Any Questions?

Why “Any questions?” is not a very good question in the classroom.

I’m sure we’ve all done it.  We come to the end of our introduction to the lesson in which we have outlined the essence of our topic and explained what needs to be done next, and we turn to the sea of expectant faces in front of us.  Fairly confident that the explanation couldn’t have been much clearer, we ask the question, “Any questions?”  The expectation is that we will receive one of two responses: either there will be a moment of impressed silence, in which the students look around shaking their heads in the secure knowledge that everything was crystal clear, defying anyone to question such a transparent demonstration of the facts; or there will be one or two sensible questions, asking to clarify important points of the narrative, aimed at extending their learning.  Is that really our expectation, or just a desperate hope?  Let me bring you back to reality for a minute with, what I think, is more likely to happen when you pose that open-ended impossible question:

1. There will indeed be no response and the assumption is made that everyone understands. In fact, it is far more likely that those who don’t understand are sitting there unhappily, thinking they are the only ones who don’t know what to do.  This may be one child or many but the children themselves will assume they are the only one.  The outcome?  They don’t understand at the end of the lesson and it needs to be explained to them again another time.  Meanwhile, they have lost reams of confidence and you have wasted valuable lesson time.
2. There will be a quick-thinking joker in the class (there usually is at least one) who will decide to ask an inappropriate question to put you on the spot/test you/annoy you. Their question will have little if anything to do with the topic in hand and will merely be a distraction aimed to put off the inevitable need to get on with the work.  “What was the first bit, Miss?” (said with cheeky grin).  “Why do we have to learn this topic, Miss – we won’t need it in the workplace?”  While it is an excellent opportunity to praise their speedy wit and for you to display your equally quick astuteness in response, this is not always the easiest reaction to make and, depending on the class, you may betray signs of weakness yourself as you seek to maintain control.
3. You are bombarded with questions from children who actually do understand 99% of what you have said but there was one word somewhere in the middle of your explanation that they missed, and they would therefore like you to repeat the whole thing again.
4. One child says that they don’t understand, and you try to explain it in simple terms again. But those terms are still your terms.  Which were the terms that the child didn’t understand in the first place.  The child is still confused but is unlikely to ask again, ever.
5. Point number 4 will probably apply to several children in the room because every child learns in different ways and you may have only presented the information in one way. Inviting questions will merely alienate and silence this group of children completely.

However, comprehension still needs to be questioned.  Just because asking the children if they have any questions is futile, doesn’t mean that the assumption that everything was understood is acceptable either.  So, what should be done?

1. Ask specific questions about what you have just said. Hopefully, at least one pupil will be able to summarise what you have said, but in a different way, which will make it clearer to others.
2. Choose a pupil to explain a word related to the topic or to re-explain the task itself. That way you can judge how your words have been interpreted.
3. Don’t introduce too much material in the first place. Pupils will be confused and it’s far more difficult to summarise afterwards.
4. Demonstrate your material in different ways – with actions, sounds or videos, for instance. If it’s just you talking, it’s only being presented from one aspect, but with different sources or means of presentation, you make the content accessible in different ways to pupils.
5. Use mini whiteboards – the miracle assessment assistant.  Ask a specific question and see if you get the responses you expect from everyone.  You can also tell who is unsure by watching who is copying whom.  The results are often quite eye-opening!
6. Do ask if there are any questions, and then get another student to respond.

 

As always, teaching is a minefield of obstacles to manoeuvre around and ambushes to avoid in an attempt to get as much learning as possible into the allocated time, while still making it entertaining and attempting to inspire as well.  Although some things seem obvious, it is a brave teacher who will admit that they never drop a ball in their juggling act that leads to the end of the lesson.  Hopefully, therefore, the above reminders may help some of us to dodge a few more well-aimed bullets and to achieve our ultimate goal: to exit the classroom with at least a semblance of our sanity still intact!

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