While reviewing vocabulary for the week, I asked, “What might be your rationale for getting up in the morning?” Two or three hands reluctantly went up.
“Wait, that’s a not a good question. What might be your rationale for staying up until midnight?” Every student’s hand shot up.
My students all knew what rationale meant, but it would have been easy to assume otherwise based on the response to my first question. A good reminder that the question matters.
I agree that good questions are great and I spend a ton of time teaching that with my students. However, you are getting at a bigger point in education. You know your students. You know that they are more likely to stay up until midnight than to get up early and have a better explanation as to why.
If you know your students and build relationships, you’ve got high quality teaching.