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I recorded myself during my first and second reading groups.

1.  I realized my questioning techniques were very basic. My questions only allowed single answer responses. None of my questioning techniques had any depth. As I continued my questioning techniques with my next reading group, I noticed that my questions were very repetitive and did not really produce the deeper level thinking that I was trying to create. Once I planned my questioning techniques by using the Critical Thinking Wheel, my students were able to give multiple answers with a greater meaning. My students were also able to be more creative with their answers which helped other students gain a better understanding of the book.

2. I have planned to implement the Critical Thinking Wheel which will help guide me as I plan questions for my lessons. In order to improve my questioning techniques, I will implement the Critical Thinking Wheel in all the subjects that I teach. The Critical Thinking Wheel will be a very good tool to keep handy as I plan and teach each lesson.

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I recorded myself during a read aloud /discussion of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to my class for 5 minutes on two seperate mornings

1. I asked more one answer/correct response questions on the first recording than on the second recording.  On the second recording I asked more open ended questions and allowed for students to discuss/share ideas more.

2.  To improve my questioning techniques in my classroom, I have studied the Mentoring Minds Wheel. I also keep it out on my desk to refer back to.  I have read other articles and models on Bloom's.  I plan to allow more time during my lessons to ask open ended questions and to allow time for both whole group discussions and for students to pair up and discuss.

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1.  I recorded myself asking questions before, during, and after a reading group.  I noticed that I asked very surface level questions throughout my lesson.  I asked mostly for factual information from the text.  I had the kids answer my questions and support their answers with information found within the text.  I did not really allow the kids  to confer with each other.  I also noticed that while I tried to prompt the kids to extend their thinking, I was mostly prompting them to give me the answer I wanted.  Not their answers from their own thinking.    The second time I recorded my reading group I worked hard to include questions that could have more than one answer (and had them support their opinions).  I allowed for time to confer with each other.   I noticed that the kids were more engaged and enjoyed (but struggled with) questions that might not necessarily have a right or a wrong answer.   It made some of my kids uncomfortable that the answer might not be right there in the print.  That is exactly how I was/am in my own learning.

2.  I need to allow myself more time in my lesson planning to include the higher order questions.  It really takes me TIME to think of them because it doesn't come as easily to me as straight forward questioning does.  I find it interesting that I have become comfortable doing that with math (CGI) but haven't acquired that confidence across the rest of the curriculum.   I am aware that I really need  to improve my questioning during my reading groups and try not to rush them due to time issues.  The kids like to talk about their reading and I think reading groups are a very non- threatening atmosphere to foster their opinions and independent thinking skills.

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1. I have noticed that my questioning techniques differ depending on the time frame and content area. After listening to myself two different times in two different situations, it was easy to see and compare the differences. A great deal of my questions were very quick and to the point, allowing a single word response. I have noticed that I use a great deal of "turn and talks" and "stand and shouts" with my students. This gives them an opportunity to listen to others ideas and answers, and also gives them each a chance to answer. During our vocabulary lesson the students got to share what they meant the word "freedom" meant and compare what freedoms the Pilgrims wanted and what freedoms we have today. Overall, questioning is a area I need to focus on. I feel it is very important to provide students with higher order questioning to ensure we are reaching their full intellectual potential. I also noticed that I mess up a lot when asking questions. I sometimes have to say it three times before it sounds right and actually makes sense. Poor little students of mine..

2.) Questioning and answering is apart of my PGP and an area that I find as a constant struggle. There are many things I need to do to ensure I am adding higher order questioning into my daily routine. Based on my reflections from this experience, I am going to begin planning the questions out ahead of time. This way I can be prepared to ask questions that are appropriate and challenging to my students. Writing these questions down on my lesson plans or on a separate sheet of paper will allow me to be prepared. I will also keep and use the higher order questioning wheel close by to refer to it when needed. It is a great tool to use to help any teacher ask and plan questions. I have watched videos on teacher tube and looked up ideas on the internet to help incorporate critical questioning and answering into my lessons.

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The Critical Thinking Wheel for Mentoring Minds has made me more aware of the kinds of questioning that I have presented and posed to my kids. You will laugh when you hear this but I have been carrying the wheel around and when I have a question ready in my head, I refer to the wheel in order to change the question (reword it) so that the question fits into a higher level of Bloom's, or, the wheel. I have always felt like I have tried to ask higher level questions, but referring to the wheel has kept me on my toes. Although difficult to do, I feel like the wheel has created an awareness and is challenging me to consistently think about HOW I am wording my questions with my students. I had an interesting discussion with my kids yesterday regarding the Pilgrims- I asked the kids to partner and discuss whether or not they thought being a Pilgrim would be difficult or scary. Then, I asked them to tell their partners to defend that answer. After that, I asked them to share what would be difficult or scary as a Pilgrim. After that, I asked them to prove to their partner why their answer was a better one..... I told them to "argue their point" but not in a negative way....The answers were amazing- babies being born on the Mayflower without medicine and doctors....deaths of family members due to long, hard winters....leaving everything they knew to come to a new and unusual land.... having Native Americans who were possibly "savage" walk in uninvited to where the Pilgrims were.... this went on for some time. I noticed students began to contribute to each others' thoughts because they were truly interested. Then, I turned it back on the kids and asked them what they would have done differently to have made theirs lives easier as Pilgrims if they have lived in 1620. We also discussed how the Pilgrims' lives would have been different is they would have had access to vehicles, television, and cell phones- what would have changed for them with modern conveniences.

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1. I have noticed that I am not using questions that get my students to really think about the question. The questions that I usually ask are "yes" or "no" answers, or I have a certain answer in mind that I want to hear and if that student does not give me that answer I move on to another student to see if they have that answer. I have realized that it's not all about that one answer. It needs to go way beyond that.

2. While I am writing my lessons plans, I have started to stop and think about what questions I could ask with my lesson for that day. The Blooms Taxonomy Wheel has really helped in creating those higher order questions.

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1. I noticed that my questioning went a lot deeper with blooms that it normally has, since I have received the mentoring minds educational wheel. I recorded myself during my reading block. The students were allowed to talk and discuss with one another and ask each other questions from the story. I then asked higher questions to the class as a whole and gave the students a little more time to think and raise their hand before I called on someone to share their response.

2. I have created a blooms cup. In the blooms cup are questions that are color coded based on Blooms Taxonomy. During Class Time I allow the students to choose a question from the cup based on how deep I think the questioning needs to be at the time. I like to give my students a challenge daily, so we could dig deeper into the evaluation level of blooms and they may pull a question out that says "Which is more important...., How would you feel if....., What is your opinion of..., What would you recommend..., "

Also to tie in vocab, we could discuss what the word "recommend" means.

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1. I noticed that the responses I am getting from my students have been deeper and more thought out due to my prepared questions. This week, I recorded myself during a discussion about Pilgrims. I had my questions prepared before this discussion. The students were able to discuss the following questions I used (I used my Critical Thinking wheel to come up with these questions)...

Knowledge: What ship did the Pilgrims come to America on? Where did the ship land? Comprehension: How do you compare/contrast with a Pilgrim child? How would you describe the Pilgrims?

Application: What would happen if the Pilgrims never came to America? What would happen in the Pilgrims just gave up and went back home?

Analysis: How are Pilgrims connected to Indians? Why do you think the Pilgrims came to America? Synthesis: How could you make a plan to help the Pilgrims stay warm in the winter?

Evaluation: If you were an Indian, would you trust the Pilgrims? Why or why not?

-It was a little more difficult to come up with synthesis and evaluation questions that were appropriate for kindergartners, but my class was able to respond to every question successfully. For the synthesis question, I had them discuss their response with a partner first and then called on a few to share their responses.

2. In order to improve my questioning techniques for future emails, I will prepare questions before my lesson. After noticing that it is harder to think of questions that are higher on Bloom's, I know that it is necessary to pre-plan questions in order to receive higher-level responses.