Better Questioning for Better Learning

Benjamin Stewart Johnson is an educational leader and change agent with a mission to help learners learn more by increasing teacher and administrator effectiveness. As Assistant Superintendent, he turned around a school district from being rated Unacceptable to being rated Recognized by the Texas Education Agency in only three years. He has mentored and coached multitudes of school instructional leaders to increase student learning throughout the state of Texas.

• Section I: Questioning Foundation 1. Questions: Why ask questions? 2. Questioning Perspective: What really happens inside a participant’s head when an instructor asks questions? 3. Whole Brain Questions: What types of questions are compatible with brain-based learning? 4. Virtual Questioning Distinctions: How does that differ from in-person questions? 5. Substantiveness: How can question promote deep thinking? Section II: Planning Learning 6. Wild Hog Questions: How do you prepare effective questions before instruction? 7. A Question for Every Brain: How do you differentiate questions according to needs? 8. Questions 101: What are effective ways to write questions? 9. How to Scaffold Questions: How does scaffolding questions build on participant success? 10. Knowledge and Comprehension Questions: How can questions prepare participants to learn? Section III: Learning 11. The Role of Repetition in Questions: How can questions help participants remember better? 12. Avoiding Zombie Questions: How do you avoid asking ineffective questions? 13. Misconceptions About Asking Questions: How can questions engage all learners? 14. Accountable Talk: How do you help participants to support their answers? 15. Controlling Questions: How do you use questions to manage the class? Section IV: Assessing Learning 16. Checking for Understanding: How do you know all of your participants are learning? 17. Formative Questioning: Constant checking for understanding that doesn’t annoy 18. Pre-Post Test Mindset: How to use Wild Hog Questions as evaluations? 19. Review and Retrench Questions: What do you do when all of your participants are not learning? 20. Formal Evaluations: How do you construct accurate assessment questions?