Embedded Files
Questioning and discussion are the only instructional strategies specifically referred to in the Framework for Teaching, a decision that reflects their central importance to teachers’ practice. In the Framework, it is important that questioning and discussion be used as techniques to deepen student understanding rather than serve as recitation, or a verbal “quiz.” Good teachers use divergent as well as convergent questions, framed in such a way that they invite students to formulate hypotheses, make connections, or challenge previously held views. Students’ responses to questions are valued; effective teachers are especially adept at responding to and building on student responses and making use of their ideas. High-quality questions encourage students to make connections among concepts or events previously believed to be unrelated and to arrive at new understandings of complex material. Effective teachers also pose questions for which they do not know the answers. Even when a question has a limited number of correct responses, the question, being nonformulaic, is likely to promote student thinking.
Class discussions are animated, engaging all students in important issues and promoting the use of precise language to deepen and extend their understanding. These discussions may be based around questions formulated by the students themselves. Furthermore, when a teacher is building on student responses to questions (whether posed by the teacher or by other students), students are challenged to explain their thinking and to cite specific text or other evidence (for example, from a scientific experiment) to back up a position. This focus on argumentation forms the foundation of logical reasoning, a critical skill in all disciplines.
Not all questions must be at a high cognitive level in order for a teacher’s performance to be rated at a high level; that is, when exploring a topic, a teacher might begin with a series of questions of low cognitive challenge to provide a review, or to ensure that everyone in the class is “on board.” Furthermore, if questions are at a high level but only a few students participate in the discussion, the teacher’s performance on the component cannot be judged to be at a high level. In addition, during lessons involving students in small-group work, the quality of the students’ questions and discussion in their small groups may be considered as part of this component. In order for students to formulate high-level questions, they must have learned how to do so. Therefore, high-level questions from students, either in the full class or in small-group discussions, provide evidence that these skills have been taught.
Danielson, C. 2013
Artifact 3b-1
Artifact 3b-1
Mentor Feedback Form #1
Mentor Feedback Form #1
This is a Mentor Observation from the teacher that I observed and worked with this semester. This was the first lesson that I did for the Unit I created for my students. It started off with a pre-assessment and then we ended with a Book titled The Sun. Before we read the book we went over some basic vocabulary such as predictions, observations and patterns. As we got ready to read, I suggested and asked students to share when they saw predictions, observations and patterns. My observations shows that I was able to implement precise language specific to the unit that we were working on. Not only were students asked to recall the definitions of these words, but they were asked to use it in class discussion as we read the book together.
Artifact 3b-2
Artifact 3b-2
Hurricane Lesson Plan
Hurricane Lesson Plan
This artifact is a lesson plan as well as a review from my instructor on the lesson execution. I created this lesson with another partner in my geography class. We structured the lesson so that students had questions to ponder and consider throughout the course of the lesson. Students were asked to pay attention to the video that they would be watching because there would be questions for them to answer at the end. Another activity that we shared started off with a question about what they felt it took to prepare for a hurricane. This opened up the doors for students to discuss as a class about what they believed it took to be prepared for a natural disaster. Though the questions were simple, it provided an ample amount of ways for students to engage in learning and think for themselves about the lesson. As we made smoothies in class, we asked review questions from the video. This gave students an opportunity recall previous taught content.
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