Came up to Fredericton to attend 'Tech or Treat' virtual conference.
Everyone should check out Dan Rothstein's talk - "The Simplest and Most Powerful Learning Technology: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions."
I set up my students in math class so that they get the opportunity to work with other students that are at a similar level in whatever big concept that we are working with. This allows them to work collaboratively at their own pace, which helps me differentiate instruction while maintaining my sanity in my class.
One great thing that has happened is that students seem much more comfortable at asking questions to students who are at a similar level. The major difference, however, is the level of question posed by the different groups.
Some groups -usually the ones in which students are more comfortable with the concept in question- will ask questions such as:
"Why did you do it this way?"
"Wouldn't this work better?"
"What's the first step to do this?"
The students who have less comfort or mastery of a concept will often ask the following question:
"How do you do this?"
The last question usually leads to one student telling another how to solve the entire problem. Very little learning occurs.
I'm thinking I can maybe use Dan's ideas to help my students ask deeper questions and to answer questions in a more open way.
