A Strategy for Teaching Students to Listen to Each Other

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We are extremely fortunate in our district because we get to have Teachers College Staff Developers come to out schools several times a year. Emily Smith, @EmilyJBSmith, joked with me yesterday, as I was taking fast and furious notes during one of our sessions with her.

 "Are you going to tweet that out?" she asked.

"I just might," I answered.

I haven't tweeted any of her quotes (yet), as I got involved with the #twtblog chat last night, but I am going to write about a couple of my favorite lines of the day. I have recently written about the importance of listening, so I loved her statement:

As I watch kids in a conversation, it's like they are having a competition and not a conversation.

How true is this for not only kids, but also adults! How often do we actually nurture and grow ideas, as opposed to just wait to say what we have already decided to say!

Emily's suggestion was to teach students to:

Ask your idea in terms of a question and you will end up in more of a conversation.

I can't wait to try this. Instead of saying "Henry Hudson was a more peaceful explorer than most of the Spanish and Italian explorers," try saying "How was Henry Hudson a more peaceful explorer that most of the Spanish and Italian explorer?" Instead of saying "Mercy Watson was a seriously greedy pig," say "In what ways was Mercy Watson a greedy pig?"

Creating atmospheres where students learn to grow knowledge is so important. I'm looking forward to using this technique to help students learn to listen to each other and see their classmates as resources to push their thinking and deepen their understandings throughout the curriculum and beyond.

Happy slicing,

Is Listening the Lost Standard?

Last week, I attended the Connecticut Forum to listen to Charles Blow, Karl Rove and Doris Kearns Goodwin debate and discuss what is wrong with our current political system. They were supposed to, according to the program, discuss how to fix it, but most of the agreement was only on the fact that our political system is broken. 

I came away from the night worried about the political future that my daughters face, and believing that one of the most important standards in the Common Core is the one that has to do with listening. Really listening. Not waiting to have a turn to talk, but engaging in conversation that strengthens or weakens previously held beliefs. Digging into the speaking and listening standards, the one that I'm not sure that Charles Blow and Karl Rove have mastered is the first anchor standard for Speaking and Listening: Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. They seemed much more interested in listening to each other in order to gather ammunition and discount the other, as opposed to listening to each other in order to build on ideas. 

To master this anchor standard, the skills build as follows: 

By the end of third grade, students should be able to explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion.

By the end of eighth grade, they should be able to acknowledge new information expressed by others, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own views in light of the evidence presented.

And, by the time they graduate, students should be able to respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives; synthesize comments, claims, and evidence made on all sides of an issue; resolve contradictions when possible; and determine what additional information or research is required to deepen the investigation or complete the task.

I wonder, do we teach these skills? While I have pinned, shared, and developed several anchor charts about our responsibilities as partners and even some about what listeners do, some of which I am sharing here,

 I am working on some thinking stems that emphasize the integration of opposing ideas. 

• I listened to you and your comments have made me change my original opinion because...
• Before I listened to you I thought... but now I think...
• Having listened to you, I feel more strongly because you said...
• Having listened to you, I feel less strongly because you said...
• I listened to you and I learned...
• I listened to you and you have inspired me to learn more about...

I may also add books that emphasize listening skills to classroom libraries, but books that go beyond sitting and crossing legs, and into the integration of ideas and knowledge. I'd love some suggestions!

As a parent and as an educator, I believe in democracy and the importance of it. I want my children to grow up into a country where leaders listen and learn from each other. 

Here's to listening!