“Does that make sense?”

A question that I ask my students frequently. But I forget that most people are non-confrontational. And for them to say, “no, that does not make sense,” may suggest two things. First, that I did not explain the material in a way that they understood, which theoretically one/I could take offense at. And secondly, that they are not adept at receiving verbal instruction. So in order to prevent these two scenarios- either an ego-wounded teacher, or feeling inadequate themselves– they say, “yes.”

In fact, in the history of asking this bad question, I have never had a student say, “no,” even when the follow-up playing demonstrates that the instruction did not make sense to them. So, perhaps I should either simply stop asking it, or find a replacement question.