Questioning Smarts:Skills and Processes for

Deepening Understanding

Sharon Davis, School Library Media Specialist, Taconic Hills High School

Rebecca Ekstrom, School Library Media Specialist, Algonquin Middle School

October 8, 2009

Questioning Smarts

• Presenter: Carol Koechlin, SLMS

• Place: Cornell University

• Why: NYLA School Librarians’ Leadership Retreat

• When: August 2-3, 2009

• So What? Relevant information for every SLMS and teacher

Questioning Smarts

• Why is questioning important?

• How do we build curiosity and wonder?

• How do we teach students to question effectively?

• How does questioning build understanding?

Questioning Smarts

Isn’t thinking enough?

No—much thinking is done in an unquestioning manner.

Aren’t thinking and questioning the same thing?

No—questioning infuses thinking with purpose.

Questioning Smarts

How can we develop a culture of inquiry?

•Invite, value, and celebrate questions•Model effective questions•Teach observation skills•Teach questioning strategies•Let kids own the questions•Create the desire to learn•Establish a community of learners•Examine our personal learning networks

Other Ideas:

• Post the best question you were asked each day

• Find and post questions in magazines • Post quotes that mention questions• Celebrate questions• Bring in any indistinguishable 3-D object• Examine, sketch, record, create ?s, how do

we find answers?

other SLMS

news

blogs Internet

people

books

other media

ME

Personal Learning Network

Questioning Smarts How can we encourage strategic questioning?

Play! Have fun!

•Use games such as 20 Questions, Jeopardy, Are you Smarter Than a 5th Grader?•Hot Seat •ReQuest •DeBono’s 6 Thinking Hats•Not a Box•Fortune Teller/Question Quiver/Cootie Catcher

ReQuest Procedure

• Students develop three different levels of questions:

• Ask questions by examining an article/survey• On the line: How many people were polled?• Between the line: Is focus a factor in unsafe

driving?• Beyond the line: How many people die each year

from using cell phones while driving?• Manzo, 1969

What is it?

• A photo-it could even be a historical photo

• Use film clips, cartoons, posters, quotes

• A box of objects or a collection of photos

• Are there connections?

• What are they?

• This can work for K-12

Carol’s example: size A Gimble

from:http://citadelofstars.blogspot.com/

Carol Kuhlthau says in Guided Inquiry: Learning in the 21st Century: Inquiry

Learning is a SOCIAL process and does not happen in isolation. This doesn’t

mean group work. When students talk to each other, REAL learning develops.

Grown Up Digital by Don Tapscott

• Carol says this book is “a must” • SLJ says teachers will enjoy it• Don’t just throw technology into classrooms• Cut back on lecturing• Focus on life long learning• Use technology to get to know each student• Empower collaboration among students• Do not teach to the test• Use technology to reinvent yourself

Questioning Smarts

From a student’s perspective, they want:• To use social networking tools and new

technologies• Choice of project• To work with friends• Field trips and real experiences• To tackle real issues that are meaningful to

them

Questioning Smarts

The best assignments offer:• Choice• Social opportunity• Real world audience and purpose• Valuing the process through assessment• Teachers and librarians involved with

design, resources, question development, and assessment

Questioning Smarts

Research/Inquiry Assignments:• Students can’t ask great questions unless they

have background knowledge.• Use a question builder as a stimulus for question

generation.• Use focus words to elevate research: discover,

compare, uncover, examine, function, capacity, connection, correlation, pattern, cause, relationship, result, outcome, implication, significance, consequence…

Power Up Your Inquiry

http://edleadershipretreat.wikispaces.com/file/view/Questioning+Handout+DAY+1.doc

Questioning Smarts

Students should consider these guiding concepts as they build their inquiry questions:

• What am I really curious about?

• Why do I want to explore this topic?

• What do I know already?

• What do I need/want to find out?

• How will I make sense of the data I uncover?

• Who will my audience be?

• How will I know I’ve done a good job?

Questioning Smarts

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (Dweck, Carol, Ph. D. NY: Ballantine, 2006)

Growth Mindset v. Fixed Mindset

| / \

I can learn from I’m dumb. I’m brilliant.

my mistakes.

Questioning Smarts

Fixed Mindset:• Desires to look smart• Avoids challenges• Defensive• Gives up easily• Feels threatened by the success of others• Thinks their own effort is fruitlessThese people may plateau early and not reach their

full potential.

Questioning Smarts

Growth Mindset:• Tendency to learn and embrace challenges• Is persistent in the face of setbacks• Uses effort as a path to mastery• Learns from criticism• Finds lessons and inspiration in the success of

othersThese people reach a higher level of achievement

despite their ability.

Questioning Smarts

Bottom line:

Fixed mindset: risk and effort might reveal inadequacies.

Growth mindset: Failure is a gift. Risk and effort are what makes you smart and talented.

Good news: You can grow your mindset.

Questioning Smarts

What does mindset have to do with questioning and performance in school?

• A student who is not afraid to take a risk will be more likely to ask questions.

• A student who does poorly on an assignment, project, or test who has a growth mindset, will put in more effort to improve performance.

• Maximum effort and willingness to take a risk will improve performance in sports and physical education classes.

Questioning Smarts

Teacher/Librarian CollaborationFactors that inhibit success:

• Lack of time• Confusion about roles• Poorly designed assignments• from: Guided Inquiry: Learning in the 21st Century

by C. Kuhlthau, L. Maniotes and A. Caspari

Questioning Smarts

Teacher/Librarian CollaborationFactors that enable success:

• Constructivist mindset• Team approach to teaching• Competence in design process• Commitment to developing information literacy• from: Guided Inquiry: Learning in the 21st Century

by C. Kuhlthau, L. Maniotes and A. Caspari

Resources

• http://edleadershipretreat.wikispaces.com/

• Q Tasks: How to Teach Students to Ask Questions and Care About Their Answers by Carol Koechlin and Sandi Zwaan

• Building Info Smarts by Carol Koechlin and Sandi Zwaan

More Resources:• Librarians as Learning Specialists by Allison Zmuda

and Violet H. Harada (a must)• Play: How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination,

and invigorates the soul by Stuart Brown• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol

Dweck, Ph. D. • Learning to Question, to Wonder, to Learn by Jamie

Mc Kenzie• Puzzle Them First by Angelo V. Ciardiello• It’s Critical by David Booth

Thank you!