What's in a Question?

The questions we ask our students can make a big difference in the way we construct Jewish conversations:  Some reflections on questions heard yesterday at Beit Sefer.   

In Kitah Vav, Andrew Pastor was facilitating a group with Jordane Birkett.  Andrew asked the students to think about what was unrealistic about the Noah's Ark story.  Eliciting answers from the students was the set up for the next question:  If clearly this story has unrealistic aspects to it, why is it in the Torah?  One question was used to set up the next.  I could observe the students grappling with the larger issue of why this story appears in Torah.  The students had insightful and in depth responses.  (Becca has the notes that Jordanne took on what the students said.)  

What a powerful question!!  Not only did it engage with the Noah's Ark story, but it challenged students think about what is meaningful about Torah. The question worked because it allowed for students to generate personal interpretation and meaning, allowed for a variety of answers, and engaged the students in thinking on a deeper level.  

Kitah Zayin teacher: Tali Cohen

The other question from yesterday that lingers with me is one that Tali Cohen asked in her Kitah Zayin class.   Having asked the students to use clay to create something about Judaism, one student had a mix of colors and explained that it represented his mixed feelings about being Jewish.  Tali used this comment to spur class discussion.  What kinds of mixed feelings do students have about being Jewish?  (Tali has notes on the students' responses.)
  
Tali used a student comment to generate a question that probed deeper into the students' thinking.   By doing so, she demonstrated that what the student said mattered.   She conveyed a genuine interest in understanding her students and their thinking which not only spurred meaningful conversation, but honored the students' own relationships to being Jewish.

Snapshot of the board in Kitah Zayin

Parents, I wonder what would happen if we asked our children, "What is a question you were asked to think about today?"