Great post, Rebecca!
I use Costa's Levels of Questioning to help students have a frame from which to speak. They can then articulate questions from the different levels and even categorize the questions that been asked based on levels. My students follow up their discussions by even creating comprehension quizzes for other periods using these stems as a means to generate really rigorous inquiry. It's also a way for students to recognize that standardized test are generally Level 1 questions, as it is very difficult to develop multiple-choice in any other way.

The best way to prepare students to think critically is for teachers to also stay away from those Level 1 questions or, as you say, to stop answering those questions themselves.

In that way, we will teach them to think.

Thanks again for the great post!
-Heather Wolpert-Gawron

I wholeheartedly agree that many students are too focused on the absolute of being right all the time. In Math, my co-teacher and I introduce multiple paths to get the same answer--since when you are computing there really is a right and wrong /final/ answer. We'll share our own strategies, and encourage students to share with us and the class if they see another way to solve the problem. We tell them to use the method most effective for them, although we do try to point out the pitfalls of some approaches (i.e. you can save time if you...). Even when you think you have right and wrong answers, though, it's not always the case! Occassionally students will show that they've interpretted the directions differently. If they can make a sound case for how or why they got the answer they did, then they are given credit for it.

Our team feels it is valuable for them to see that the teacher can make mistakes too, and we encourage them to question what we say/do/write on the board if they feel we may have made an error. Some students have gotten into the habit of thinking, "If the teacher asks me to justify or elaborate on my answer, I must be wrong." When they come to us, they quickly learn that we may ask them to clarify /whether they are right or wrong/. We also invite classmates to comment on if they agree or disagree and why. This approach makes students think more deeply and make fewer guesses or assumptions. It also helps to sometimes turn a student question over to the class for an answer.

I also shudder when students ask if they have the "right" answer. The post and comments above are exactly the track we need to be on. No matter the age of the student, the best thing to do when teaching is to encourage thinking broadly. Otherwise, they could get into the rut of trying to get that magic answer--which is when learning can stop.

We need to teach kids how to think! It's what is going to keep them on the path of learning. we are preparing kids for a world of unknown, a world where the magic answer is learning how to think and problem solve. Kids cannot do that if we are peering over the shoulders of their work and telling them how, when, how much and trying to fill their minds with stuff. It does not mean we don't provide clear objective or structure, we most certainly do! It does mean we step back, we quiet ourselves, we observe, we model our thinking, we create a place where children can risk take, fail but from that stand up and say here is what I learned, here's how I might try again.
I teach Kindergarten and it is amazing to see how their brains work! They spent the last four, five, or six years of there life figuring out the world, language, and they did it buy exploring different ways. Educators need to create places where children of all ages can do that type of exploring and learning.

I am an elementary school Science teacher (1st-6th grades). One thing that I do is ask 'challenge questions' every week, where students use what they know to figure out a question. For example, we do a demonstration with a plastic bottle and balloon to illustrate that warm air rises. I then ask why there are no deserts in the mountains. This is just one example, but it's extremely important to teach our students to be abstract thinkers, and this is true in every subject but especially in Science. It took my students some time to adjust to this teaching method, but the results are wonderful.

I always try to ask open ended questions in class and have students write in their journals every day whether given a writing prompt or free thinking. Children do need to become abstract thinkers, I agree. Teachers need to be a guide sometimes, rather than just a teacher of content and material. I try to teach students to think and not just what to think. I love to use cooperative learning in my classroom, so the children can learn from each other rather than the teacher all the time.

Rebecca, I really enjoyed your post. I am an 11th grade English teacher in Virginia, so students in my class have to take The End of Course Virginia Standards of Learning Test, and much more than everyone likes to admit, a lot of weight is put on these students' scores. They also reflect on me, for the good or bad. There is this pressure to teach to the test; just give them the information a skills they will need and let them pass this minimum competency test, but that's not for me. My students often complain because I teach "what isn't on the test." Getting an education is not about learning how to regurgitate information; it's about learning how to critically process information to be a highly functioning member of society, and that to me is much more important than any one test score.

I instill in my students that learning is an on going process; how we gain knowledge is from our mistakes. In my classroom if a student provides an incorrect answer it is viewed upon as an opportunity to learn. After adjusting to my classroom environment (which takes time) students who normally would be afraid to participate begin to.

I agree with Lauri83 in that we need to provide additional outlets that permit students to expand their thinking and ways in which they learn, cooperative-learning groups is a valuable tool. I have also incorporating the “think aloud strategy” Rebecca discusses. This technique works beautifully by demonstrating to students that I do not have all the answers and together we will attain them. In doing this my students productivity increases at the thought of assisting their teacher.

Thank you Rebecca for your wonderful post and insightful information.

I agree that simply teaching the right answer is not the best way. I think of the saying, "If you give a man a fish, he can eat that one day, but if you teach him how to fish, he can eat forever". This is what comes to mind when I think about a teacher simply teaching the right answer. When we teach reading at my school, for the K-2 kids, we give them the strategies. We can't tell them the words, we must give them the tools they will need to get the job done "tomorrow", not just for the moment. We teach them something today that will help them read better tomorrow or that will help them problem solve a similiar problem like this tomorrow, instead of just teaching them the answer. That too comes to mind when I think about this issue. We want students to be independent and go beyond the "basic" so we must teach them what they need to be able to be successful and think outside of the box.

I really enjoyed reading the post. I also encouraged my peers to access the blog to have an insight about the right way of teaching the “right answer”. I teach IB and AP biology classes and these are 2-year programs that require an external examination by the end of the second year. Unfortunately, the school, parents, teachers, and students are obsessed with these tests because universities consider the results of these examinations. Teachers tend to use sample questions from past papers so that students can have an idea about the style of questioning. However, this leaves no room for activities or any information beyond what is required in the syllabus. That’s why students are obsessed with the “right answer” and are always asking the teacher about the “right answer” in the mark scheme provided with the past paper. Teachers even dictate the answers to the students in class or photocopy and distribute the mark scheme to the students.
I can totally understand that students have to be familiar with the questions and the format of the external examination; but this does not mean that students should passively receive ready-made answers.
I try my best not to use this strategy in my biology class. We have electronic boards installed in the classroom which allows me to prepare power points for the students. These presentations have animations, images, and a lot of questions included within the image on each slide. These images allow students to relate to the topic in a concrete way and make room for thinking outside the box.
Usually the lesson is followed by a worksheet that is directed towards pointing out misconceptions. The worksheet includes different levels of questioning that cover Bloom’s taxonomy. I give students enough wait time I and then I direct the questions and give wait time II after re-stating my question.
My aim is to make students learn what is beyond the book. I even play the devil’s advocate when I notice that the student’s answer reflects a misconception or a detail misunderstood. Questioning allows the students to relate different topics to each other. My students were taught in a way where they study every topic by itself and usually fail at connecting ideas together; which is a big flaw in biology where the teacher cannot discuss a topic without relating it to prior knowledge or to topics discussed earlier throughout the year.
I also tend to give my students data analysis questions that include graphs, charts, and different types of data where the student answers the questions based on what is given in the questions, without him referring to prior knowledge. Such exercises are challenging for the students because they are used to studying and writing the “right answer”. Such exercises include open-ended questions where more than one answer is valid.

I really enjoyed reading the post Rebecca. This is the first time I participate in a blog and I find it very enlightening to see that teachers share common interests about their students regardless of the grade level we teach. I loved reading the different comments and I will actually use most of the ideas posted in your article as well as in the other teacher's comments in my classroom in order to improve it and make it a better place for learning and for asking questions.