from Terry Hayek
You’re interested, but it’s a tired cliche – limping out of your mouth, barely alive: “How was school?”
You can use a light version like “What did you learn at school today?” but in one sentence everything that is wrong with “school”.
First, the detachment – you literally have no idea what they are teaching or why. (You leave that to school, because that’s what school is for, right?) This means you know very little about what your children are beginning to understand about the world, being able to talk about it only in vague terms of content areas (eg math, history).
Then there is the subtext – they don’t talk about how they were moved or impressed or changed, but on the rarest of occasions; you have to get it out of them.
There is also a matter of form – you ask it’s like a developing student will be able to articulate the nuance of their own learning to create a conversation that will do everything but make it seem like they’ve learned nothing. So what should I do?
Well, that shape idea has some legs, doesn’t it? show me Demonstrate it. Let’s look at some artifacts that show thought and love. Let’s see the impact of your work and efforts. That would actually be a pretty good post on its own. But let’s stick to the old format of questions in the car-home or at the dinner table.
What are some alternatives to “What did you learn at school today?” Here are some ideas.
25 alternatives to “What did you learn at school today?”
- When did you notice that you were most interested and curious today?
- Was there a moment today when you were particularly confused? How did you answer?
- What is one thing that was hard to believe? Not confusing, but surprising?
- If you were more ____ today, how would it affect your day?
- When were you most creative today?
- Tell me one funny thing you learned, one useful thing you learned, and one unusual thing you learned.
- What does a successful day at school look like for you? are you feeling
- For what different reasons do your friends go to school?
- Who is working harder today, the teacher or the students?
- How else could you learn what the teacher is teaching?
- How do your teachers show they care?
- What do you know and how do you know it?
- What would you like to learn more about?
- What is the most important thing you learned today? the least?
- Tell me one chance you took today and how it ended.
- What is one thing you learned from a book?
- What is one thing you learned from a friend?
- What is one thing you learned from a teacher?
- What else confuses you?
- What’s something you’ve said or heard that stuck with you for some reason?
- Based on what you learned today in ______ class, what do you think you will learn tomorrow?
- Tell me three facts, two opinions, and one idea you heard today.
- What should you do with what you learn?
- When did you surprise yourself today?
- What’s stopping you from being (even more) an amazing student?
More Questions to Ask Students After School: Alternatives to How Was School?
Several readers chimed in with their own alternatives.
Drew Perkins: “What great questions did you ask today?”
Heather Braum: “What did you find?”
Heather Braum: “What surprised you?”
Heather Braum: “Where did you travel?”
Eoin Linehan: “Why are you studying this?”
Eoin Linehan: “How do you know you’re learning?”
Kristine Kirkaldy: “What did you learn/do that made you smile today?
Mrs. Moore: “What was your favorite part of school today?”
Amanda Couch: “Tell me your favorite moment at school today.”
Deb Gaskin: “If you were in charge of the lesson, what would you emphasize or do differently? Why?”
Robin Smith: “What was your ‘good’ for today?” What was your ‘bad’?’
Laura Cobb: “What did you improve today?”
Laura Cobb: “What triggered your thinking?”
Laura Cobb: “How did you contribute to other students’ learning?”
Jackie Gerstein: “What Touched Your Heart Today?”
Jackie Gerstein: “Did you experience something in school that motivated you to change the world?”
Jackie Gerstein: “Did you experience an ‘aha’ today – understanding or seeing something different from what you had before?”
Jackie Gerstein: “Did you experience moments of complete enjoyment of learning today? If so, when and how?”
Jackie Gerstein: “Did you invent or create something new today?”
