Probing Questions

Teacher: Debbie Robinson & Kathy Uhlenhake
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Interview

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Overview

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Principles of Learning

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Information Processing

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Content Standards

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Tenets of Democracy

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bullet point Teacher Knowledge previewing questions postviewing questions
bullet point Teacher  Behavior previewing questions postviewing questions

Questions

Interview: Previewing Questions

  1. Have you ever worked with a media library specialist in a classroom setting? How did you share responsibilities?

  2. Do you think it’s important for students to be aware of the nutritional value of the food they eat? 

  3. How would you feel about using a new piece of technology in the classroom? Do you usually try to integrate technology in your lessons?

Interview: Post-viewing Questions

  1. What criteria does Miss Robinson use to group students in “cooking families”? How else could she have grouped students?

  2. The teachers in this video have designed their own unit for this combined class.  Do you design your own units or do you prefer using the ones existing in the textbook? What do you find the most difficult/the easiest while designing units?

  3. The teacher in this video uses students’ self-evaluation as part of the final grade. Do you use self-evaluation as part of the assessment? Do you consider self-evaluation as part of the final grade? What is your opinion about self-evaluation?

Overview: Previewing Questions

  1. Are you familiar with the Big 6 strategy? For more information please check http://www.itrc.ucf.edu/webcamp/
    final_projects/barney/big6.html    . What do you think about this strategy? Have you ever used it in your class?

  2. What content is usually taught in a Family and Consumer Science class? Are there any other topics that should be introduced?

  3. Did you learn how to cook in school? Did the class provide you with hands-on experience? Do you think students should learn how to cook? Where do you think they should learn it?

Overview: Post-viewing Questions

  1. In this video Miss Robinson models the think-aloud strategy for her students. What do you think about this strategy?

  2. The teacher tackles the subject of junk food at some point in this lesson. How would you introduce and develop this topic with your students? Do you think junk food is an important issue in the US? Explain.

  3. The students are supposed to find out information about nutrition in the school media center. How can they they be assisted in distinguishing between relevant and irrelevant information? How can they assess asses the validity of the information found?

  4. How does the teacher address students’ misconception that diet food is not tasty?

Principles of  Learning: Previewing Questions

  1. What happens if students fail to see connections between previous knowledge and new knowledge? What should the teacher do in this case?

  2. Do you believe that a single activity could change student behavior? Think of an example from your own experience.

  3. How can the teacher tell if the students are Making Meaning of the information they encounter?

Principles of  Learning: Post-viewing Questions

  1. One of the goals of the featured project is to have the students change their eating habits if these habits prove to be unhealthy. How can the teacher assess if this change takes place?

  2. How do you define a Compelling Situation? Look at the lesson plan and identify compelling situations. Explain why you categorize them as such. 

  3. In this video students engage in Thinking Together. How do you approach students who do not feel comfortable with this type of thinking?

  4. In each group students are assigned different roles. How does this influence learning?

Information Processing: Previewing Questions

  1. What is the role of the Presearch stage of Information Processing? Consider this stage both from the students’ and the teacher’s perspective.

  2. When you have to do research for a class, do you have a plan? How do you organize this research?

  3. How can we help student select and use relevant information when performing a search?

Information Processing: Post-viewing Questions

  1. How does the teacher in this video conduct the Search stage?

  2. In this video, students read a number of magazines about nutrition. The amount of information they get in contact with can become overwhelming. How does the teacher help them organize information?

  3. How does the teacher point out important information to students? How do you point out important information in your classroom practice?

Content  Standards: Previewing Questions

  1. What is the difference between a standard and a benchmark?

  2. How would you integrate Family and Consumer Sciences Standard 14.2 (Nutrition and Wellness) “Evaluate the nutritional needs of individuals and families in relation to health and wellness across the life span” in your lesson?

  3. When you integrate a standard in a lesson plan/unit what do you do to ensure that students will meet that standard at the end of lesson plan/unit?

Content  Standards: Post-viewing Questions

  1. The teacher integrates in her lesson Family and Consumer Sciences Standard 14.1 (Nutrition and Wellness)- Analyze factors that influence nutrition and wellness practices across the life span. How does she assess if students meet this standard at the end of the unit? Look at the lesson plan.

  2. Family and Consumer Sciences Standard 9.3 (Food Science, Dietetics, and Nutrition) requires students to “evaluate nutrition principles, food plans, preparation techniques, and specialized dietary plans.” How do students perform the evaluation of the above elements? Look at the lesson plan for additional information.

  3. How did the teacher integrate Family and Consumer Sciences Standard 14.2 (Nutrition and Wellness) “Evaluate the nutritional needs of individuals and families in relation to health and wellness across the life span”? Did she integrate the standard completely or partially? Explain.

Tenets of Democracy: Previewing Questions

  1. Do you involve the students in your class in Decision Making? What kind of decisions do you encourage them to make? Do you feel comfortable with students making decisions? Explain.

  2. How do you envisage a democratic classroom? How do you promote democracy in your classrooms?

  3. How can you assess if your classroom setting is a democratic one? 

  4. How can you promote participatory attitudes?

Tenets of Democracy: Post-viewing Questions

  1. What do the teacher and the media specialist do to empower students? Can you think of other ways of empowering students of this age?

  2. How does the teacher create a democratic community in her class?

  3. Do you think students in this video are comfortable with asking questions? How does the teacher encourage them to take risks?

Technology: Previewing Questions

  1. What do you understand by efficient access of Internet sources? How do you communicate your understanding to your students?

  2. How do you accommodate students with different technology abilities?

  3. What are the results of the instructor failing to give step-by-step instruction for the operation of new equipment?

Technology: Post-viewing Questions

  1. Try to imagine this unit performed without the help of technology. How would it look like?

  2. Imagine that one of the students in this class is reluctant to using new technologies. How would you proceed to encourage him/her to use it?

  3. How do you feel about the use of technology in a Family and Consumer Science class after watching this video?

Teacher Knowledge : Previewing Questions

  1. How do you see the relation between student learning and Teacher’s In-Depth Content Knowledge?

  2. How can we assess Teacher’s Content Knowledge?

  3. How can a teacher enhance his/her own knowledge after graduating from a teacher-training program?

Teacher Knowledge : Post-viewing Questions

  1. Both teachers featured in this video have got teaching experience. Do you think that the number of years of experience influence teacher’s knowledge of content? Explain your opinion.

  2. Which types of Gardner’s intelligences does this activity address?

  3. Do you think the students in this video are enjoying the activities they get involved in? Support your opinion with facts.

Teacher Behavior: Previewing Questions

  1. Think of a teacher that you had and liked. What were the main factors that make you like him/her as a person, instructor or both?

  2. What can a teacher do to support student learning?

  3. Do you think students should evaluate teacher’s behavior? What would be the advantages/disadvantages of this evaluation? 

Teacher Behavior: Post-viewing Questions

  1. How do the teacher and the media specialist monitor student learning in this video? Can you think of other ways of monitoring?

  2. How does the teacher in this video promote the social development of her students?

  3. How does the teacher in this video illustrate Covenant Management?