Swap "any questions?" for "what's still fuzzy?"
The first asks students to admit ignorance in public. The second assumes some fog is normal, and gets real answers.
Jul 27, 2026 · 1 min read
"Any questions?" reliably produces silence, and the silence tells you nothing. It makes confusion an admission. "What's still fuzzy?" (or "Which step would you not want to be tested on?") presumes that something is unclear for someone, because after new content, something always is.
In practice
- Ask for the fuzzy bit in writing: exit ticket, mini-whiteboard, or a one-line "muddiest point" note on the way out (Angelo & Cross, 1993).
- Normalise your own examples: "Most classes find step three slippery. Who else?" Hands go up for company that never go up for confession.
- Act on it visibly next lesson: "Yesterday half of you flagged step three, so we're starting there." That's what convinces students the question is real.
Quick takeaway: never ask a question whose honest answer costs the student status.