Hi William - Thanks for your post to the forum. I am glad that you have found some ideas to use in your classroom! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
As a new teacher I found that it was easy to get taken off topic by student questions. Being new, I felt compelled to answer them or at least address them. By the end of the semester I had no problem telling the student to hold them for a more appropriate time.
I plan on using some of these suggestions to better address the situation next semester!
Hi June - Thanks for your post to the forum. You are obviously a very caring instructor! It is so imporatant, as you point out, to make our students feel that their input is valued. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Hi June - Thanks for your post to the forum. You are doing a great job of promoting active learning with youe students! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Mary, I agree. I am not linear so I learn best by association and inferences and am sure many students do as well.
This is a great point, Angela! We learn more than the students sometimes!
Susan, I have found this to be true also. I like to redirect such questions to the student to answer, telling him/her that he/she will learn more if he does that research. I often hand my in-seat English students a dictionary and ask them to look up a word that I might not be perfectly sure of (also asking them to share the pronunciation and etymology for the benefit of all of us).
We can ask them to relate the question to the task at hand, ask them to rephrase their question to include something specific to the task, and rephrase the question for them as some of the possibilities. We can also be polite by writing down unrelated questions to answer for them later or ask them to email or talk to us about unrelated questions. When students in my chats ask about grades or something off topic, I ask them to put it in an email that I'll address as soon as I start the office hour. I would also add "That's a good question" so they feel good about themselves.
HI Sara - Thanks for your post to the forum. You are doing a great job of leading question sessions effectively. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Keeping a close eye on the discussion redirecting as needed is definitely a good way to keep everything on track. It is also a way to demonstrate that you, as the instructor, are truly listening to all that is happening.
I find it works best to keep students on target when I have the topic(s) or objective(s) listed for everyone to see. I also encourage students to write down questions they might not feel are on target, or might not want to ask, and regularly collect the slips (or check my e-mail) for these questions. This way, the students, hopefully, stay on target. If a student is going off target in their question, I might say "that is a good question, let's save it for later" and if their answer is going off-target I might rephrase the answer in a way that puts the discussion back on track.
I really like the first technique here. I find it really works
sometimes during a question a student is focused on your facial response or tone and I will give them a look of are you sure? I encourage students to stand by their answer and trust themselves. I will also try to redirect any off subject questions to after class but at times when the discussion is going slow I will go along with the off topic question just to show I do care about what is happening to the student.
First off I believe it is important to explain the context of the question. Covering material and then jumping into a question can be confusing if it is not phrased properly and the context is unclear. Therefore, providing the relevance of the question to the discussion helps ensure student understanding. If for some reason the answer was off target, one would then respond positively to the response and then rephrase the question.
I appreciate any questions or responses students give so I try to acknowledge their input. If they have asked a question about something off topic I will ask if we can discuss that idea later when it better fits or even after class if necessary. If they're response isn't on topic I will acknowledge their input and then direct the students back to my question by restating it and perhaps trying to be clearer.
Hi Lori - You can also "Park" those off-topic questions/concepts on the Whiteboard and get to them at the end of class. Best wishes- Susan
I think it is important to stay focused during questioning.
Asking questions the relate to the subject at hand. Ask the question in a different way or demonstrate to engage students to think.
Organization ahead of time will be the key. Have questions prepared ahead of time. Also, when veering off topic, steer the student back by stating "hold that thought" and rephrasing your original question.
Lori
Hi Annie- Rewording questions that seem to have everyone confused is really important. Usually the "lights will come on" after that! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
