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Drag that question to the sub class as a homework .
I will not say that, I don't know the answer" but I will say good question and let me think about it and we will discuss later
First appreciate the question and then let the class students to answer same question. In this way you can divert the pressure to class mates, may also figure out the correct answer.
each one of us has his own thinking; moreovere you do not know everything ,and if you were asked about a student a question that you don't know its answern you can tell him that you'll seek informations about his question and tell him later ,not to lie to him and even you don't know the answer and if you do you may be asked the same question from another student ,so in this this case what to do? so my advice is search, learn and teach.
Students are curious and smart enough to understand, whether the teacher knew the answer or just diverting. The smartest thing to do is "That's good question, but you're not the first to ask. Many students asked this question in several insitutions. It'll wise to first visit our library and gather relevant information on this topic. If you still get it, please approach me". You can even refer some author.
This is exactly the same question I am going to give you in Assignment and Tomorrow we will discuss it in detail.
I will ask th student whether he knows the answer. Whether Yes / No the answer it does not matter. Will ask the class anybody knows the answer. If somebody says, I will appreciate both students. If nobody knows the answer except the particular student who asked the question, he will be given the chance to explain to the class and he will be appreciated and motivated. If nobody knows tha answer, it may be given as a homework and before coming to the next class, I will seek my pears support to solve the question.
When a question is asked is expected to be answered instead of dragging into unknown zones. We should educated kids that process of learning continues even at a teaching level. It is normal for a teacher not to know things and that can be discussed over time.
If such things are repeated multiple times then students confidence in teacher will diminish and even teacher will keep making excuses. Obviously, I don't endorse this as a common phenomenon but an answer to a question should be encouraged most of the times.
First, I would think about the question to see if I know anything on the subject while acknowledging the question and the student. Second, I would address it to the class to see if any of the other students may know the answer. Lastly, I would assign it as a homework assignment for the class and myself to see what different answer we would come up with. This would not only broaden my scope of the question but my students as well. This could be a teachable moment to show my students that even teacher do not know all the answer but are willing to do the research to find the correct answer.
tell them to look it up and next time you will discuss it with them
