Open and Closed Questions

Part of being a great communicator meant that I had to learn to ask questions and facilitate conversation in such a way to get what I want whether it is quick facts, detailed information, or gain the person's trust through their responses. 

Questions can come in closed and open form. Understanding the differences between them and how and when to frame and use them will help you to assess situations and move to the next step in your professional career.

Open Questions 

An open question is framed to receive a long answer. Even if the respondent gives a brief reply, additional open questions will hopefully get the person to speak with practice.  

Using open questions allow for a more balanced conversation so that the responses can be more reflective and opinionated so that they hold control as well.

Practices	Example
To find out more information and the wants and needs of a person	What marketing forms do you currently use?  Why is keeping your daily ad in the local paper important to your branding?

    

Many open questions begin with: what, why, how, describe.

 

Closed Questions

 

A closed question can be answered with a single word, short phrase, and/or yes or no.

Using closed questions is best when you want to control the conversation and simply get easy facts as answers.

Practices	Example
Conversation starters	Who is your target market? When did your company open?
For testing their understanding (asking yes/no questions). This is also a great way to break into a long ramble.	So, you want to increase marketing for your business without using traditional tactics?
Controlling and influencing the mood of the conversation	Are you content with your existing marketing plan? Do you have control of the market? Would you like us to help you build on your sales?

 

Professional Process Steps

What is the function of process steps? How is completing the process steps efficiently and accurately connected to success?  Why do the process steps serve as an important tool for professionals? 

            The International Baccalaureate Program is a worldwide non-governmental educational organization began which began with the establishment of the Diploma Program (similar to high school). The IB program website says that “students in the 21st century are faced with the challenge of learning about an interconnected world where knowledge is constantly developing;” it requires that students be active community oriented global citizens. The requirements to graduate include that students must complete a large community action project of their own design, finish an extended essay (thesis) of their own investigation, and pass a theory of knowledge class which helps them to understand what they have practiced and learned. Later the Middle Years Program (MYP) was generated to prepare students to enter the DP program followed soon by the Primary Years Program (PYP).       
  

          It was said to me by an IB expert that the PYP program teaches students about the Profile (Learner Profile - the IB set of learning outcomes), MYP about the Process, and the DP about the Product. I better learned how to manage 17 different ‘process steps’ through teaching in the PYP and MYP program and as a result have been better capable of being more efficient and successful in completing my own professional projects.  The process steps serve as an important tool for professionals because it helps to systematize and manage tasks and projects which are done both in on the job and at home.  When practiced, these steps will help to ensure you that projects can be seen as simplified undertakings rather than a large overwhelming obligation.  

Process Steps  

1. Expectation is your first introduction to the goal which must be completed. This is where the bottom line of the assignment is presented.  
2. Deadlines are the time constraints which you face during the completion of all steps.  These constraints include the various project requirements such as staff meetings and publishing dates but also personal responsibilities such as doctors’ appointments and grocery shopping trips.
3. Rubric for Grading is your assessment criteria for the venture including knowing who will be reviewing it and on what grounds – is it an internal job or one for an important outside prospective client.  
4. Background Information is the prior knowledge that is collected to help facilitate the understanding of the questions surrounding the expectation. It is any details which are provided alongside the goal such as a client’s company profile and previous marketing history.  
5. Choose Topics is in regards to how to adequately choose the direction of the project investigation and explanation.  
6. How and Where to Research is when you actually go out and investigate the subject and questions which you have prepared to answer.  You can find new information from the internet, data and analytics which were generated, and maybe the library to help support your knowledge.
7. Taking Notes is when you highlight, copy and paste, create excel spreadsheets with data, and write down information that was found during the investigation.  
8. Avoiding Plagiarism is a reminder to always make sure you do not copy another’s work and claim it as your own original idea. Give adequate citation to the sources which are being used for your assignment by linking or creating an adequate work cited page. Plagiarism can lead to serious repercussions including termination or being blacklisted in certain fields.  
9. Thesis Statement is the main topic or purpose of the assignment. It is usually the focused idea of the expectation connected with the topic direction which you chose. It will be highlighted at the beginning of the project explanation whether it written or oral form.
10. Mind Mapping is a graphic organizational tool to help you sort out and categorize the various stems of understanding which have been researched and identified. The thesis statement is in the center and then there is spider webbing that comes outside it.  
11. Outline is when you structure the mind map information to frame and structure that knowledge into what will eventually be the first draft of the Power Point, speech, or written report that is created. This is where the information is shaped in the beginning, middle, and end format.     
12. First Draft is the first almost full version of the assignment. It is often prior to editing but where ideas are further developed into complete sentences and connected with others.  
13.  Editing is the revision of the first draft to assess and progress the content and grammar. Checking can be done first by you but then it is a great idea to have peer editing between people of the same age or level to critique and improve the work followed again by you finalizing the any and all changes.  
14. Final Draft is your last version of the project which takes place after editing. It is ready to be submitted, published, or presented.
15. Submission is the act of giving the finished work to another for assessment example being your group, superior, or client.  
16. Presentation is when you share your project and investigation with your clients or colleagues whether it’s done by a short speech, Power Point, or email summarization in bullet point form.
17. Reflection is the last but the most important process step because it should actually be done after each other step before moving forward to the next. Just doing and acting can create a chaotic, stressful, or boring work routine which limits your true abilities from flourishing. If you are reflective by reviewing, being mindful, and personalizing the mission and process steps and task completion than you will make great strides in your personal and professional career.  

Student Assessment

What are some of the strategies and tools which IB schools use to assess student learning? Why should we use these strategies and tools to assess student learning? 

            IB schools use a wide range of strategies and tools to assess student learning. The IB program is embedded with the Learner Profile, concepts, and attitudes all which are hung in the classrooms and presented in all the student material; positive mindsets and behaviors which students strive to achieve in various everyday life ways and then evaluated on such as being a thinker, reflective, and balanced.  

            The students are assessed through formative and summative assessments. The summative assessment is large expectation and unit goal for the students. It is important to make sure that students are aware of the initial expectation and goal of the summative assessment from the very beginning of the unit so that their prior knowledge can be determined to see how the criteria and rubric will be created formatted on grade and curriculum level. In one of my 6^th grade English units, the summative assessment was for students to explain the differences between refugees and migrants through a power point presentation. Formative assessments included checking the students step by step throughout the completion process. Examples include having class discussions, mid unit reflections or small quizzes, mini dramas, and other ways to test what the students understand or are curious to learn more about. 

            These strategies and tools are important because it helps the students to process their learning; so they can conceive what they have learned and personalize it to move beyond the classroom. Additionally, it is important to strategize the assessments to match different learning styles and then always evaluate the students individually and not as a group.

Blogging Strategies and Best Practices.

What does it mean to have a blogging strategy? What are the three best practices which you will adopt? 

Having a blogging strategy or a direct approach to completing one is extremely important because it serves as a way to determine what your blog is about. Create and answer guided questions which will help secure stability and hopefully lead to great blog (if that’s what you want).

Some of potential questions are:

• Why are you writing this blog?
• How much time do you have to writing?
• What do you plan on writing about?
• Who will be the writers?
• Who is the blog’s intended audience?

Now answer them.

For me, my blog’s intentions are to provide an outlet for improving my writing and organizational abilities while also serving as a platform for networking and recruitment. It is important for me to dedicate time to write and I have committed myself to write an entry every few days while managing my other responsibilities. I have chosen to write about various professional career tips and advice for teaching within the International Baccalaureate program which focuses on creating positive global citizens of students thus my intended audiences are those who are interested in improving their professional lives and learning more about the IB program.

From my own research, three blogging practices and strategies which I have learned and directly implemented are that contact information and a profile should be updated so that people can learn and read more about the author. Additionally, blogs should be directed to the 2^nd person – short declarative you statements. Also, I began to write on a more consistent basis to ensure that my blog is not static reliable.

Other strategies which are important include:

• Functional layout which is clean and easy to read
• Blog roll that includes other sites related to your topic but not off putting
• Comments section which is moderated with patience and care
• Calls to Action to connect with readers and the blog’s products and service offerings
• Tracking capability to follow leads

How will these practices help to better your business?

These practices will help to better business because they have been directed and proved positive from experts within the blogging and inbound marketing field. People have practiced and role modeled them before share their ideas and tips to ensure that marketing becomes more of an engagement with consumers not a push from traditional outbound marketing tactics. 

For more information be sure watch this HubSpot's Inbound Marketing Training program video entitled "How to Blog Effectively for Business" which can be found via the link below and other posts on this blog.

http://bcove.me/24c3mgj0

Student Reflection Opportunities.

The school provides opportunities for students to participate in, and reflect on, the assessment of their work.

The Al Jabr Islamic School provides opportunities for students to participate in reflection both inside and outside the classroom. In the classroom, students partake and reflect on the assessment of their work through formative and summative actions to express their independent and group learning during and at the conclusion of units. There are in-class bulletin boards which display their prior knowledge evaluation and work based on their subjects. Throughout the school community, there are additional subject and grade bulletin boards and formal exhibitions such as the Science Fair, Islamic Arts Festival, weekly assembly performances which are rotated between classes, and the upcoming Student Led Conference (SLC).

The SLC is a time when students guide their parents or guardians throughout their journey of learning by demonstrating their work from the past year. MYP students had the chance to bring their parents into the English Language room and demonstrate the reflections they made as a class for each unit of learning within different graphic organizers such as PMI and flow charts. Also, students and parents participated in an interactive corner where students informed their parents about the knowledge of routine process steps’ chronological order and definitions (example: expectation, deadlines, first draft, peer editing, etc.) by playing a matching game.  

In what ways do the opportunities for students to participate in, and reflect on, the assessment of their work demonstrate differences in learning styles? Why is it important to provide these reflection occasions for students? The school provides a variety of methods for students to reflect on their learning and their assessments because students have different learning styles. The students are encouraged to reflect not only through written essays but visual graphic organizers, class discussions, peer and teacher review, moviemakers and Power Points which they created, dance and drama performances, or possible quiz or examination to list a few.

It is important to provide these occasions for students because reflection is the final process step and a part of the IB Learner Profile. Students are building a routine for learning which requires inquiry and critical thinking – being reflective and open-minded in regards to their actions and assessments is critical for them to move forward. Students – and teachers and parents - are able to get insight and gain understanding of whether students have been able to comprehend the lesson. There is an effective evaluation on what the lesson, assignment, or unit has been about all in hope that students continue to become positive-acting global citizens.

Teaching and learning promotes understanding and the practice of academic honesty.

Why is academic honesty an important function of teaching and learning? What are the causes of having to learn and practice academic honesty?  

Academic honesty is an important function of teaching and learning because it is an important life skill.  Collaborative group work and individual creation are vital to self-assessing and recognizing ones strengths and weaknesses. The trouble is – especially with the digital error – it is quite easy to document another’s work as one’s own. Copy and pasting thoughts and ideas from articles, websites, and online encyclopedia’s such as Wikipedia.com whether it is an entire paper or simply just one sentence without naming the source information is wrong. The process is called plagiarism – cheating - and it carries a large array of consequences when committed. For example, there is failure of the class, repeating said class, increased watchfulness and being eyed with suspicion, or expulsion and termination if it is in the workplace. These consequences are important for people and students to know and understand as they continue to act as positive global citizens.  

How can we avoid plagiarism? Why should students be responsible to avoid plagiarism? 

With the proper guidance, students will continue to be exposed with tools on how to avoid plagiarism while nurturing foreign work for their own self-awareness and growth. Specifically within the MYP program, students are required to create projects which include researching and investigating a minimum number of various social media pieces. Students can freely document what they have learned by quoting materials and “citing their sources” within the text and creating a formatted “works cited page” at the conclusion of the essay. The students also have set time prior to the essay submission for peer review and teacher guidance. Ultimately, this is all in effort for the students to demonstrate that they have learned the proper techniques and understanding of academic honesty but also the guidelines of Islamic moral and ethical integrity.