Blog Post 6 The Lady or the Tiger? Why we should ask the right question.

      Once upon a time, in a kingdom far away, there was a young tavern boy named Aaron. Aaron was not the strongest man, but he was known throughout the kingdom as the kindest, wisest, and most loving gentleman. The princess of the kingdom heard his name mentioned by one of her servants, and she became curious about this fine gentleman. So, she began to visit his tavern disguised as a servant. The two quickly fell in love with one another, but Aaron did not know that his love was the princess.

      One day the king found out what his daughter had been doing and was outraged that she was in love with such a poor man. He had Aaron arrested and placed in prison. The princess was angered and argued with the king for Aaron's release for three nights.

      Finally the king said, “Well, if he is as wise as they say he is, then he must be as kind and loving as they say he is. I will test his wisdom, and if he passes you may marry him. But if he fails, he will die.”

      So, the king set up a dastardly riddle that only a truly wise man could solve. There were two doors. Behind one door was the princess, and behind the other door was a tiger. In front of each door there was a guard. One guard only told the truth and one guard always lied. Aaron was allowed to ask only one question to only one guard. Based on that question he would choose a door. If he was right, he would have picked the princess. But if he is wrong, the tiger would surely eat him. The king laughed at his plan, and awaited Aaron to be pounced by the tiger.

      Since Aaron was wise, he picked the right door. The king was disgruntled, but he allowed his daughter to marry Aaron. The new king and queen lived happily the rest of their days, and their kingdom lived in prosperity thanks to their wise king.

      I’m certain that many people have heard this tale. And although the story has aged over time, I believe this renowned riddle holds true in many ways. Wisdom and valor are more important than strength. Love is more powerful than an evil king. And most importantly, know how to ask the right questions, especially if you don’t want to be tiger chow.

      As teachers we often forget how important questions are. We want our students to know the answers, and sometimes we forget that for them to truly learn the answer, they have to answer the question themselves. Therefore, it is our duty as educators to ask questions. But asking questions can be more difficult than it seems. Aaron could have asked a question and quickly fallen prey to the tiger. So, we must ask the right questions.



      But what are the “right questions” for teachers? There is no one set of right questions. However, all right questions must get our students thinking. And, there are many techniques that can be utilized to do this.

      According to Ben Johnson’s The Right Way to Ask Questions, we should ask a question, pause for a few seconds, and then call on a random student to answer it. Utilizing this method pushes for all of the students to answer the question, and not have students that sit idly by while others answer the questions.

      Joanne Chelsea’s discusses in her video Asking Better Questions in the Classroom, that we need to ask open ended questions. It is very easy for us to want to ask yes or no questions, or questions that have simple finite answers. However, it is important for us to have our students actually thinking about the problem. And it is sometimes easy to change our closed finite questions into open questions. For example, if we asked, “Did the theory of evolution change the perspective of the world?” we would receive a simple yes or no. Not much thought is put into that answer. However, if we phrased it as, “How did the theory of evolution change the perspective of the world?” our students would actually have to think.

      There are many other methods that can be utilized, but the overall goal is that our questions get our students thinking. As long as this goal is being achieved, we are succeeding in asking the right questions. After all, it is up to us to know what these questions are for our students.

      So, which door will you pick with your questions? The students or the tiger?