Using Student Responses
Although most teachers typically respond to student answers with an “Okay” or “Uh-huh,” and some may even respond with a “Good,” “Nice job,” “Great,” “Cool,” or perhaps an occasional “Wow!”, a more powerful response is to use the student's answer as part of a follow-up question. Here's a scenario:
Teacher: How are these insects able to walk on the surface of the water?
Student: They use surface tension.
Teacher: So you think they use the natural surface tension of water to stay on top?
Student: Yeah. You know we learned that the water molecules at the surface of water form a strong attraction.
Teacher: Are you saying, then, that the insects use that attraction to walk on the water?
Student: Yes, but the insect has to be a certain weight or it will fall through.
Notice what happened here. For each response the student provided, the teacher used some of the student's words to craft a follow-up response or question. This process accomplished several things:
It recognized that the teacher was actually listening to the student.
It provided the teacher with an opportunity for the student to clarify her or his thinking.
It provided a motivation to keep the conversation going.
It celebrated the student's participation in the lesson.
