About the Course

How Will This Course Help You Teach Better?

Hooking students so they are eager to participate, activating prior knowledge, leading thriving discussions, and prompting thoughtful student work all start with the kinds of questions teachers ask their students. 

In Asking Just-Right Questions, Justin helps you craft questions for all occasions, offers simple-but-powerful hacks for improving and following up on the questions you ask, and shares principles for everything from the lesson-planning process to in-the-moment questioning.

Asking Just-Right Questions is an adaptation of an online workshop Justin led in March 2020, during the second week of school closures in the United States due to COVID-19. The original workshop provided both much-needed peer support and much-needed professional development. The principles and techniques remain just as valuable, whether you are teaching in person or online, asynchronously or in real time.

Asking Just-Right Questions was originally created for language teachers, but is also suitable for teachers of language arts, social studies, and humanities, with all ages of students.

To help you get the most of the training, Justin has streamlined and reorganized the workshop content into 15 short chapters that you can complete on your own schedule.


Like all other current and future courses on TeachHuman, Asking Just-Right Questions is included in the Site-Wide Pass!

Come back to the course as often as you want, for as long as you want!

Course Chapters

  • 01

    It's All About the Questions

    • It's All About the Questions
  • 02

    Intro to Stakes; Staking Picture Guesses

    • Intro to Stakes; Staking Picture Guesses
  • 03

    Brainstorming Questions and Starting to Categorize

    • Brainstorming Questions and Starting to Categorize
  • 04

    JSB's 3 Question Types; Personalization

    • JSB's 3 Question Types; Personalization
  • 05

    Extension Questions

    • Extension Questions
  • 06

    2 Maxims about Conversation Stakes

    • 2 Maxims about Conversation Stakes
  • 07

    3 Principles about Question-Asking

    • 3 Principles about Question-Asking
  • 08

    Reframing Questions for Just-Right Stakes

    • Reframing Questions for Just-Right Stakes
  • 09

    Interlude: Comments and Q&A

    • Interlude: Comments and Q&A; Milking Questions
  • 10

    Asking Questions before and with a Text

    • Asking Questions before and with a Text
  • 11

    Asking Questions with a Text, continued

    • Asking Questions with a Text, continued
  • 12

    Next-Layer Questions

    • Next-Layer Questions
  • 13

    Asking Questions about Language Forms

    • Asking Questions about Language Forms
  • 14

    3 Language Teacher Questions, Addressed

    • Addressing 3 Language Teacher Questions
  • 15

    Thanks and Encouragement

    • Thanks and Encouragement

What People Say

Feedback on Justin's courses and training

One of the most inspiring teachers, and humans, I've had the pleasure of knowing.

Justin has astonishing vision for big-picture language-learning goals and how to achieve them through day-to-day, small-picture processes.

Justin Slocum Bailey is the ultimate educator.

JSB is my new hero. I mean, I really enjoyed watching him work and hearing him speak. He's authentic, intelligent, sincere. The real deal.

Justin’s enthusiasm and sense of humor were amazing!

Justin should be the keynote speaker at every conference!

I truly didn’t want today to end! This is the type of professional development that teachers crave.

One of the best speakers I have seen in my entire career!!

My new mantra is "Teach like JSB is watching!"

Awesome energy!

Justin's ease with students is pure magic.

Whenever I face a pedagogical decision, however big or small, I ask myself, "What would Justin do?"

Holy gifted batman! Justin's command of a classroom is amazing.

I learned a mountain of wonderful strategies!

He was so engaging and so entertaining. SUCH a great speaker and so inspirational!

I've never met a teacher more excited for or more skilled at teaching a language through whatever methods work for his students, whether they be formal and traditional or cutting-edge.

Justin was great. I like that he is animated, yet low-key. He inspired me to recommit to a focus on communication as the essential task in my classes.

Quería darte las gracias por la clase de hoy, en verdad fue muy divertido e inspirador. Estaré al pendiente de tu vuelta a México para volver a tomar otro taller. ¡Gracias!

Ausgezeichnet! Your energy and true caring shone through so beautifully.

Justin is an amazing presenter.

One of the greatest teachers I have ever encountered.

His enthusiasm and engagement model so well.

You treated everyone in the class like they mattered PERSONALLY to you. You looked them in the eyes, you remembered their names, you TOLD them they were interesting. You were laughing, they were laughing, and you let the mistakes be part of the fun. Their successes were yours - you were EXCITED by their success.

What I appreciated most was the specific activities I learned, combined with Justin’s willingness to engage with our questions and ideas.

An amazing experience.

Justin's presentation freed me up to do what I have long felt was best.

Your (Justin's) exemplary skills + empathy + humor. An inspiring model.

A totally accomplished and expert presenter! I will be studying this presentation in depth.

The kind of teacher/presenter I'd like to have a beer with.

I learned by experience that I really can do this!

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