May 14, 2026 Linda Markley

Q & A

Spirit of teaching

There are a lot of answers being shared at this time of year due to all the standardized testing that is going on in schools, mostly on computers.

I wonder how much learning was done on computers during the school year???

There is a push-back movement against too much screen time happening in education.

I think that is great!  

At the same time, I wonder how many parents limit the screen time of their children?

Are we using technology only to find (and give) answers anymore and not be curious to ask questions? 

It seems to me that modern technology that is intended to connect people nowadays (cell phones, computers) has groomed society to always want to give answers, even though we think that we are seeking answers via Dr. Google.

There is a positive and negative to this. 

It is helpful to be able to easily find answers to questions we have about how something works or who can help us solve a problem we are having. 

However, the down side to that is that there seem to be so many people that want to just give answers all the time without even thinking about what the question really is or what the consequence of their “answer” is.

Many people feel like they are giving or “sharing” answers, but really they are just giving opinions or judgments.

I once posted on social media that a new Teacher Tales podcast had been released.

My guest was a Mandarin teacher who had come to this country from China.

My question to him, like with all my guests, was why did he become a teacher.

Some people did not feel his answer was a valid one, and without even listening to the podcast, shared judgmental comments and rude “answers” to my question to Tony.

I don’t understand this, and it is so heartbreaking to believe that people don’t listen with their ears (eyes in this case) and their hearts.

They just want to give answers and tell everyone what they think or “understand”…lowest level of Bloom’s Taxonomy of thinking.  Sigh!

Fred Rogers once said:

“It is important to listen with our ears and our hearts and to make sure

our questions are just as important as our answers.”

Fred’s wisdom is timeless and always meaningful and powerful.

Yet, in education, we are preaching Bloom’s and Maslow while at the same time restricting what can be taught and when, how it can be taught, why it can be taught and by whom.

Those questions of who, what, when, where, why and how are the basis of Bloom’s to get to higher order thinking skills…to evaluate, synthesize and fully process input/information.

ACTFL’s definition of communication is “knowing how, when and why to say what and to whom”.

Communication starts with INPUT and the receptive modes of listening or reading or seeing. 

But no one wants to stop and take the time to go through all the questions and process what they are interpreting. 

Just give answers…no questioning, at any level for many people!

Why is that, especially in the classroom?

I have been told that I am a good listener, and I feel that what helps me to be that way is to make sure that I listen with my ears and my heart and that I only ask questions that I feel will be helpful or welcomed (and many times I ask the person this). 

I don’t feel I have all the answers for others because I am not currently in their shoes and walking their path. 

I am not in their heads, but I can connect to their hearts.

For me, it’s a daily check-in and check-up for my well being and sanity to continue to want to even connect with others.

Some days it is hard, especially when someone has said or done something “unconsciously” and processed it straight from their head and through their mouth instead of through their heart.

When the communication follows this route, it usually comes out unkind.

Every day I try to do better and to hope for better.

I try to LISTEN with my head and my heart and then, get curious and only ask those questions that matter to clarify…not judge, criticize, dismiss, demean, etc.

As we all reflect back on the past school year, ask this:

1. How many questions did I allow my students to ask?
2. What kind of questions did I ask my students, and how often?
3. Did I “listen with my ears and with my heart” in order to better understand and ask questions for clarification rather than for judgment of either “right!” or “wrong!”?
4. Did I ask questions that had only one right answer and not allow for open-ended reflection and personalization?
5. How can I model better listening for my students and show them how to “listen with their ears and their hearts”…to be human…and not a machine or a search engine?

 

Photo credit:

“finals (349/365)” by Tim Pierce is licensed under CC BY 2.0.