How come you said that?Questioning and rigor in the classroomAugust 2013

Thoughts in the participants minds• I don’t think I can sit here for this whole time.• I wonder if I can get the real estate license by January?• If my brother-in-law can drive a truck, I can drive a truck,

oil field job here I come• If I were in my classroom I could be making a really cool

bulletin board display of anti-bullying techniques which would stop it and I would get an award and they would make me an assistant principal and I wouldn’t have to ever go to in-service again, I could just drink in my office.• Retirement, retirement, I have 12 years in, that means 18

more years, that would be 2031. They will be landing on Mars before I can quit. Oh, I think I am going to be very, very ill.

Something to start your year off

• Kim Ki-hoon earns $4 million a year in South Korea, where he is known as a rock-star teacher—a combination of words not typically heard in the rest of the world.

• http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324635904578639780253571520.html

• South Korea has a 93% graduation rate• 15 year olds rank 2nd in reading in the world (Shanghai is 1st)• South Korea has more tutors than teachers• 3 out of every 4 South Korean students utilize private tutoring

What does he do?• Viewed up close, this shadow system is both exciting and

troubling. It promotes striving and innovation among students and teachers alike, and it has helped South Korea become an academic superpower.

• The Korean private market has reduced education to the one in-school variable that matters most: the teacher.

• They don't need to be certified. They don't have benefits or even a guaranteed base salary; their pay is based on their performance, and most of them work long hours and earn less than public school teachers.

What do I need to know from this?

• “No country has all the answers. But in an information-driven global economy, a few truths are becoming universal: Children need to know how to think critically in math, reading and science; they must be driven; and they must learn how to adapt, since they will be doing it all their lives. These demands require that schools change, too—or the free market may do it for them.”

A few random thoughts• Learners are only going to learn what they are willing to learn

and teachers are only going to teach what they want to• Learners will never learn to think critically or creatively unless

they are taught or circumstances intervene and they learn it on their own.

• Cautionary note here: Learning on your own is wonderful but can be both expensive and painful

• By asking questions which require learners to interact with the content on different levels provides an opportunity for students to practice critical thinking in a relatively protected environment

What does a critical thinker do?

• Ask pertinent questions. Assess statements and arguments. • Are able to admit a lack of understanding or information. • Have a sense of curiosity. • Are interested in finding new solutions. • Are able to clearly define a set of criteria for analyzing ideas. • Are willing to examine beliefs, assumptions, and opinions and weigh

them against facts. • Listen carefully to others and are able to give feedback. • Suspend judgment until all facts have bee gathered and considered. • Look for evidence to support assumptions and beliefs. • Are able to adjust opinions when new facts are found. • Look for proof. • Examine problems closely.

What are we going to do?• Examine questioning• Provide a structure for questioning• Develop a plan for advanced questioning• Provide a model to use• Examine combining questioning with higher order thinking• Practice

What do questions address?

Convergent—focuses on a single right answer or acceptable answers-may be influenced by facts/details acceptable or by socially acceptable responsesDivergent—addresses a wide range of answers—many may be correct or acceptable—may require creativity or many different solutionsEvaluative— judgement based questionsCombination—blends of the above

P

The basics

The BasicsCognitive Domain-moves from

simple to complex

• Remember• Understand• Apply• Analyze• Evaluate• Create

• Sample stems Teacher• Understand the language

Student

Knowledge Dimensions-moves from concrete to abstract

• Details• Concepts• Procedural• Metacognitive

Bloom’s applied to critical thinking

• Knowledge - what we experience, observe, intuit, and research. • Comprehension - how well we internalize, recall, and are able to connect

with other information• Inference - making conjectures or educated guesses about what we do not

have adequate data based on what we do know. • Application - how well we can put what we know to use. • Analysis - how well we can see parts/sub-parts; how components work

together; what consequences are or are likely to be; and detecting needed procedures/limits/costs.

• Synthesis - detecting and working with an amalgamation of ideas, substance, or events. • Evaluation - rendering judgments about what we know and do.

Possible question stems

Questioning

• Level One—Questions can be answered explicitly by information found in the text or in other resources

• Level Two—Questions can be answered implicitly, requiring interpretation and analysis of parts of the text

• Level Three—Questions are open-ended and go beyond the text and are designed to provoke discussion

• In your groups write down two examples of each level, any grade level and content

A Plan…sort of• Write it down• I hate to write it down—I know you do, I don’t care• Put down the basic questions you need to ask—Those that are

essential to the understanding of the content• Put down answers you are willing to accept• Develop re-direct questions e.g. When you get a particular

answer where will you go next?• Develop some advanced questions• Sample French and Indian Wars

Basic-Level One Questions• Who• What • When• Where• How• Convergent kinds of questions—Basically one kind of answer

expected

Level Two Questions

• Under what conditions• How did it occur• What occurred just before/just after• In what ways• What are alternatives to• When you compare the two what do you find• How would you address the dichotomy between• What was the rationale for• Describe the range of possibilities of

A Plan…sort of• Plan and write out the questions to be used in a lesson. How

many are lower cognitive questions? Higher cognitive questions? Is the percentage appropriate for the age and ability level of your students?

• Anticipate possible student responses, especially partially correct or incorrect ones.

• How will you probe for further information or redirect? Ask a colleague to observe a lesson, paying particular attention to the types of questions and student responses.

Using Frames to frame a question• Frames can be used to create different levels for the same

material• Frames can be used to line up different types of questions

(probe, essential, divergent thinking), or to plan an activity

Theme-Concept-Topic-Idea-Content

Level Three-Beyond the facts, open ended, evaluation (B) creating (B)Level Two-Can be answered implicitly by information requires analysis, interpretation-Analysis (B) Level One- can be answered explicitly from information found in text

What details are important? What special language is involved? Can you identify any patterns? Does this represent a trend?

What do I know about this?What do I need to know?What rules are at work here?Are there ethical issues involved?

How does the passage of timeaffect this topic?Are there opposing points of view?How is this connected to other disciplines?

Significant people in Texas history

What does “significant” mean?

To show that you know what significant meansName a significant film, tv program or webSite and explain why it is significant.Investigate

the CareerBasic infoWho-when-Where-what-HowI/d the significant contri-butionsWas there a turning point intheir career? I/D Why should they be remem-bered?(rationale)

Prioritize theTop 10 most Significant people. Justify your response

Create at least eight differentclassifications for “significantcontributions” Order them from most to least important

Name the characters in the story. What was the location? In what time period did it take place? What clues did you find to support your answers?

List the main characters and theircharacteristics. Whatmade each of them unique?What was the mood of the story and how was that moodcommunicated?What things did Doc do thatmade you think he believedDe Leon about the fourHorsemen at the gate?

What was the first clue that the mayor did not like dogs or people who weren’t born in the town?

What can you infer about the relationship between Doc and de Leon when the old man says, “When I die, I wanna come back as your dog .”

Summarize the story

What patterns of behavior did you see with each char-acter? Identify the behaviors that let you predict what each would do the final night at the dance hall.

Doc mentions to de Leon trends he sees in the paper that made him think that

Practice, Practice, Practice• Draw a frames sheet on some piece of paper that you have• In the center block place a concept, theme, topic, or idea you

are going to teach in the first six weeks• Ask three Level One questions—Questions that deal primarily

with the content you would expect to find in the text or resource material that you use

• Ask four Level Two questions—questions which require the learner to combine the basic information and analyze, create or evaluate the content

• Ask two Level Three questions—questions which require the student to generate a creative answer and to produce a response which goes beyond the content

• Use any resource available

Questioning Hints• The set-up-What I am looking for here is a name, a date, an

event

• The Think about it-question then 45 seconds to discuss and think about it

• The Look it up—Use any resource available

• The string—There is a question available, answer it while I’m checking roll

FEEDBACK: REDIRECTING, PROBING, AND RESPONDING

• Re-direct- (You got that wrong, Hotspur) Let me ask this in a different way.

• The Probe ( as they say in Alien Movies)• Tell me more, probably not as good as, I want you to expand on

the first idea that you had • You said XXXX, was that always the case?

• Responding- I like what you said, I need more details.

Show me how to do this• Take learners step by step through the content, let them see

you think• In the following exercise make note of the questions asked of

the learners and note how they set up a pathway for learning. • The questions not only directs the activity but serves as a

model for future thinking activities.

Questions about inference• Task is defined You

are to write a paper about emigration, what facts do you have?• Facts are provided

This is practice• Examine the data

and determine questions about it

• Inference is defined-draw a conclusion or deduct-find evidence• What inference can be

drawn from the questions you asked—Who are these people?• Evidence-further

questions-insights into this historical period (metacognitive)

Just a note:• The Oath of Supremacy required any person taking public or

church office in England to swear allegiance to the monarch as Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Failure to do so was to be treated as treasonable. The Oath of Supremacy was originally imposed by King Henry VIII of England through the Act of Supremacy 1534, but repealed by his daughter, Queen Mary I of England and reinstated under Mary's half-sister, Queen Elizabeth I of England under the Act of Supremacy 1559. The Oath was later extended to include Members of Parliament and people studying at universities.