Questions to Ask Your Class
Questions for teachers and lecturers to use with a class: checking what actually landed, opening a discussion that does not stall, and getting honest feedback on your own teaching.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What's still unclear from last lesson?
Why ask it
Better than asking whether there are any questions, because it presumes something is unclear and removes the cost of admitting it. If nobody answers, ask them to write one thing on paper instead of saying it aloud.
Can someone explain what we just did to a person who wasn't here?
Why ask it
Explaining to an absent classmate is easier than explaining to you, because the standard is clarity rather than correctness. The point at which they hesitate is the point the class has not secured.
Which step did you get stuck on first?
Why ask it
Asks for a location rather than a confession, which changes who is willing to answer. Two or three students naming the same step tells you where to reteach, and it is usually not where you assumed.
Where would this stop working?
Why ask it
Pushes past the procedure into the conditions behind it, and it separates students who have memorized a method from students who understand it. Good answers often name an edge case you had not planned to cover.
What did you have to unlearn to make sense of this?
Why ask it
Surfaces prior beliefs that quietly block new material, which is where most persistent errors live. It also legitimizes having been wrong, which makes the rest of the discussion easier to run.
Who disagrees, and what's your reason?
Why ask it
Naming disagreement as expected is what makes it available. Take the reason rather than the position, and resist adjudicating immediately, or the class will wait for your verdict instead of arguing.
What would change your mind about the answer you just gave?
Why ask it
Asks a student to state their own evidence standard, which is a harder and more valuable move than defending a conclusion. An answer of 'nothing' is worth pursuing gently.
Where does this show up outside this room?
Why ask it
Student examples are more use than yours because they reveal what they think the concept is about. A wrong example is diagnostic and worth thanking them for.
What did you try that didn't work?
Why ask it
Makes failed attempts reportable, which is the only way to see the reasoning behind a wrong answer. In a class where this becomes normal, students stop hiding blank pages.
If you were writing the test, what would you put on it?
Why ask it
Tells you what they believe the important material is, and any gap between that and your plan is a gap you created. It also produces better revision questions than you would write alone.
If you had to teach this tomorrow, what would you cut?
Why ask it
Forces a judgment about what is central rather than a recall of everything covered. Students who cut the core concept have understood the topic as a list of steps.
What have you looked up on your own because you were curious?
Why ask it
Finds the students who are already going further and gives them a reason to say so. It also gives you material to bring back next lesson that the class already cares about.
How long did last night's work actually take you?
Why ask it
Ask for numbers, ideally written down and anonymous. Teachers routinely underestimate this by half, and the spread across a class matters more than the average.
What have we spent time on this term that hasn't helped you?
Why ask it
Expect a difficult silence the first time and something useful the second. Ask them to be specific about the activity rather than the topic, since it is usually the format that failed rather than the content.
What do I do that makes it harder to follow?
Why ask it
You will hear about pace, handwriting, talking while writing, or moving the slide too soon. Ask for it in writing if the class is not used to being asked, and then change one thing visibly so the answer is worth giving.
Would you rather I slowed down or covered less?
Why ask it
A real trade-off rather than an open invitation, which is why it gets a usable answer. Whatever they choose, tell them what you decided and why, or the next question of this kind gets no response.
When you're stuck at home, what do you do first?
Why ask it
Reveals the help-seeking habits that determine who falls behind: rereading notes, messaging a friend, searching for a video, or giving up. It is also the moment to name what you would rather they did.
What's a question you thought was too basic to ask?
Why ask it
Answered anonymously, this produces the questions that are actually holding a class back. Reading a few aloud, without attributing them, changes what students are prepared to ask next time.
What would make you more willing to speak up in here?
Why ask it
Ask it in writing, because the students who most need to answer will not do so aloud. Answers about being wrong in front of others usually point at something you can change in how you handle wrong answers.
What should I keep doing next term?
Why ask it
Ends the feedback on what is working, which protects you from removing the thing they valued most. Specific answers here are also the ones worth carrying to a different class.
Running these questions in a real classroom
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Mechanics that decide whether anyone answers
Wait longer than feels natural
The gap between asking and rephrasing is always shorter than it feels from the front of the room. Count five or ten seconds in silence before you say anything else, and you will hear from the students who need a moment to assemble an answer.
Have them write first, then talk
Thirty seconds of writing before any discussion means nobody has to invent an answer while being watched, so more of them have something ready when you ask. It also gives you something to collect from the students who never speak.
Do not always take the raised hand
The same four students will otherwise carry every discussion and you will overestimate how well the class understands. Use pairs, or names drawn at random with the option to pass.
Make the feedback questions anonymous
Questions about your teaching, workload and confusion need paper or a form. Signed feedback from students you grade is worth very little, however good the relationship.
Handling what comes back
Treat a wrong answer as information
Ask how they got there before you correct it. The reasoning behind an error is usually shared by a third of the room, and it is the only thing you can actually teach against.
Do not close the discussion too early
Once you confirm the right answer, thinking stops. Hold your verdict for a few exchanges, and ask another student to respond to the first one instead.
Report back on feedback
If you ask what to change and nothing visibly changes, the class will not answer honestly again. Name one thing you are changing and one thing you are not, with a reason.
Separate the loud complaint from the common one
Anonymous written feedback lets you count. A vocal objection from two students and a quiet pattern across twenty need different responses, and only written answers tell you which you have.
What tends to go wrong
Asking whether everyone understands
It reliably gets nods, including from students who do not. Replace it with a question that requires them to produce something: an explanation, a step, an example.
Answering your own question
Filling the silence teaches the class that waiting is a workable strategy. If nobody answers, rephrase once and then move to writing or pairs rather than supplying it.
Using a discussion question as a quiz
If the open questions are graded, or if a wrong answer is followed by visible disappointment, students will only offer answers they are sure of. Keep assessment and discussion clearly separate.
Asking for feedback at the wrong moment
Immediately after a hard test or in the last two minutes of a lesson produces either anger or nothing. Pick a neutral point mid-term when there is time to discuss the answers.