4 reasons to start class with a question

4 reasons to start class with a question

Do your students seem lethargic when they come to class? If so, try motivating them with a pre-class question? If done right, a low stakes inquiry can be just the thing to reel in students’ attention before class even starts

• Make students comfortable with a silly poll: A comforting, but irrelevant question may be just the thing to put students in the right frame of mind for class. Just ask your students’ opinion on the weather, pop music or movies. This will help students get to know you and each other, promoting better attitudes.

• Promote critical thinking with a brain teaser: To get better class participation, provoke higher-level thinking before introducing the material. Discovering the answer to the brainteaser helps students think outside of their normal paradigm and while getting excited about finding answers. Need inspiration, try a few of these.

• Have your students get creative with open-ended questions: Get a window into your students’ thought process with creativity-boosting questions. Often creativity is just as important to the learning process as problem-solving, so why not promoting creativity as well? This can be especially powerful in writing classes to help students get past writing hang-ups.

• Improve your lesson plan with with feedback: Sometimes, students skip class because they feel they aren’t getting enough out of attending. Prevent this from happening by turning the first few minutes of class into feedback time. Have students complete a short poll or an open-ended question about the quality of class.

What kind of questions do you ask at the beginning of class? Let us know in the comments.