The Inquiry Exchange

David Brothman, Ed.D
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The Inquiry Exchange Hosted by Dr. David Brothman Welcome to The Inquiry Exchange, dedicated to helping middle and high school educators break free from passive learning and shift the cognitive heavy lifting back to students. Hosted by Dr. David Brothman—Social Studies Curriculum Lead, Teacher Preparation Faculty, and author of Escape the Lecture Trap—this show provides practical strategies for active classroom inquiry, student discourse, and question formulation. 🌐 Learn more: Dr. David Brothman | 5–12 Educational Consultant & Author at https://brothmaninquiry.wixsite.com/brothman-inquiry

Episodes

  1. 5d ago

    Why Your Students Are Silent (And How to Fix It)

    What happens when you ask a question, give students time to think...and nobody answers? In Episode 3 of The Inquiry Exchange, Dr. David Brothman takes on one of the most familiar classroom challenges: student silence. Maybe the problem isn't simply that students won't participate. Maybe we haven't given them a way into the thinking. This episode explores Think → Write → Talk → Share, a simple strategy that gives students time to process, develop confidence, and enter the conversation before they're asked to respond publicly. Because engagement isn't something we can simply demand from students. It's something we have to design for. This week's Inquiry Challenge: Don't just wait. Build an on-ramp. Try the strategy with one question and ask yourself: Who got into the conversation who normally wouldn't have? Let's change classrooms one question at a time. Keep inquiring.

    Why Your Students Are Silent (And How to Fix It)

  2. Aug 17

    Who's Doing the Thinking?

    Episode 2 — Who’s Doing the Thinking? Who’s doing the thinking in your classroom? The teacher or the students? As teachers, we know our content. We know where we want the lesson to go. But sometimes that expertise creates an unexpected trap: we step in too quickly and do the intellectual work our students could be doing themselves. In this episode of The Inquiry Exchange, I explore what happens when we resist the urge to provide the answer and instead give students more opportunities to question, struggle, think, and discover. And I leave you with one simple Inquiry Challenge you can try in your classroom tomorrow: Don’t rescue them, once. Wait a little longer. Ask another question. Give your students the opportunity to do the thinking you were about to do for them. Then, at the end of class, ask yourself: Who did most of the thinking today? If this conversation makes you think of another educator, share the episode with them and continue the exchange. Let’s change classrooms—one question at a time.

    Who's Doing the Thinking?

  3. Aug 11

    Episode 1: Why This Exists

    What happens when you realize you're becoming the very teacher you never wanted to be? In the first episode of The Inquiry Exchange, Dr. David Brothman shares the experiences that shaped his approach to teaching—from being a student who never learned best by simply listening, to unexpected conversations on Capitol Hill and with Governor Mario Cuomo, to the moment during student teaching when everything began to change. This isn't a conversation about eliminating lectures. It's about something much bigger: creating classrooms where students question, investigate, debate, struggle, discover—and ultimately do the thinking. Along the way, David shares why those experiences eventually led him to write Escape the Lecture Trap and why The Inquiry Exchange is the next chapter of that journey. One story. One idea. One question at a time. Continue the conversation at The Inquiry Exchange: https://brothmaninquiry.wixsite.com/brothman-inquiry-con

  • 3 Episodes

About

The Inquiry Exchange Hosted by Dr. David Brothman Welcome to The Inquiry Exchange, dedicated to helping middle and high school educators break free from passive learning and shift the cognitive heavy lifting back to students. Hosted by Dr. David Brothman—Social Studies Curriculum Lead, Teacher Preparation Faculty, and author of Escape the Lecture Trap—this show provides practical strategies for active classroom inquiry, student discourse, and question formulation. 🌐 Learn more: Dr. David Brothman | 5–12 Educational Consultant & Author at https://brothmaninquiry.wixsite.com/brothman-inquiry

Information

  • Creator
    David Brothman, Ed.D
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    3
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © David Brothman, Ed.D
  • Show Website
    The Inquiry Exchange