I have banned the words “good” and “bad” because neither tell you what to continue working with and what to try to fix. I also try to always use only positive directives. We’ll identify both what behavior we want to replace and then what we want to happen instead. Focus is then on what we WANT to happen, rather than what we don’t want.
• Leah:   These are great thoughts to consider! I usually only ask my adult students if something makes sense, knowing that they are able to communicate better if something doesn’t make sense. For kids, I ask questions to see what their level of knowledge is about whatever we are talking about. This article made me re-think how I can make my questions better, though, especially for the students who merely grunt when asked a question or always nod their head in agreement!
• Gabriele:  I had the same insights recently. I knew I was phrasing my questions inadequately. I purchased a booklet by Merienne Uszler, “That’s a Good Question”, and it opened some new windows for me. Lately I have asked more questions where my students do their own evaluation. They are sometimes so spot on and I did not have to say it.  [Gabriele, I did not have your blog in my rss reader, so I’m happy to say that I have fixed that and am looking forward to reading your posts.]
• Sarah:   These are great thoughts! When I’m teaching, I sometimes try to turn things around and reverse roles. I’ll open the book to the current page and say, “so, what did we learn about last week in this unit?” or “last week we discovered a brand new rhythm, can you tell me about it?” I try to ask the question in a really positive tone of voice, inviting them to share something with me that’s exciting! If I get a blank look, I’ll try more focused questions, but I always try to get them to define the concepts for me. If I hear them “teaching” me about what they learned, then I know they’re grasping the concept.  [Sarah, you blog is a new one to me…added it today!]
• Mary:   This takes me back to my former profession of teaching reading. A well known reading comprehension methodology book was inspired when a young student asked the author, “What does it mean to make sense?” (Mosaic of Thought by Ellin Oliver Keene–Heinemann Publishing)
• Shelly D.:  You’ve been a fly on my studio wall again!! If I had a nickel for every time I’ve used that phrase! Sometimes I ask my students to “be the teacher” and teach me about the new concept. Sometimes they play along (though it is easier for them to demonstrate than put it into words)…other times they just give me a blank look so I go another route 
• Baseball Beth:   I tell each new student to be prepared to answer the question “which practice technique helped you the most to get this far this week?” -and if a student has achieved their goal, I do ask that question. So they don’t hear that question every week of course, especially if they haven’t reached their goal. But I remind them to be prepared to answer that question the following week.
• EM:   Great topic! I find the longer I teach (7 years now) the more I try to ask pointed questions that involve students playing and listening to themselves. The more they play, the better our lesson goes, so “show me…” is always a good one. I’ve also been trying this year to have students do more self- evaluation, so I’ll ask things like “how did this B section change from last week’s lesson to today?” or “what’s the difference between this crescendo and the one at the end of the piece.”  [EM: I didn’t know about yours either! I look forward to following.]

Then, there was a request of another commenter to which this post is a response, but I’d love to hear any other suggestions you might have!

• Laura:   Thanks . . . This is something I really need to work on! Any more insights on how to know that students grasp a concept would be appreciated.

So, what are the questions you ask and the ways you determine whether your students has understood a concept or not?