Raising the Rigor - Eileen Depka

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their understanding. Quality questioning strategies result in an intellectually active classroom that gives students the opportunity to engage at heightened levels of sophistication, intensified awareness, and increased comprehension.

      As we strive to increase the complexity associated with what we ask our students, the change in practice may be a challenge for our students. Their experience might be one of questions that require them to recall information or repeatedly perform a procedure. Questions that require memorization or one-word answers might be their norm. “What does a plant need to grow?” “What is the answer to the mathematics problem?” “What world leaders played a key role in World War I?” While transitioning from a more familiar approach to one that requires additional challenge, students are likely to need support to go beyond their comfort zone. A byproduct of the transition could be an increase in initial failures. If educators and students view failure as a step closer to success, the change will be more palatable. I often tell students that they are on the road to right. They may not experience the highest level of success initially, but they are on the way. Teachers need to create a balance of challenge and support in order for students to be willing to engage (Quate & McDermott, 2014).

      In her book Mindset, Carol Dweck (2006) identifies perseverance as another benefit of a system of questioning that promotes deep thought, which supports the long-term success of our students. According to Dweck (2006), we as a society formerly believed those who had to spend more time learning were struggling learners. She reveals that even the highly gifted work hard in order to achieve. Students who typically learn quickly without struggle need to spend time and effort to find appropriate responses to questions that challenge them. Accomplishment is closely tied to effort regardless of individual or perceived ability. This reminds me of the famous Thomas Edison quote regarding his development of the light bulb. He said, “I have not failed ten thousand times … I have succeeded in proving that those ten thousand ways will not work” (Edison as quoted in Furr, 2011). If we encourage our students to think and try—and when they fail, to think and try some more—we will take them to a place of deeper understanding, greater success, and a heightened level of perseverance. It is through their willingness to persevere that they’ll realize success. We can challenge our students to think just beyond their comfort level and provide support as they experience roadblocks so they can move toward perseverance through a gradual release approach. Teachers can help grow perseverance by working with students on challenging activities then weaning that support as students begin persevering on their own. Scaffold activities to provide the stepping stones necessary to lead to higher levels of challenge. Provide the resources or locations of resources needed for students to be successful. Ask questions that will lead students to successful outcomes rather than provide answers for them. See the teacher do it in the following example.

       Teacher: Students, throughout the year we will be involved in various tasks that require us to give increased amounts of effort. Sometimes things come easy for us. Think of a time when you had to try something more than once to be successful at it. Who has an idea to share?

      Student: I had trouble learning to ride a bike. It took lots of time and practice before I could ride and not fall.

       Teacher: I would imagine that many of us had a similar experience. We didn’t give up, though. Even though it was difficult for us, we kept trying. We were motivated to be on the bike, and to be able to ride successfully. Why do you think you continued to try and you didn’t give up?

      Student: Because I wanted to get places faster, and I wanted to ride with my friends.

      Teacher: This type of effort is called perseverance. Perseverance means that even when something is difficult for us, we keep trying. In order to become good at using the knowledge and skills we gain in school, we need to persevere in the classroom just like we do when learning a new skill at home, like riding a bike. We learn things in school so that we can become successful at applying our abilities to tasks that are like those found in the real world.

      For example, this week in mathematics we learned to find the area and perimeter of various shapes. Today we are going to use that skill in a real-life situation. It will take multiple steps to arrive at a solution. You will need to determine how you will find your final answer and carry out a plan to do so. It will take perseverance.

      Using a process or cycle, explained in chapter 5 (page 63), to identify questions supports a purposeful approach to developing questions for the classroom (Fusco, 2012). These processes focus all questions on the goals of the lesson by planning the core questions in advance. How will you present the questions and acknowledge them? That is another point of planning. An atmosphere of respect and openness that builds levels of trust in the classroom supports the process. Chapter 7 (page 83) explains how to create that culture. Process options and crucial components appear in chapter 4 (page 51).

      Without applying careful thought to planning and posing questions, the result can be ineffective. An approach that includes preplanning questions to ensure addressed standards and content will bring a positive result. Preplanning questions help provide a balance that ensures higher-order thinking questions. Follow questions designed to solicit responses that prove students have the factual understanding needed with questions that inspire thought. For example, during a science unit on weather, younger students will learn a bit about temperature and seasons, but they also need to understand how weather impacts them, what they wear, and the activities they might be able to engage in outside. Preplanning questions cause a systematic approach to accomplishing the lesson’s goals. They reveal confidence that students will reach the level of understanding required to succeed with lesson content. One way to make certain that questions promote in-depth critical thinking is to use a structure to level questions, using a taxonomy. Structures associated with classroom practice also support positive, productive, and engaging classroom conversations (Fisher & Frey, 2007).

      Student success is our end goal, not only for the short time students are with us but in their postschool lives. We want students to think, learn, and grow. That learning may appear in classroom performance, standardized assessments, or postsecondary success. Asking rich questions in the classroom will encourage thought and promote understanding. We support perseverance, engagement, and communication skills through the use of high-quality questioning strategies. Forethought and preplanning questions provide a foundation that supports effective teaching.

       CHAPTER 2

       Deconstructing Higher-Order Thinking Skills

      Higher-order thinking skills can set the stage for more detailed conversations about questioning strategies. Higher-order thinking skills enable students to apply knowledge and skills in a variety of unique situations. Students are engaged in processes often requiring real-world applications. Tasks teachers develop to support these skills often have multiple solutions and multiple paths to correct solutions. To fully engage in situations that require this level of interaction with content, students need foundational background information (King, Goodson, & Rohani, n.d.). As teachers introduce content, they should consider the response to three questions: (1) What background knowledge and vocabulary are necessary for students to better understand the next unit? (2) Can connections be made with what is about to be learned to what students already know? and (3) What real-world connections can be made to relate the content and concepts to their purpose and importance outside of school? As content is introduced, regularly incorporate responses to these three questions. Chapter 4 discusses background knowledge in more detail.

      Building a foundation for students can require the use of lower-order skills like recall, as is explained in Webb’s Depth of Knowledge

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