Are you sure?
December 29, 2008 am31 12:58 am
Isn’t this a horrible question to use in the classroom?
Every kid knows the game: read the teacher’s reaction for hints. And this is a doozy. “Are you sure?” = correct yourself quickly.
But in 2718’s class, the question works differently.
Roughly 2 out of 3 times I use it, the kid was right. It forces them to stop, think. The answer is not automatic.
Why do I ask “are you sure?” Well, first off, I don’t ask it a lot. It’s still not a favorite question.
- Sometimes, just to throw a curve.
- Sometimes, a kid who participates a lot is answering too fast. It forces reflection.
- Sometimes I get an answer, a number, a word, when I wanted an explanation. Contrast “Can you tell us how you got that answer?” with “Are you sure?” [response] Can you explain why?
- Sometimes, it pulls the class’ attention, hard.
- Sometimes to let a kid off the hook. “I thought it was like the previous question, but, no, I am not sure.”
- Sometimes to make a kid feel good [scrunches up face because he’s not positive, runs the math in his head, and triumphantly exclaims] “Yes, I am sure!”
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JD2718 
I don’t think it is so horrible. I use it myself quite a bit.
But do you use it to cue the kid to change their answer?
Not all the time. Mostly the same way you do. Sometimes they’re right and I want them to explain it to others, sometimes they’re right and aren’t sure of it. It depends upon the difficulty of the question, the student, and how I think the rest of the class is doing with the topic.
Actually, my seniors do a nice job of questioning each other, so I don’t have to step in as often. A few moments of silence on my part will lead to the necessary “Are you sure?” or “Yeah, I got that too.” or “I got the same answer but I did it a different way.” from one of the other students.
But when I start the year, it confuses the hell out of them. They expect me to use it not like we do, but in place of “you’ve made a mistake. Change your answer” – and I think that’s how it usually is done.
Actually most of our department uses questioning like this, so my seniors are rather accustomed (hence my being able to just be silent for a few moments while they discuss as a class).
Poor freshmen though, I think they’re used to it, but confused as hell accurately sums up the first month or so.