In my second school visit, I observed teachers based on how they scaffold students and what type of questions they ask their students.  Before starting a lesson, the teacher would ask the students if they have heard about the topic before and to name any words that may be associated with the topic. For example, they were learning about energy and the teacher asked them to recall what they already know about this topic. The teacher also asked them to look at the picture and to look at the caption and title to get some ideas about the topic.  After the students would look at the picture, the teacher would use scaffolding techniques such as “I am wondering how this picture has anything to do with the topic, what are your wonderings?” This way students would feel the need to think about a wondering and say it out loud. The teacher would also repeat the students’ responses in order for everyone to hear it and to ponder about it. When the students were not on task or their hands were not on the table, the teacher would ask them “why” instead of directly demanding them to listen.

For younger students, the teachers would ask them if they “remember” doing an activity and insuring that everyone understands and then moving on to the activity. Other scaffolding questions asked were “Is that true?” or “Does that make sense?” To help understand empathy and sympathy the teachers would ask “You wouldn’t appreciate that would you?” or “You would be upset, wouldn’t you?” The teacher would also express emotions such as “that makes me sad” to help students understand that even teachers could feel sad after reading a sad story or watching a sad video.  To help motivate them to participate and to give them some autonomy and choice, the teachers would ask students “Do you think you can do that?” Some other questions used to scaffold students learning were: “What do you think will happen?”, “Can you take a guess?” and “Can you think of one reason this would happen?”

I successfully acquired a lot of really good ideas on what types of questions to ask students while observing the teachers. I noticed how helpful those questions were for the students and really helped them to think critically and pay attention. It also helped them inquire about the topic and use their imagination. I am glad I was able to witness that and cannot wait to apply it in the future.