1. Q uality uestioning Materials adapted from QUILT curriculum:
Henrico County
Public Schools
Welcome to the Quality Questioning Professional Development Workshop. You are participating in a workshop designed to address a Henrico county initiative. We have adapted the QUILT curriculum to address the needs of the Henrico division and we call our initiative Quality Questioning.
Today we are providing a brief overview of a piece of the Quality Questioning curriculum - Processing Student Responses.
What do you do with the responses offered by students? The purpose of any given question should be driven by what we intend to do with the student response. As we consider alternative teacher reactions to student responses, we’ll really be investigating alternative ways of “processing student responses.”
Materials adapted from QUILT curriculum:
Questioning and Understanding to Improve Learning and Thinking

2. Focus Questions: What things stimulate student engagement?
What types of feedback can teachers use to enhance learning?
When is praise appropriate?
What stimulates student engagement? This question can be answered based on information from previous modules. We will answer this question as it relates to the teacher reaction and handling of student responses.
We will put names to the types of feedback that are used by teachers and discuss the impact these have on student thinking and learning.
What caveats are associated with teacher use of praise? There are differing opinions on this topic and we will look at the implications related to the use of praise.

3. Questioning: An Instructional Process
Structuring
Soliciting
Responding
Reacting
…Moving beyond simple questioning into its aftermath. Questioning, in fact, is one of the four primary processes of instruction. Aligns somewhat with the stages…
Stage 1: Structure the environment. Provide information and establish procedures (Norms, Wait Time…)
Stage 2: Requests for student involvement or activity including the asking of questions (Present the well formulated question. Note that the definition for solicitation would broaden our traditional, narrowly construed notion of questioning as an interrogative (a statement with a question mark at the end). This broad definition would encompass all student performance in response to teacher requests (e.g., conducting science experiments, baking a cake in home economics, serving the volleyball in physical education, etc.).
Stage 3: Answering, reporting of data, expanding on a structuring move, and continuing a line of reasoning (participation in Alternate Response Format/engagement activity)
Stage 4: Evaluation of student response or performance in recitations. It would also include the cueing, prompting, and probing that might occur. In discussions, appropriate reacting would be non-evaluative. Rather, both teacher and student reactions to another’s comment would take the form of either elaboration or questioning to understand a point of view.

4. Sustain Terminate http://www.spiralpocus.com/
Teacher Reactions to Student Talk Sustain or Terminate student engagement.
So this is a little review… What are some example of things we do that sustain student engagement? What are some of the things we want to be aware of that might terminate engagement?
Sustain:
Wait time 1 and especially 2
Directed questions
Norms
Alternate response formats
Terminate:
Volunteers
Calling out
Filtering
Fast pace
There is one last thing that impacts student engagement - the feedback we give students.

5. Types of Feedback Praise Corrective Positive Negative Absent Criticism
Too many times we overuse certain types of feedback at the expense of others. Which one of these do you use most frequently? Take just a few seconds to reflect on your usual practice. Which do you use least often? Again, take a few seconds to reflect.
You may allow participants to share “covert responses” to the above two questions and talk about why they may overuse praise, as an example, and underuse corrective feedback. Distinguish between positive feedback, simple acknowledgment of a correct response, and praise, which interjects value judgments. Also, point out that negative feedback (i.e., indication that a response is not acceptable or correct) is a precursor to corrective feedback, which leads the student to an acceptable response. However, criticism, which belittles the student and/or the response, almost never has a place in the invitational classroom. This is also a good place to talk about the differential distribution of feedback to high achievers and low achievers. Make the following points:
High achievers receive a disproportionate share of feedback in most classrooms; they also receive a larger amount of teacher praise.
All students require feedback, but lower achievers actually require more feedback because they are less sure of themselves (i.e., they usually have a lower level of confidence in their answers) than are high achievers.
The main point, of course, is to assure that all students are left with knowledge of whether they have produced a “correct” or “incorrect” response to a recall or convergent question in the context of a recitation.
When the instructional purpose calls for a discussion, rather than a recitation, teachers can be much “stingier” with feedback.
 Does feedback serve to sustain or terminate discussion? (Allow choral response—“terminate.”) Why? [Allow participants to speculate as to why feedback tends to shut down a discussion, (e.g., once the teacher gives praise or positive feedback to one student, others assume that the teacher has heard the answer he/she wants, etc.)].

6. Praise Criteria for effective praise:
Another point we should make is that most of our praise is ineffective because it fails to meet some basic criteria for effective praise. Jere Brophy, an educational researcher, found that effective praise meets the following criteria:
Contingent. First, praise that is effective is contingent on the performance of a stipulated behavior. In the context of questioning, praise should be related to the provision of a response that reflects student thinking about the issue embodied in the question.
Specific. Effective praise is also linked to a particular aspect of student response. For example, a teacher might praise a student’s use of metaphorical language in a response that is not complete from a substantive point of view. In this case, specific praise could be offered—followed by a probing question or constructive feedback.
Sincere. If praise is to be effective, students must believe that it is genuine— that the teacher truly means what he or she says.
Varied. In order to be effective, teacher praise needs to have variety. This makes it more meaningful to students.
Credible. To be effective, praise must be believable, or credible.

7. Elaboration Expand or amplify student response Use student response
Refer to the response later
What alternatives, then, do we have to direct praise? One effective way to provide positive reinforcement is to expand and use correct responses.  
Students value the teacher’s use of their responses because this behavior communicates louder than words the value the teacher places on those responses.
When teachers use student responses, they are employing one of several elaboration techniques. Elaboration techniques accomplish what the term implies: they extend or expand a student response:
Expand or amplify student response. The teacher can (1) ask the responding student to expand or amplify on his own response, (2) herself expand on the response, or (3) acknowledge the student’s response and redirect the question to another student for amplification. In such a case, the teacher might say, “Can you piggyback on this response?”
Use student response. The teacher can incorporate a student’s response to further explain or illustrate the point under consideration.
Refer to student response later. The teacher may defer comment on a student’s response during a discussion until a later or more appropriate time during the discussion. At this point, the teacher may use or call for expansion of the response. The obvious value here is that the student recognizes that the teacher valued the response enough to remember it.
In what context would we be more likely to use the elaboration technique? In recitation or discussion? (Hoped for response: Discussion.)
Why? (Hoped for response: The idea in discussion is to sustain talk, which is exactly the point of elaboration.)

8. 3 2 1 Consider saving for closing reflection…
Reflect on types of feedback, praise and elaboration techniques.
Consider new learning and also awareness of things that you may look at differently now.
Three points that stand out as important or interesting.
Two questions you have.
One thing you can commit to doing differently based on today’s learning.
Turn to a partner and tell him/her one thing you can take away from today and commit to implementing before the end of the week.

9. Q uality uestioning Materials adapted from QUILT curriculum:
Henrico County
Public Schools
Materials adapted from QUILT curriculum:
Questioning and Understanding to Improve Learning and Thinking