![]() A text may be received, and the person who received it may misinterpret the message indeed, the message may be indecipherable, and the person who sent the message may have turned off the phone at a time when the receiver is in need of an explanation or some feedback related to the message. One of the things missing in the flurry of texts that go back and forth between kids today is body language. In face-to-face conversations, nonverbal cues are incredibly helpful for a student who may feel uncomfortable sharing something with a classmate in a seated or standing pair share. If the listener is confused, she can ask the speaker to clarify something he just said, or she can ask a question that would help clarify what the speaker intended. There are many things students can do as they practice active listening skills with partners or in groups. via Click To TweetĢ examples of how to promote active listening in the classroom Listening is not a “soft” skill it is a key component of communication and collaboration, and it must be a part of the social development of students in all subject areas, not just language arts. Every teacher at every level can model and teach effective listening skills. Teachers and administrators can plan ways to develop those skills at each grade level, so that social skills are improved seamlessly from the elementary school all the way up through high school. Students who learn to talk constructively with classmates on a regular basis are developing social capital that will serve them well in life, college, and the workplace. Teachers can model effective listening skills, but there is no substitute for having students practice those skills in the classroom with classmates, beginning with pairs. ![]() “Unfortunately, for a lot of students, the opposite of speaking is waiting to speak again, rather than listening” (p. A student’s willingness to listen in classrooms, “is a marker of emotional regulation,” affirm Frey, Fisher, & Smith (2019). Why is active listening in the classroom important?Īs teachers and students come back into classrooms after a long period of mostly virtual learning, building relationships becomes paramount if we want students to communicate effectively and work collaboratively. The same is true in classrooms teachers and students alike can learn to listen to what others are saying. Inviting students to pause, reflect, pair, and share allows them to take part in their own learning – what a concept! I have found in my personal life that those with whom I am conversing appreciate it when I listen to what they are saying, without being otherwise distracted. ![]() ![]() I thought, “Pay attention, Eddie!” was the be-all and end-all of listening, aka “Sit up and pretend to listen!” It took me a long time to realize that active listening is a critical part of the learning – and teaching – process. They have learned to look at the teacher and smile, however, which often led me, in my early years, to think I had their attention. What I often see is one student after another going to a better place in their minds, until the whole class is, mentally at least, somewhere else. When I am in classrooms in a coaching capacity, I watch the kids, not the teacher. Lecturing was – and still is in many classrooms – the main mode of delivery. My experience as a student in high school and college had reinforced that belief I had many a college professor who talked from yellowed notes. Time was of the essence in my classroom, and I had no idea that, sometimes, less is more. After all, I had much information to impart because I had many centuries of American or European history to cover. When I began my teaching career five decades ago, I truly believed talking was teaching, and silence on the part of my students was golden. We still inhabit a professional environment, in classrooms and in training workshops, where talk is king – rattling on from the front of the room, that is. “How many have had a listening class in college?” One or two sets of hands. I often pose the following two questions in my presentations to educators: “How many of you had a speech class in college?” Almost every hand goes up.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |