How can a teacher promote listening skills?
How Can Teachers Encourage Active Listening In The Classroom?Learning to listen A culture of listening goes far beyond telling students to listen to the teacher. It means expecting 100% attention and respect when you are speaking Consider how students form their initial impressions of you as a teacher. What evidence do they use? Their impression is usually formed as a result of their perception of the levels of control and attention that they observe existing in the classroom. Thus, technical management the efficient and practical organization of the class determines to a great extent, how teachers are judged by others as well as by their students. At the heart of effective technical management is a culture of listening. While it may not appear to be critical on the surface, a culture of listening will lead to other essential qualities such as respect, self-control, awareness, valuing one anothers ideas, and building bonds within a group. A culture of listening begins with the perception by the students that the teacher is absolute about attention. This perception can only be supported by the reality that the teacher is absolute. That means the teacher always expects 100% attention; when someone is talking and if there is anything but 100% attention, the teacher must stop and take action. The action itself does not have to be dramatic or severe but it does need to be automatic and consistent. The same principle must apply to any member of the classroom community that is authorized to speak. A culture of listening goes far beyond telling students to listen to the teacher. It means showing respect to anyone who is sharing and expecting 100% attention and respect when you are speaking. It may take a while for students to adjust to this climate if they have been exposed in environments where there was little attention to or accountability for listening, but they come to appreciate it. As the teacher, you will be able to notice that this principle is catching hold when you observe students waiting for others to stop and listen before speaking, and when you notice that students speak more purposefully and confidently since others are actually attentive to what they have to say. Getting Attention While promoting a high level of attention is critical to a teachers ability to meet student learning outcomes it also has a deeper value. It fosters in each student increased levels of respect for the ideas of others. As each student grows in their ability to attend and come out of their own ego-centered thought processes, they increasingly awaken to the world around them and are present to the moment. The starting point for bringing about positive change is helping students learn the value of learning to be attentive to the world around them, and creating a culture of listening and respect in the classroom is a vital tool for doing so. States of Attention It is essential that students know exactly what the expectation is for the current state of attention and what behavior is appropriate for that state. Often students are not sure what level of attention or amount of interaction is appropriate at any given time. 1. 100% Attention 2. Casual or Optional Attention 3. Talk at a reasonable level 4. Talk appropriate 5. Silence is golden Like this article for teachers? Browse the Professional Learning Board COURSE CATALOG to find related online courses for teachers in your state. Professional Learning Board is a leading provider of online professional development classes that teachers use to renew a teaching license or renew a teaching certificate. Found in Blog · Tags classes for teacher license renewal, culture, learn, Listen, online courses for teachers, online PD for teachers, renew a teaching certificate, renew a teaching license, students, waiting |