The REAL Reset: Math Moves That Matter – Tuesday Edition
Questions That Build Thinking Series
Part 1: Why Planning the Question Changes the Lesson
The REAL Story
In my first three years of teaching, I used to get genuinely frustrated during math discussions because I would ask a question expecting one type of response and get something completely different. At the time, I assumed it meant students did not understand the content. I thought the gap was on their end.
It wasn’t.
The gap was in my questioning.
I was asking surface-level questions and silently expecting depth. I would ask, “What’s the slope?” and when a student said “two,” I would move on, even though what I really wanted was an explanation of how they determined it, what it meant in context, or how it connected to the graph. But I never actually asked for that. I expected them to read my mind and jump to the deeper layer without being led there.
Other times I would ask something vague like, “Why did we do that?” and then feel annoyed when the answers were weak. But looking back, that question had no structure. It wasn’t anchored to anything specific. I was asking students to reason without first building the pathway that would allow them to reason.
During one of my mentoring years, I was asked what I wanted to improve in my instruction. I said “questioning.” So when we got a grant for professional development for our school, I volunteered for one of the facilitator’s to help me with questioning.
The facilitator came into my classroom and wrote down every single question I asked throughout the day. She did not offer commentary. She did not circle anything. She did not give me one piece of feedback. She just left the paper on my desk labeled by period of every single question I asked throughout the entire school day.
When I read it after school, it was clear. Most of my questions were procedural. “What did you get?” “What’s next?” “Is that right?” They kept the lesson moving, but they did not deepen understanding. There were very few questions that required students to justify, connect, or analyze. And almost none of the questions built on one another in a deliberate way.
That moment made me realize that questioning had to be prepared and planned as part of lesson planning. Questioning is not something you can rely on instinct for. If it is not planned, it defaults to recall and procedure. And when questions stay at that level, student thinking stays there too.
💕 3 Instructional Shifts That Changed My Questioning
1️⃣ I stopped confusing movement with rigor.
Just because students were responding quickly did not mean they were thinking deeply. I had to stop asking questions that simply confirmed whether they could follow steps and start asking questions that required them to explain their reasoning. There is a difference between asking for an answer and asking for understanding, and I had to get honest about which one I was actually doing most days.
2️⃣ I began planning question sequences directly into my lesson plans.
Not one isolated question, but a progression. I would start with what students noticed, move to how they knew it was true, then push into why it worked, and finally explore when it would not work. That sequence created structure. Students were no longer guessing what I wanted. I was intentionally leading them toward deeper reasoning instead of hoping it would happen naturally.
3️⃣ I stopped accepting vague answers just because they were technically correct.
This one changed the room. A student would say, “Because it goes up,” and early in my career I would nod and move on. The answer was not wrong, but it was not precise either. So I started pressing gently but firmly. “You mean it is increasing?” “Use the mathematical language from the lesson.” “Say that again, but in a way that someone else could actually learn from it.”
At first, students were uncomfortable. They were used to quick answers being enough. But over time, they learned that in my room, we do not stop at almost. If you are going to answer, you are going to explain. You are going to justify. You are going to be clear.
The Close
Questioning is not something you squeeze in at the end of a lesson when you have a few minutes left. It quietly shapes what students believe math requires of them. If most of your questions sound like “What did you get?” or “What’s the next step?” then over time students start to believe that producing an answer is the goal. They adjust to that expectation. They stop volunteering full explanations because they are not needed. They stop using precise language because no one is pressing for it. They stop connecting ideas because no one is asking them to.
And then we turn around and say they are not thinking critically.
But students rise to whatever level the room consistently requires. If the thinking in your classroom feels flat, it is worth looking at the questions first. They are doing more to shape the rigor of your instruction than we often realize.
The Productive Struggle mini course opens soon.
Click the LINK BELOW to get on the Wait List
https://education-evolution.kit.com/ps_mini_course
Tiffany Smith, Ed. D., Your Culturally Responsive Math Specialist
Founder, Education Evolution, LLC | Creator, The REAL Framework™ | Creator of Mind the Gap Curriculum™
"Here’s to classrooms filled with real growth, real talk, and REAL results."
Know someone who’d find this helpful? Forward this email to a colleague or friend who’s passionate about creating real change in the math classroom.
Or tell them to sign up with this link: https://education-evolution.kit.com/a3118d8126
