You care but it’s a tired cliche–limps out of your mouth, barely alive: “How was school?”
You might use a slight variation like, “What’d you learn in school today?” but in a single sentence, all that is wrong with ‘school.’
First, the detachment–you literally have no idea what they’re learning or why. (You leave that up to school because that’s what school’s for, right?) This means you know very little about what your children are coming to understand about the world, only able to speak about it in vague terms of content areas (e.g., math, history).
Then, there’s the implication–they don’t talk about the way that they’ve been moved or impressed upon or changed but in the rarest cases; you have to drag it out of them.
And there’s also the matter of form–you ask them as if a developing learner will be able to articulate the nuance of their own learning to make for a conversation that will do anything but make it seem like they learned nothing at all. So what to do?
Well, that idea of form has some legs, doesn’t it? Show me. Demonstrate it. Let’s look at some artifacts that show thought and affection. Let’s see the impact of your work and effort. That’d actually make a pretty good post in itself. But let’s stick to the old questions-on-the-car-ride-home or over-the-dinner-table format.
What are some alternatives to “What’d you learn at school today?” Here are a few ideas.
25 Alternatives To “What’d You Learn In School Today?”
When did you notice yourself most interested and curious today?
Was there a time today when you were especially confused? How did you respond?
What is one thing that was hard to believe? Not confusing, but surprising?
If you were more ____ today, how would it have impacted the day?
When were you most creative today?
Tell me one fun thing you learned, one useful thing you learned, and one extraordinary thing you learned.
What does a successful day at school look like to you? Feel like?
What sort of different reasons do your friends go to school?
Who worked harder today, the teacher or the students?
How else could you have learned what the teacher taught?
How do your teachers show they care?
What do you know, and how do you know it?
What would you like to know more about?
What is the most important thing you learned today? The least?
Tell me one chance you took today, and how it ended up.
What is one thing you learned from a book?
What is one thing you learned from a friend?
What is one thing you learned from a teacher?
What still confuses you?
What is something you said or heard that stuck with you for some reason?
Based on what you learned today in ______ class, what do you think you’ll learn tomorrow?
Tell me three facts, two opinions, and one idea you heard today.
What should you do with what you’ve learned?
When did you surprise yourself today?
What’s stopping you from being an (even more) amazing learner?
More ‘Questions To Ask Students After School’: Alternatives To “How was school?”
A few readers chimed in with their own alternatives.
Drew Perkins: “What great questions did you ask today?”
Heather Braum: “What did you discover?”
Heather Braum: “What surprised you?”
Heather Braum: “Where did you travel?”
Eoin Linehan: “Why are you learning that?”
Eoin Linehan: “How do you know you are learning?”
Kristine Kirkaldy: “What did you learn/do that made you smile today?
Mrs. Moore: “What was your favorite part of school today?”
Amanda Couch: “Tell me your favorite moment at school today.”
Deb Gaskin: “If you had been responsible for the lesson, what would you have emphasized or done differently? Why?”
Robin Smith: “What was your “good” for today? What was your ‘bad’?”
Laura Cobb: “What did you improve today?”
Laura Cobb: “What challenged your thinking?”
Laura Cobb: “How did you contribute to other students’ learning?”
Jackie Gerstein: “What touched your heart today?”
Jackie Gerstein: “Did you experience anything at school that motivates you to make a difference in the world?”
Jackie Gerstein: “Did you experience any “aha’s” today – understanding or seeing something different than you previously had?”
Jackie Gerstein: “Did you experience any moments of full enjoyment in learning today? If so, when and how?”
Jackie Gerstein: “Did you invent or create anything new today?”
I was speaking (tweeting) with Mark Barnes tonight, and he mentioned the idea of challenging existing forms and practices. And then someone tweeted the above image–a quote attributed to Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, according to the image source globalnerdy.com–and I was happy and favorited and saved and blogged.
“We’ve always done it this way” implies legacy and tradition, which can be good. But it’s also one of the most dangerous phrases we can use—and this danger extends to education, as well.
I talk a lot about disruptive teaching and paradigm shifting in teaching and learning not because I’m inherently rebellious, or some kind of academic anarchist. I’ve just taught long enough–in a wide variety of places–to realize that this idea of progress–and slow iteration–through data and sharing and ‘opening our classroom door’ just isn’t sufficient.
It’s not bad, it just doesn’t reflect the priority and urgency of our collective challenge. At best, students come to school to play the game and be thought of as smart and successful; at worst, they come to disrupt and resist and simply make it through the year because they see no value in what they do.
We have to create laws to force students to come to school, and it’s often the students that need school the worst who aren’t ‘made’ for it; that is, school is made for students who are strong readers and writers that can manage their work while learning to play nicely with others.
Changing lives usually comes from relationships with teachers rather than the power of curriculum. But talking about mobile learning, self-directed learning, new content areas, adaptive learning, or valuing questions over answers can kill conversations in school and elicit polite smiles from teachers, mainly because those aren’t the rules of the game they know.
The problem with the safe approach to teaching is that it won’t yield anything other than what we’ve always had. Without doing things radically different, the most we can hope for is some kind of increment. This isn’t a plea for chaos, but rather the courage to make mistakes.
The phrase, ‘We’ve always done it this way’ symbolizes stagnant thinking and a resistance to innovation, reflecting an unwillingness to question established methods or consider new ideas. This mindset often stifles creativity, limits progress, and prevents growth by clinging to outdated practices simply because they are familiar.
It can also create an environment where change is seen as a threat rather than an opportunity for improvement, discouraging individuals from challenging the status quo or exploring alternative solutions. Over time, this rigid adherence to tradition can lead to missed opportunities, decreased efficiency, and a lack of adaptability in a rapidly evolving world. To foster innovation and continuous improvement, it’s crucial to replace this mindset with one that values flexibility, embraces change, and encourages forward-thinking approaches.
To ‘experiment’ on students (because that’s what’s already happening anyway). Dream, try, and collect data.
Creatively, professionally, and persistently agitate your department, grade level, school, or district to not just become the best version of their existing selves, but become something else that they didn’t think was possible.
Team-building activities are great–especially for the first day of school or early in the school year,
Not only can they help establish routines, tone, and expectations, they’re also fun, and can help learners feel comfortable. Though many older students in high school and college may groan at their thought, they’re usually fun, and great ways to help students feel at ease. Before you dismiss them as too juvenile, try one. You might be surprised.
Note that which game you choose, your rules for the game, and any revisions to the rules depend on the nature of the class you’re using them with. Certain students may feel overly liberated—especially in middle school—with the idea of a ‘game,’ and so expectations must be carefully given to younger K-8 learners—and even 9-12—to ensure that every student is set up for success.
10 Team-Building Games For The First Day Of School
1. Me Too!
Ideal Grade Levels: K-20
The first student gives a fact about themselves—I love basketball, I have two sisters, etc. If that statement or fact is true about another student, they stand up and say “Me too!” They can also stay seated, but simply raise their hand and say “Me too!”
2. Park Bench
Ideal Grade Levels: 6-20
Two chairs are placed together to resemble a park bench. Two students volunteer—or are selected—to act out ‘what happened’ in a fictional news story. They are given one minute to prepare a scene where they discuss the ‘event’ without ever actually saying what happened. After given time period (1-5 minutes), peers guess ‘what happened,’ but they must give up all four important details: Who, What, Where, and When, e.g.:
What: College Basketball game
Who: Any two college or professional sports teams
When: Early April
Where: New Orleans
3. Fact or Fiction
Ideal Grade Levels: 3-12
In a circle, the first student offers two facts and one piece of fiction about themselves. Others raise their hand or are called on to identify which were facts, and which were fiction. The correct guesser goes next. Play is completed when all students have gone.
4. Green Door
Ideal Grade Levels: 5-20
A leader chooses a topic, but keeps it quiet, only saying that “You can bring a ____ through the green door.” Students are then forced to deduce the topic by asking if other things can be brought through the green door as well, e.g., “Can I bring a _____ through the green door?”
The leader can only reply yes or no. When a topic is identified, topic resets. Topics can be content-related, such as parts of speech, colors, geometric figures, historical figures, etc.
5. One Minute Talk
Ideal Grade Levels: 5-20
Students are chosen to give 60-second talks on anything, from self-selected topics they are passionate about, have specific expertise in, etc., to topics given from teacher. Classmates can then follow-up with one thing–no matter how innocuous–that they can ‘connect’ to or is somehow related to their life.
6. Count to Ten
Ideal Grade Levels: 3-20
All students stand in a circle. The first student says ‘1,’ or ‘1, 2.’ The next student picks up where that student left off and can say a maximum number of 2 numbers. The movement continues clockwise until it gets to 10, where that student has to sit, and the game starts back over at 1 at the next student.
Note that there can be no pausing or silent counting—any pauses or indications the student is counting/calculating forces them to sit. Also, pouting or talking during counting results in elimination from future rounds. The big idea is to count strategically so that you can keep from saying ’10.’
Students form a circle. The first student says something they’ve never done. Each student that has done the thing the other student has not steps briefly into the center. The game continues until every person has stated something they’ve done.
8. Magic Ball
Ideal Grade Levels: K-20
Students form a circle. The first student is ‘given’ an imaginary magic ball. The student sculpts an imaginary ball into a new shape, handing it to the person to their right. The activity is silent. Any talking/noise results in student sitting. After the game, guessing may be done to predict what ‘sculpture’ was.
9. Silent Line
Ideal Grade Levels: K-8
Students are given criteria, and must silently put themselves in a line as quickly as possible, to meet a goal, compete against other classes, or receive some reward (free reading time, no homework, etc.) The criteria can simple (birthdays), or slightly more complicated (alphabetical order of college or career ambition).
10. Inside-Outside Circle
Ideal Grade Levels: 3-20
Students form a circle within a circle with (ideally) an equal number of students in both circles. Inside circle members pair with outside circle members. Activity leader (usually teacher, but can be a student) presents a topic, prompt, or question.
Partners share for 10 seconds (or less), the leader asks inside the circle to move clockwise a certain number of spaces to collaborate with new partners directly across from them. This is usually content focuses and helps spur quick discussion on content-related topics, or even current events.
10 Team-Building Games For The First Day Of School; Source ‘The Advisory Book’ by Linda Crawford
If the ultimate goal of education is for students to be able to answer questions effectively, then focusing on content and response strategies makes sense. If the ultimate goal of education is to teach students to think, then focusing on how we can help students ask better questions themselves might make sense, no?
Why Questions Are More Important Than Answers
The ability to ask the right question at the right time is a powerful indicator of authentic understanding. Asking a question that pierces the veil in any given situation is itself an artifact of the critical thinking teachers so desperately seek in students, if for no other reason than it shows what the student knows, and then implies the desire to know more.
Asking a question (using strategies to help students ask better questions, for example) is a sign of understanding, not ignorance; it requires both knowledge and then–critically–the ability to see what else you’re missing.
Questions are more important than answersbecause they reflect understanding and curiosity in equal portions. To ask a question is to see both backward and forward–to make sense of a thing and what you know about it, and then extend outward in space and time to imagine what else can be known, or what others might know. To ask a great question is to see the conceptual ecology of the thing.
In a classroom, a student can see a drop of water, a literary device, a historical figure, or a math theorem, but these are just worthless fragments. A student in biology studying a drop of water must see the water as infinitely plural–as something that holds life and something that gives life.
As a marker of life, and an icon of health.
It is a tool, a miracle, a symbol, and a matter of science.
They must know what’s potentially inside a drop of water and how to find out what’s actually inside that drop of water.
They must know what others have found studying water and what that drop of water means within and beyond the field of science.
They must know that water is never really just water.
Teacher Questions vs Student Questions
When teachers try to untangle this cognitive mess, they sacrifice personalization for efficiency. There are too many students, and too much content to cover, so they cut to the chase.
Which means then tend towards the universal over the individual–broad, sweeping questions intermingling with sharper, more concise questions that hopefully shed some light and cause some curiosity. In a class of 30 with an aggressively-paced curriculum map and the expectation that every student master the content regardless of background knowledge, literacy level, or interest in the material, this is the best most teachers can do.
This only a bottleneck, though, when the teacher asks the questions. When the student asks the question, the pattern is reversed. The individual student has little regard for the class’s welfare, especially when forming questions. They’re on the clock to say something, anything. Which is great, because questions–when they’re authentic–are automatically personal because they came up with them. They’re not tricks or guess-what-the-teacher’s-thinking.
A student couldn’t possibly capture the scale of confusion or curiosity of 30 other people; instead, they survey their thinking, spot both gaps and fascinations and form a question. This is the spring-loading of a Venus flytrap. The topic crawls around in the student’s mind innocently enough, and when the time is right—and the student is confident—the flower snaps shut. Once a student starts asking questions, that magic of learning can begin.
And the best part for a teacher? Questions reveal far more than answers ever might.
The Purpose of Questions
Thought of roughly as a kind of spectrum, four purposes of questions might stand out, from more “traditional” to more “progressive.”
“To be a little more abstract, a good question causes thinking–more questions. Better questions. It clarifies and reveals. It causes hope.
A bad question stops thinking. It confuses and obscures. It causes doubt.”
(More Traditional) Academic View
In a traditional academic setting, the purpose of a question is to elicit a response that can be assessed (i.e., answer this question so I can see what you know).
(Less Traditional) Curriculum-Centered View
Here, a ‘good question’ matters more than a good answer, as it demonstrates the complexity of student understanding of a given curriculum.
(More Progressive) Inquiry View
As confusion or curiosity markers that suggest a path forward for inquiry, and then are iterated and improved based on learning. (Also known as question-based learning.)
(More Progressive Still) Self-Directed View
In a student-centered circumstance, a question illuminates possible learning pathways forward irrespective of curriculum demands. The student’s own knowledge demands–and their uncovering–center and catalyze the learning experience.
To be a little more abstract, a good question causes thinking–more questions. Better questions. It clarifies and reveals. It causes hope. A bad question stops thinking. It confuses and obscures. It causes doubt.
The Relative Strengths of Questions
Good questions can reveal subtle shades of understanding–what this student knows about this topic in this context
Questions promote inquiry and learning how to learn over proving what you know
Questions fit in well with the modern “Google” mindset
Used well, questions can promote personalized learning as teachers can change questions on the fly to meet student needs
The Relative Weaknesses of Questions
Questions depend on language, which means literacy, jargon, confusing syntax, academic diction, and more can all obscure the learning process
Accuracy of answers can be overvalued, which makes the confidence of the answerer impact the quality of the response significantly
“Bad questions” are easy to write and deeply confusing, which can accumulate to harm a student’s sense of self-efficacy, as well as their tendency to ask them on their own
7 Common Written Assessment Question Forms
Questions as written assessment (as opposed to questions as inquiry, questions to guide self-directed learning, or questions to demonstrate understanding) most commonly take the following forms in writing:
Matching
True/False
Multiple Choice
Short Answer
Diagramming
Essay
Open-Ended
Questioning In The Classroom & Self-Directed Learning
For years, questions have guided teachers in the design of units and lessons in classrooms, often through the development of essential questions that all students should be able to reasonably respond to and that can guide their learning of existing and pre-mapped content.
In the TeachThought Self-Directed Learning Model, learners are required to create their own curriculum through a series of questions that emphasize self-knowledge, citizenship, and communal and human interdependence. In this model, existing questions act as a template to uncover potential learning pathways.
Cognitive Dissonance is the cognitively-uncomfortable act of holding two seemingly competing beliefs simultaneously. If you believe that Freedom of Speech is the foundation of democracy, but then are presented with a perspective (through Socratic-style questioning in the classroom from the teacher, for example), you arrive (or the student does) at a crossroads where they have to adjust something–either their belief or their judgment about the validity of the question itself.
In this way, questions can promote Cognitive Dissonance, meaning a good question can change a student’s mind, beliefs, or tendency to examine their own beliefs. Questions, cognitive, and self-reflection go hand-in-hand.
The Role of ‘Lower-Level’ Questions in the Classroom
Lower-level questions inquire at ‘lower levels’ of various learning taxonomies.
These are often ‘recall’ questions that are based in fact—definitions, dates, names, biographical details, etc. Education is thought to have focused (without having been there, who knows for sure?) on these lower levels, and ‘low’ is bad in academics, right? ‘Lower-level’ thinking implies a lack of ‘higher-level’ thinking, so instead of analyzing, interpreting, evaluating, and creating, students are defining, recalling, and memorizing, the former of which make for artists and designers and innovators, and the latter of which make for factory workers.
And that part, at least, is (mostly) true. Recall and memorization aren’t the stuff of understanding, much less creativity and wisdom, except that they are. Bloom’s Taxonomy was not created to segregate ‘good thinking’ from ‘bad thinking.’ In their words, “Our attempt to arrange educational behaviors from simple to complex was based on the idea that a particular simple behavior may become integrated with other equally simple behaviors to form a more complex behavior.” In this way, the taxonomy is simply one way of separating the strands of thinking like different colored yarn–a kind of visual scheme to see the pattern, contrasts, and even sequence of cognitive actions.
Nowhere does it say that definitions, names, labels, and categories are bad–and if it did, we’d have to wonder about the taxonomy rather than assuming that they were. It doesn’t take much imagination to see that if a student doesn’t know there was a war, and that it was fought in the United States in the 1800s, and that it was purportedly over states’ rights, and that both culture, industry, and agriculture all impacted the hows, whens, and whys of the war, that ‘higher-level thinking strategies’ aren’t going to be very useful.
In short, lower-level questions can illuminate and establish foundational knowledge to build a more complex and nuanced understanding of content. They provide a foothold for thinking. To further the point, in 5 Common Misconceptions About Bloom’s Taxonomy, Grant Wiggins explains that the phrases ‘higher-order’ and ‘lower-order’ don’t appear anywhere in the taxonomy.
Essential Questions in the Classroom
Grant Wiggins defined an essential question as “broad in scope and timeless by nature. They are perpetually arguable.”
Examples of Essential Questions
What is justice?
Is art a matter of taste or principles?
How far should we tamper with our biology and chemistry?
Is science compatible with religion?
Is an author’s view privileged in determining the meaning of a text?
A question is essential when it:
causes genuine and relevant inquiry into the big ideas and core content;
provokes deep thought, lively discussion, sustained inquiry, and new understanding as well as more questions;
requires students to consider alternatives, weigh evidence, support their ideas, and justify their answers;
stimulates vital, ongoing rethinking of big ideas, assumptions, and prior lessons;
sparks meaningful connections with prior learning and personal experiences;
naturally recurs, creating opportunities for transfer to other situations and subjects.
Think-Pair-Share is a collaborative learning strategy that promotes discussion and allows students to share their thoughts and questions with a partner before sharing with the larger group.
Process
Think: Pose a thought-provoking question or problem related to the lesson. Give students a few minutes to think about their responses individually.
Pair: Have students pair with a partner to discuss their thoughts and questions. Encourage them to come up with additional questions during their discussion.
Share: Pairs share their questions and ideas with the class. This can be done by having each pair present their most interesting question or facilitating a larger group discussion where pairs contribute to a growing list of questions.
Follow-Up: Use the questions generated from the Think-Pair-Share activity to guide further inquiry, research projects, or class discussions.
10. Wonderwall
Description: A Wonder Wall is a dedicated space in the classroom where students can post questions that come to mind during lessons, discussions, or independent activities. It is a visual and interactive tool to foster a culture of inquiry.
Process
Create the Space: Designate a section of a wall or a bulletin board as the Wonder Wall. Provide sticky notes, markers, and a way for students to add questions easily.
Introduce the Concept: Explain to students that the Wonder Wall is a place for them to post any questions about the topics being studied or other related curiosities. Encourage them to write their questions on sticky notes and place them on the wall.
Regularly Review and Address Questions: Set aside time each week to review the questions on the Wonder Wall. Select a few questions to investigate further as a class or to incorporate into future lessons and activities.
Encourage Peer Interaction: Allow students to read and respond to their peers’ questions on the Wonder Wall. They can add comments, suggestions, or additional questions, creating a collaborative and dynamic learning environment.
Integrate into Curriculum: Use the questions from the Wonder Wall to guide inquiry-based projects, research assignments, or class discussions. This ensures that student curiosity directly influences learning and keeps students engaged.
A Guide To Questioning In The Classroom; image attribution flickr user flickeringbrad
