Questioning techniques
This questioning technique keeps all students engaged by selecting someone to answer a question, rather than waiting for volunteers.
What is cold calling?
These handheld tools let every student show their thinking at once, making them perfect for quick maths checks and whole-class participation.
What are mini whiteboards?
This teaching approach involves the teacher demonstrating a process or skill step-by-step for students to observe before trying it themselves.
What is modelling?
This short, regular activity at the start of a lesson helps students recall and retrieve previously taught content.
What is Daily Review?
This nationwide assessment measures Australian students’ skills in literacy and numeracy across Years 3, 5, 7, and 9.
What is NAPLAN?
In this collaborative strategy, students first reflect individually, then discuss with a partner, and finally share their ideas with the class.
What is Think Pair Share?
This quick end-of-lesson task helps teachers assess what students understood and what needs more practice before the next class.
What is an exit ticket?
This part of a maths lesson involves the teacher and students working through problems together before students try independently.
What is Guided Practice?
In this simple metacognitive check, students indicate whether a concept is well understood or still confusing.
What is clear or cloudy?
These specific indicators show students what success looks like for a particular learning goal or task.
What is the Success Criteria?
These teacher prompts, such as “Can you add on?” or “Do you agree and why?”, are used to encourage deeper mathematical discussion and reasoning among students.
What are Talk Moves?
This carefully chosen question checks students’ understanding at a key point in the lesson to decide whether to move on or reteach a concept.
What is a hinge question?
This statement clearly tells students what they are expected to learn and achieve by the end of a lesson.
What is a Learning Intention?
This reflective teaching technique involves the teacher staying silent while thinking aloud, asking themselves “What have I done? Why did I do that? What will I do next?”
What is Silent Teacher?
This educational author and speaker is known for his work on effective teaching strategies and evidence-based classroom practice.
Who is Tom Sherrington?
This questioning technique gives students a few seconds to think before answering a question.
What is Wait Time?
This type of question presents several possible answers, and students must select the correct one, often used for quick checks or assessments in maths.
What are Multiple Choice Questions?
A task completed by students that is similar to the one modelled by the teacher.
What is a problem pair?
This cognitive system holds a small amount of information temporarily, which can be easily forgotten if not reinforced.
What is short term memory?
In this teaching strategy, the teacher talks through their thinking process step by step while solving a problem, showing students how to approach it themselves.
What is a Think Aloud?
“Can you explain your reasoning?” or “Why do you think that?” are examples of what type of questions?
What are Probing questions?
These quick visual cues allow students to show understanding or confusion instantly, using gestures like thumbs up or thumbs down.
What are Hand Signals?
This approach in maths encourages students to work on problems or tasks by themselves, applying what they’ve learned without immediate teacher guidance.
What is Independent Learning?
This thinking process involves students reflecting on their own learning, strategies, and understanding to become more effective learners.
What is metacognition?
This online platform helps teachers track student learning, identify gaps, and plan targeted instruction, especially in maths.
What is Essential Assessment?