I have taught middle school PE and Health Education in four countries, across three continents. Everywhere I have been, I’ve witnessed students navigating the challenges of adolescents, while learning to make sense of the world around them. 

The longer I teach, the more I see the role of PE and Health Education as an opportunity for identity formation. Our subject areas are well suited for inviting students to explore their identity with curiosity, to build their opinions, to craft their voice, and to find meaning in figuring out how to best take care of their well-being.

One focus for me this school year has been to ask my students more questions and to encourage them to dig deeper than an ‘IDK’ response. 

Here are five of the question categories that I have used this year with my students: 

#1. Check-in Questions with Choices: 

I want my students to be familiar with self-management practices that are intended to support their well-being. One way that I regularly incorporate this is with questions that ask students to find moments of gratitude or pride in what they are doing (in and out of school). I ask these often, and typically give students a few options to choose. Sometimes it’s a post-it note and they share their response with a peer. Sometimes it’s a Google Form and only I see the answer. 

Here are some of my favorites:

• What is one thing you are grateful for?
• What is one thing you are proud of?
• What is one GOOD THING happening for you right now?
• What is one thing you are looking forward to right now?

#2. Meaningful PE reflection

I’ve been slowly integrating the Meaningful PE framework over the past few years. This year, I included regular opportunities, both during lessons and at the end of units, for students to reflect on what they found meaningful about games or activities. 

Here are some of examples:

Which [game/activity/station]…

• …did you have the most FUN playing?
• …was your ‘JUST RIGHT’ level of challenge?
• …was the most SOCIAL?

For more on Meaningful PE, check out Andy’s blog post here.

#3 End-of-Unit Summary Question:

“What do you think Ms. Zien’s main message was this unit?”. 

This end-of-unit reflection question tells me what students remember or what they thought was most important. This question also provides fantastic feedback for if my intentional messages are sticking. Just last week on a PE reflection, students talked about how I was wanting them to learn the joy and value of regular physical activity for their social, emotional, and mental health. I read their response and felt a sense of pride, because that is exactly what I am trying to weave through everything I do.

#4. Middle School Perspective Questions:

These are the ‘what do you think…’ questions that require students to practice having an opinion and a perspective. These types of questions help students to see the relevance that the learning has to their lives outside of school.

Some of my favorites from this year have been:

• What do you wish adults today knew about middle schoolers today?
• What is one thing you think adults get wrong (or misunderstand) about kids these days?
• What is the biggest source of stress for teenagers?
• What has the greatest influence on teenage drug and alcohol use?
• Where do you think teens learn about what is healthy or unhealthy in relationships?
• What are THREE things you want to do after you graduate from high school?

#5. “Anything else you want Ms. Zien to know?” 

Not going to lie, this question often results in a “no”. But the open-ended prompt also allows students to share about who they are struggling to be on a team with, that they want to talk to the counselor, or that they experienced unsportsmanlike interactions during game play. All of which are absolutely worth hearing from students. 

And…

…this is the best question for students to share positive feedback. The sweet notes about you being their favorite teacher, that it was their favorite unit, or the heart melting “thank you for teaching us”. I love the regular, open-ended opportunity for students to share something that makes me feel gratitude and joy for my profession.

What are your favorite questions to ask your students?

This microblog post was a featured post in #slowchathealth’s #microblogmonth event. You can search for all of the featured posts here. Please do follow each of the outstanding contributors on social media (including Emily Zien, the author of this post) and consider writing a microblog post of your own to be shared with the global audience of slowchathealth.com

Pair this blog post with the following:

Fostering Open Conversations in Health by Andrea Kennedy

On Being Brave, Kind and Proud by Andy Milne

Question Matrix Activity by Andy Milne

The Transformation by Ann Hagedorn

Book – A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Enquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas.