This is an condensed extract from the book, “Hands Up: Questions to ignite thinking in the classroom,” written by Stephen Lockyer and available from Amazon. https://t.co/S0cfyGAT5Y

1. The Ten Commandments of
Questioning in the classroom
It is estimated that teachers can ask up to 500 questions a day — but
how many are actually any good? Measure up against these ten
commandments of questioning.
1. Thou shalt track thy habits
Find out what your habits are by recording a lesson you teach, or asking
a colleague to tally these habits. Do you favour one side of the room to
the other (hint: we tend to)? Do you ask a mix of genders? Do you only
select those students who make eye contact? All of this tacit teaching
can be incredibly revealing.
2. Thou Shalt Stop Answering Thy Own Questions
Around 65% of questions asked by teachers are answered…by the
teachers themselves! Develop an active awareness of this habit by
informing students you will suffer a ‘fine’ for every question you answer
yourself. I find press-ups work well.
3. Thou Shalt Use A ‘No Hands Up’ Approach Occasionally
We all know those cloudholders whose hands are forever in the air, but
what about those students who don’t have the confidence to put their
hands up, yet want to contribute. Forget lolly sticks and instead
seek these students out, smile and ask them for an
answer.
4. Thou Shall not Accept “I Don’t Know” As A
Response
This is one problem which needs careful
addressing — letting a student off the hook by
moving on lets them believe that you accept their
approach. Instead, ask them to repeat the question, and
then talk them through how they might find an answer.
5. Thou Shalt Indulge in Wait Time
We can as teachers start panicking if responses don’t come
thick and fast, but it is recommended to wait between 3

2. seconds (for closed questions) and 10 seconds (for open questions)
before a response. Remember, if it’s a good question, it should make
them think, so give them some thinking time!
6. Though Shalt Employ Carrots and Sticks
Build in rewards and motivation for answering questions in the
classroom, and indicate how participation in the lesson leads to better
outcomes. Set more resistant participants the challenge of answering at
least one question per session.
7. Thou Shalt Measure The Attention Span
Here are two quick rules of thumb: less than 75% eye contact from the
class; mix things up. Another rule: the attention span of you class is
roughly their age in minutes. If you are questioning for longer than this,
what are you hoping to achieve?
8. Thou Shalt Avoid Anchors
We’ve all had a lesson where one student says a totally unreasonable
answer, and every answer after this seems attached to it! Backtrack as
soon as you can and dissect why this answer is wrong, otherwise you
have a great danger of losing them all.
9. Thou Shalt Make Your Questions That Simple
This doesn’t mean challenging, this means simple to understand. The
test shouldn’t be understanding the question, but trying to find the
right answer. It is far better to let them encode an answer than
decode your question.
10. Thou Shall Not Ask The Same Question
Repeatedly
If you’ve asked it more than three times, has it really gone
in, been heard or even understood? Rephrase
your question, or go back to the stage before to
ensure all the class understand what it is you are
asking.
This is an condensed extract from the book, “Hands
Up: Questions to ignite thinking in the classroom,”
written by Stephen Lockyer and available from Amazon.