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School Zone: Following directions starts with LISTENING
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Posted by nwv_admin Tue Nov 1, 2005 16:41:00 PST
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0 responses 0 comments School Zone: Following directions starts with LISTENING

"Railroad crossing, watch out for the cars. Can you spell that without any Rs?"

As kids, we went over and over that puzzle looking for the answer. Let's see, right off the bat, "railroad" has two Rs -- so what can the answer be? The answer, of course, is that "that" doesn't have any Rs. T H A T. It is, in essence, a listening puzzle.

In school, teachers give specific directions for specific reasons. We know that the students think we just make up work to give them a rough time or to keep them busy. But each assignment is specifically thought out to reinforce particular skills. These skills are part of the standards -- that word we hear bandied about as if it were the "s" word.

The standards are important, but not just because of test scores. The standards encompass skills that students need to be successful both in school and, more importantly, in life. Each assignment is designed to focus on a skill, and future assignments build on previously-assigned work.

If students do not read and/or listen to the directions carefully and then do what is asked, the assignment loses its value. It becomes a meaningless exercise that is hastily completed (if one is lucky) in hopes of getting some kind of grade. But that is not what we are interested in. We are interested in teaching and having our students learn!

The key, then, is listening. Realistically, teachers know that not all students are listening all of the time. That is why we give assignments in written form as well as orally, with time for questions. That is why we mention specifics. That is why we give assignments more than once with reminders -- because we know not everyone is listening.

Maybe, then, if we are talking about following directions, we should really be talking about listening. To do that, we need to know what listening is and how we can improve our listening skills. That is something that you, as parents, can help your children with. First, though, we should understand what listening really is.

Listening has three basic steps. The first is HEARING. That means enough listening to get what the speaker is saying. If the speaker mentions something and you, the listener, can repeat it, then you have heard what was being said. For example, if, during an English lesson, the teacher says that demonstrative pronouns can also be used as adjectives, and you can repeat that, you heard what you were supposed to.

The next step to listening is UNDERSTANDING. That means that you can take the information you heard and make it make sense to you. That means that when you hear that there are two ways a demonstrative pronoun can be used, you think, "That means I have to be careful when I do the exercises and remember that the pronoun can be an adjective, also, depending on how it is used."

Finally, the last step is JUDGING. That means that you ask yourself if what you heard makes sense. You might think, "It doesn't seem reasonable that a pronoun can be an adjective because they are two different parts of speech. But, on the other hand, I remember that prepositions can also be adverbs, so I guess it makes sense."

Now that we understand listening, we can take steps to improve our skills. The following tips come from the www.factmonster.com Web site, but they are the same steps you will find over and over from many sources.

1. Give your full attention to the person who is speaking. Don't look out the window or at what else is going on in the room.
2. Make sure your mind is focused, too. It can be easy to let your mind wander if you think you know what the person is going to say next, but you might be wrong! If you feel your mind wandering, change the position of your body and try to concentrate on the speaker's words.
3. Let the speaker finish before you begin to talk. Speakers appreciate having the chance to say everything they would like to say without being interrupted. When you interrupt, it looks like you aren't listening, even if you really are.
4. Let yourself finish listening before you begin to speak! You can't really listen if you are busy thinking about what you want say next.
5. Listen for main ideas. The main ideas are the most important points the speaker wants to get across. They may be mentioned at the start or end of a talk, and repeated a number of times. Pay special attention to statements that begin with phrases such as "My point is..." or "The thing to remember is..."
6. Ask questions. If you are not sure you understand what the speaker has said, just ask. It is a good idea to repeat in your own words what the speaker said so that you can be sure your understanding is correct. For example, you might say, "When you said that no two zebras are alike, did you mean that the stripes are different on each one?"
7. Give feedback. Sit up straight and look directly at the speaker. Now and then, nod to show that you understand. At appropriate points you may also smile, frown, laugh or be silent. These are all ways to let the speaker know that you are really listening. Remember, you listen with your face as well as your ears!

As a parting thought, remember that our thoughts move faster than speech -- about four times as fast! So if we listen carefully, we can process what is being said, think about it, and know if we really understand or not. And if we really understand it, we can follow the directions, and we have taken the first step to completing assignments meaningfully.

E-mail Susan at sreep@bak.rr.com. E-mail Dana at rvillacano@bak.rr.com.

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