Listening

Question: What are some techniques for teaching listening skills?

Answer/Quote: Modeling Good Listening. “Keith McPherson in Teacher Librarian suggests that modeling active listening skills is a big step toward teaching those skills in the classroom Making eye contact with children while they are speaking to you, clarifying the message by repeating or rephrasing, and asking questions and not interrupting are important aspects of this model.”

Quote: Poor Listening. “The poor listener focuses on the speaker’s voice, clothes, or looks and, in so doing, discounts whatever they might say due to a critical stance on the speaker. The good listener looks for the ideas present and doesn’t focus on the speaker.”

Quote: Setting a Purpose for Listening. “One of the suggestions for preparing students to listen is a KWL chart. The students start by writing what they already know about the topic at hand, then they write a few questions regarding what they wonder about, and then, after the presentation or the reading, the students will write what they learned about the topic.” P. 67.

Comment: One thing I learned from this article is that I am a lousy listener. I don’t make eye contact, I interrupt and I almost never ask questions about what people are saying to me. I have a lot to learn. I like the idea of modeling good listening and the KWL approach to establishing a purpose for listening. The author also suggests looking up “listening” in Google for more ideas on improving the skill of listening. In fact, whatever the topic you are about to teach, even grammar, look it up on Google. RayS.

Title: “The Power of the Listening Ear.” Robyn Campbell. English Journal (May 2011), pp. 66-70.