Ask why... and wait

Sometimes I find myself, if just for a moment, wondering where I would be professionally if I had chosen to major in education immediately out of high school. After all, I did win an essay contest about why I wanted to be a teacher, but instead, I majored in psychology and fell in love with solving human behavioral puzzles. For one of my classes, I was given the Myers-Brigg personality test where it was revealed that I was an ENFJ. Over the years, I have often wondered if I would still be an E, and admittedly I cannot even remember what the N and F are supposed to reveal about me. However, I know for certain I remain a solid J (judger) as I am a highly decisive, live and die by your decisions kind of woman.  In my twenties, this translated to an individual who harbored little patience or tolerance for indecision. 

Fast forward 20 years and three sons later, a lot has changed about my J-ness. Personally, even though I tend to be less impulsive and more deliberate, I would still consider myself highly decisive. However, after years of waiting on my P husband and choosy children, I have developed, most likely by necessity, a patience for those who take a little longer to figure things out. Therefore, I believe this personal growth has allowed the teacher me to not only have patience for but also genuinely appreciate waiting for students to decide. As Slavin (2012) noted, teachers should be waiting at least 3 seconds to allow for students responses. Although it is not mentioned, I believe the deeper the question, the more processing time that’s required for students to adequately formulate a response. My favorite questioning strategy is to follow up student responses with “Why” and wait. As Tom Petty might say, “The waiting is the hardest part.” The silence can be incredibly awkward; the whole room feels it sometimes. So many students want to chime in while their peers are agonizing searching within themselves for something to say. But man, when they come up with a deep insight or experience an Oprah famous aha moment, it’s pure bliss for everyone. The satisfaction is palpable. 

In addition, in my experience, asking students to tap into their metacognitive skills by asking them why requires time.  This strategy aligns neatly with one of the pervasive undercurrents of Common Core, which demands that students explain their responses. If they are practicing providing explanations for their thought processes in the classroom with a high level of regularity, hopefully this will transfer to many situations throughout their academics. 

So I suppose the path I chose after high school was correct. Had I become a teacher at 22,  I’m not sure I would have developed my ask why and wait approach. While that may have been fine, I believe my students and I are better off with the experienced less “J” me.