Wait Time
ED 114 has made me aware of my need to allow slower students the opportunity to have more time to answer the question. Also, my teaching can be more productive if I incorporate more open questions. I now feel that open questions allows the student to better express them selves and apply what they have read.
William,
This is great. When I do this, I let them know that I will come back to them with the question while I go on with the class in order to make the best use of time.
Judy Mohammed
I tell my students when I'm asking questions if they cannot remember I will give them time to look up the answer in their book. I not expecting a fast response just a correct response.
Lisa,
I am not sure what a "cricket" response is. However, when a student gives the wrong answer, I use probing to guide them and, if this does not appear to be working, I gently open the question to other students, without embarrassing the responder.
Judy Mohammed
I agree it is important to allow more wait time for students who are more challenged when responding to questions in class. I have come across situations where I want to provide enough wait time to answer a question and have encountered the "cricket" response. How do you handle this without embarrassing the student?
Joseph,
It also lets the students know that they are acccountable for answers - you will give them time to respond rather than just moving on.
Judy Mohammed
Wait time is a normal part of questioning, which I have learned to use with "slower" students. By slower, I mean shy students that do not want to speak in class. Lengthening the wait time, starting with a closed "easy" question, can open the door and get this student to start answering in class...
Reply
Marshall,
The good thing about these courses is they help us to hone our teaching techniques. It is a wonderful gift to be self-reflective.
Judy Mohammed
Richard ,
I agree with you. I have learned to appreciate wait time for both the students and me.
Judy Mohammed
Robert,
This is not too much time. I use wait time so that students will come prepared for class. If they feel I will just slide over, they may not be prepared.
Judy Mohammed
Wait time also gives you the amount of time to think about your response to the student. you can also use more time to think about your response to the student Always give the students enough time to respond. Don't hurry to get an answer you can learn also
Marshall,
This seems like a creative method, kudos to you. I also had to get used to using wait time.
Judy Mohammed
Grace,
Teaching is a dynamic profession, we change and grow all the time.
Judy Mohammed
This topic has opened my eyes as well on wait time. I am the type of instructor who likes to keep to a schedule. Now that I am aware of this I will give my students a little more time to answer. This has also made me aware that when they don't respond maybe I did not cover the material as well as I thought.
Harry,
I would like to know if I'm taking too long a wait time to allow the student to respond. Sometimes I will wait 10 seconds to allow a student to respond. Can that make the student feel uncomfortable? I tend to do this with students that I believe are not spending time preparing for class or studying at all.
Tonight I used a system of cards: pink for answers; blue for questions. Students had to give up a card in order to answer or to ask a question.
I noticed that when I asked a question, even when the student put up his hand right away, there was more wait time as I had to go get the card before he could reply. I noticed that more hands would move to their cards to answer a question: meaning more students were involved in the discussion. My lecture was quieter because they couldn't just talk to me without losing a card.
To help me with second wait times, I would ask another student, who had wanted to answer, if she would like to add something.
I used to work in a special needs classroom and had to be taught about the delay. Those wait times were long. However, I never considered the importance of waiting after asking a question and replying to the answer.
In my classroom, currently (and most terms) I have a few students that will answer questions right away, sometimes not knowing the answer but just talking. I think tonight, I'm going to play a game with them to help improve my ablity to controll wait times.
But I'm really enlightened about waiting before I reply. I never considered that students would be considereing the answer. Of course they are not: they have no time to do that. I've gotten better at not saying "no" when a student gives the wrong answer, so I know I can get better at this.
Dan,
Great self-observation here! Your plan to change is excellent and should be shared with new teachers.
Judy Mohammed
Like others, I found this course to be eye-opening to my own short-comings. I often have to consciously force myself to stop during a presentation to ask questions - I simply do not do that enough as it is. Then (the double-whammy hit me), I realize that, too often, I will ask questions and only grant students a second to respond before I "fill in the blank." It seems silly to admit this, but I often feel rushed for time or I am in a hurry to move on to another lesson topic in hopes that it is more exciting for students.
Here's what I need to do:
1. Plan my presentation with built-in pauses for asking questions. If using PowerPoint, have the questions pop-up on select slides to prompt me and my students that there is more to be discovered and internalized.
2. Generate a list of open and closed questions to ask. Determine how many are open vs. closed, and then determine whether the type of question is appropriate to the learning objective.
3. Maintain my preference to reduce closed, fact-based questions, and generate more open, critical-thinking questions. This will assist students in learning and information retention, more than the typical "rote" method. I believe this method is especially useful when teaching "historical" elements of a subject. Memorizing dates and names has its place in learning, uet I believe drawing conclusions "beyond the facts" makes the class more engaging for students.
I can certainly see how providing a variety of open-ended questions can help students maintain focus and solidify the concepts in their minds.
Jorge,
This is true and the students then know that you will just not move on. You will wait so they are aware that they need to be prepared to answer.
Judy Mohammed
