Levels of Questioning: Examples
Encourage Reflection
"How do you think your lesson went?"
"What was your lesson objective? ...How do you know your students mastered it?"
"Why is it important to...?"
"Talk to me about...."
"I noticed you've been doing [ blank ]. How has that impacted your lessons?"
"If you could re-teach your lesson, what would you do differently?"
Ask Targeted Questions
"And how well did you do with [ blank ] in the lesson I observed?"
"Do you remember what happened when...?"
"One thing I noticed in the observation was [ blank ]. Did you notice that?"
"Tell me why you did [ blank ] in the lesson I observed."
Present Data
"My notes show that it took X minutes to...."
"I observed that X students...."
"My notes show that while you were doing [ blank ], the students were...."
"Let's watch the video of that lesson...."
State Issue
"Because it took X minutes to do [ blank ], I think we should work on [ blank ]. This will benefit students because...."
"I noticed you did [ blank ]. This caused problems with [ blank ]. We should work on [ blank ]."
Set the Tone
(Welcoming)
PAUL: Hello, Will. How have you been?
WILL: (sigh) Fine, I guess.
PAUL: Thanks for meeting with me to discuss yesterday's observation.
WILL: No problem.
PAUL: I really enjoyed spending some time in your classroom.
(Offering specific praise)
PAUL: It was great to observe your lesson and see you using the checks for understanding we talked about. I saw you used pick-sticks and thumbs-up, and you were circulating during group work to check on students. How have those checks been informing your lessons?
WILL: Oh, they've definitely helped. It used to be just a few vocal kids answering my questions, but now I can get a quick scan of everyone before moving on.
PAUL: How has checking for understanding impacted student learning?
WILL: Well... I guess it's good to know if the lessons are sinking in. I can think of a few times I've stopped and reviewed more because the students showed they didn't quite understand.
(Optional - offering another item of specific praise)
PAUL: Last time we met, we talked about giving students more practice time in your lessons. I was happy to see that in your lesson yesterday you had both guided and independent practice. Have you been able to do that consistently?
WILL: Yeah, I've been doing that in almost every lesson. I thought at first... maybe it would be a little monotonous to do the same thing every day, but it hasn't been that bad, really. And having a standard structure definitely makes lesson planning less stressful.
PAUL: How has that extra practice impacted student learning?
WILL: Hmmm. Well, test scores have gone up a bit in the past two months. And I've noticed that the kids are used to the routine by now--they go along with it and I don't have to do as much explaining.
(Setting expectations)
PAUL: This meeting should only take 15 to 20 minutes, so I'd like to get right into discussing the details of what I observed yesterday.
WILL: Oh... 20 minutes? I was thinking it would just be a few minutes of going over your observation report.
PAUL: I know these conversations have been shorter in the past, but I'm really trying to give the best feedback I can, and they'll be a bit longer from here on out.
WILL: Okay, well... I have a ton of papers to grade, and my class needs them for tomorrow. Could we reschedule?
PAUL: Your professional growth is extremely important to me, Will. This will only take a few minutes, so I'm sure the papers can wait a little while.
WILL: Well... thanks, I think. Yeah, I...I guess that'll be fine.
PAUL: So, in this meeting, I'd like to discuss areas you've improved in and steps you can take to continue to improve and benefit your students.
WILL: Ah, I see. You know, I feel like I've been following your directions and really trying hard, but I just feel like I haven't been making much progress... not as much as I should be making.
PAUL: I've definitely seen some improvement over the course of the year, and I think you can keep improving. It's not a race, and I'm willing to work with you one week at a time, if that's what it takes. I'm not giving up on you, Will. So don't you give up on me.
WILL: Okay... thanks.
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