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Questioning & Taxonomy for sparking discourse & debate

Questioning & Taxonomy for sparking discourse & debate

In this session, we will focus on using Marzano’s Taxonomy to design questions that move students beyond surface learning into deeper thinking and meaningful conversations. Participants will learn to craft and sequence questions across Retrieval, Comprehension, Analysis, and Knowledge Utilization to promote student reasoning, evidence-based discussion, and structured debate. Educators will practice developing question stems aligned to each level and leave with practical tools and strategies to elevate student voice and academic discourse in any content area. Participants should have access to a previously delivered lesson for this session.

Implementing 101
Allyson Vail

Allyson Vail

Allyson is a Lead Faculty Coach at Instructional Empowerment with over 19 years of experience in education. As a results-driven educator, she has improved instructional performance by facilitating professional development, mentoring, and coaching both teachers and administrators to improve their instructional practices, systems, and structures, to close daily achievement gaps in classrooms. Her experience also includes working with faculty and staff to focus on data collection and analysis as well as instructional alignment with curriculum and resources to positively impact student achievement.

Prior to joining Instructional Empowerment, Allyson worked for Hillsborough County Public Schools, the 7th largest school district in the nation, as a high school mathematics teacher, Department Chair and Instructional Coach. Additionally, she served as a District Resource Teacher with School Improvement, Instructional Mentor and Peer Evaluator where her experiences included performance evaluation, coaching of classroom teachers, and supporting schools with school improvement goals. She was also a virtual teacher of English to elementary and adult students in foreign countries throughout Europe, Asia, and South America.

Allyson earned her Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from the American College of Education and a Bachelor’s in English from the New York Institute of Technology.

Session Details

Audience: ALL
Difficulty Level: ALL