Listening and Talking in the Classroom

In the text, Teaching Language Arts, Cox provides that "Talking is the suppressed language art" (Cox, 154). Most teachers love to watch their students make discoveries. Listening to students is one way we can connect with them and hear them as they make these discoveries. Most students can TALK. For example, this year my students were much more talkative than average. I had to use my "freeze it" many times. I use this when a student wants to tell me a story unrelated to our current topic. Oftentimes, I would write their name or topic on the board to revisit later. I also TALK. I did not realize how much, until I lost my voice due to a virus this past winter. Cox confirms this by imploring that two-thirds of the classroom time is spent with the teacher doing the talking (Cox, 154). I wonder: How do I talk less and still feel like my students are learning? I know the answer is obvious: listen!

Margaret Taylor Stewart writes about teacher listening, "When teachers pay attention to what students say, we find clues about their learning and can adjust our teaching to better assist them in learning" (Stewart, 543). We want to find these clues while listening to students. For example: I often hear when my students tell another they do not understand my directions. I try to respond promptly. But I know it is not just a lack of understanding directions I need to provide for. In the future it would be better to ask one student to explain the directions back so that I am sure they understand. Plus students listen to each other more than they do their teacher. This will provide as Stewart discussed, an answer to the student in need as well as insightful information into the thinking of the fellow student (Stewart, 543). Stewart claims that "active listening" results in many small discoveries that supply teachers with information to further plan instruction and meet the individual needs of students. Stewart suggests teachers ask the student if they have interpreted correctly what she or he has said. To take the conversation further and ensure learning outcomes she suggests asking the learner what she or he would do next (Stewart, 543). As teachers we need to plan time to remember these important to listen more and talk less. We need our students to articulate the concepts we are teaching. Most importantly, we need to know that they are interpreting, learning vital information, and transferring the knowledge they are learning and interpreting to other areas.

Reference:

Cox, Carole. (2004). Teaching language arts. Allyn and Bacon: New Jersey.

Stewart, Margaret Taylor (2003). Building effective practice: using small discoveries to

enhance literacy learning. The Reading Teacher, Vol. 56, No. 5, 540-547.