"How do you want me to do this?"
This question makes me upset, to put it mildly. Not at the student asking it, but at the compliant habit that's been ground into them over the years, shaping them them into students who have learned only to do things after first consulting some authority.
I want them to stop questioning the authority that they see in me. I want them to ask that question to themselves, of themselves.
It's not because I am lazy. I want them to think on their own, not tell them what to do. And, as any teacher will tell you, teaching thinking takes a lot more of you and out of you as a teacher.
It's also not because I don't want to just tell them. I started teaching under the assumption that hand-holding them through everything was job numero uno, my end-all and be-all as a teacher. And that's a hard habit to break; I catch myself starting to tell them how to do the learning all the time.
But then I stop. And then I ask them questions instead, such as:
"How do you think it should be done?"
"What do you think you should do next?"
I get accused of being a smartass (not in those words, but you can see it in their faces) by the kids all the time for asking me those questions. And I don't ask them that way--I ask them in my best teacherly voice...but they're not used to those questions, I'm assuming, which is why I get the "seriously, stop being a smartass" look out of them after I ask my questions. I also get accused of not doing my job or helping students because I don't dole out answers to every question on demand.
But I would say I am doing my job--or trying to, anyway--of preparing them to think and make decisions on their own. At some point students need to be able to possess this skill, as well as determine if what they've done is quality or not and what to do to fix it if the quality is found lacking. In high school, I see this as a very important skill for students to develop--since most of my students will, in 2 short years, be out on their own, labeled an "adult" by virtue of their age alone.
I don't blame them for their questions--not at all. It's what they've been taught to do. In fact, asking this question when you really truly, honestly and completely have no clue in the known universe is what should be done.
But most of the time students do have a clue, a thought, an idea, a something to try. When they try and tell me, in response to my two annoying questions, that they don't know, I always tell them they do know--they just have to think a little bit, and let that thought escape. If it's wrong, so be it--think again. Try again. Repeat if necessary. They can be the authority they question.
But I can't be the someone to do their thinking for them. That's not my job. Helping them empower themselves is.