Tuesday, March 19, 2013

"How to get Middle School Students to Listen 101."

"How to get Middle School Students to Listen 101."

Heck, if I truly knew the recipe to address this 101 topic with 100% certainty that it would be effective 100% of the time, I'd be in the Bahamas somewhere right now. But I'm not (I'm bundled up inside, wondering what weather North Carolina will bring next...)

In fact, just as a preface, I'm definitely no expert in getting Middle School students to listen. I'm quite the newbie at it. In all honesty, I'm sure I may be "just as bad as them" in the sense that I'm easily distracted, and if I'm not moving around, that is a sure tell sign something is seriously astray. Recently, I've struggled with being able to get 100% of my students to listen. Often I find myself writing on the "bring" board outside my room, "your ears!" (However, several ears still go MIA despite the reminder.) Mix this "hearing" struggle with the combination of feeling like I don't have enough time to instruct both my content areas, and you have one frustrated teacher. Rather than complain, I began to wonder how I could solve both, and, while I don't have an exact answer, I'm beginning to have several ideas that may work...99% of the time (with a percent error of course!)

But before I share this recipe, let me share a personal experience which I know all educators can relate to...

In particular, this past week I was sitting through Technology Training that is held bi-weekly as part of Staff Development. I adore these sessions. The chance to acquire technology insights from an educator well versed in such tools? The chance to broaden my personal teaching "toolbox" so as to reach more students? What more could you ask for?! However,  despite my admiration for such Staff Development, I'm guilty for normally siting through it with a mental "to-do" list continually playing like a movie real. I then proceed to create a game plan to accomplish the lengthy list in an unrealistic time frame. On this particular day, while this was occurring yet again, one of my colleagues states rather loudly, "...we're just as bad as the students aren't we?" That statement caught me slightly by surprise due to the vocalization of such a concept, but more importantly brought me out of my "zone" where often students wander astray...

Now, here's my task for those of you reading. Try to truly internalize the statement. "We're just as bad as the student's, aren't we?" What does that mean to you? What images come to mind?

For myself and colleagues, there we were, educators who preach for too much, especially in the Middle School realm, using statements such as, "you'd do so much better, and learn so much more if you just listened. If you were just engaged." We were listening, but we weren't truly listening. We were passive students. Questions were repeated numerous times. Answers were repeated numerous times. There was denial by some to not use what was presented. And then there I was, guilty as charged, filtering through all the information and asking questions, such as "wait, what do we do now?"

So how does this relate? Here's how:

As educators, we often reflect and try so hard to consider the student perspective. But, how often do you truly consider the student perspective? I for one, know I often have to redirect myself from the personal assumption of truly understanding the student perspective. It took me internalizing the experience of the "frustrating setting" in order to understand it more fully, in order to find a solution to it. The idea behind all of this dialogue is that, as educators, we are only capable of finding appropriate solutions to our frustrating situations if we allow ourselves to truly internalize situations.

And then I began to think, how do I find a solution? (Well, one more appropriate than stating upon the "bring" board, "your ears and a good attitude!")

1. If a student decides to refuse the opportunity to create projects using new tools, then consider why that is. Is it a fear of not being comfortable with the tools? As I witnessed, those who put up the front of, "this is a great tool, but it is more of hassle than anything else" are the ones who are afraid of the technology. Here's something to consider though: we are transitioning into a curriculum in which the roots are built upon trial and error, building reasoning through problem solving, and encouraging innovation. How do we even begin to encourage the development of such roots in students if we ourselves refuse to take part in it? How do we prepare our students if we aren't willing to prepare ourselves to educate such students?

2. I can provide far too many examples on the importance of student relationships and listening. There is one in particular which comes to mind, and that has to do with a student who struggled daily. His focus was limited, his outbursts untimely, and his interest level? Low. As I formed a bond with the student, and began to understand the child and the child's perception, I came to understand that the great ability for an inability to listen was driven by an outside force not within my classroom. In fact, it was a disruption outside of the classroom that was easily solved. Within a week, I witnessed a dramatic transformation of the student. Lesson to be learned in this 101 session? Make sure your ears are wide open to listen to the reasons your students' ears are not...

3. The most important solution? Link your content to student interest. Content is important, but context in relation to the student is even more important. With context, you create engagement. You create students who will actively listen. I know I've been guilty of passively listening because the subject began with, "this may be important to you, but it actually relates more to Math teachers." Awesome. What am I doing here then? How will this help me? What skill will I develop with this if it doesn't relate to me?

So how do you make students listen? By attempting to understand why students refuse opportunity, by preparing ourselves to be educators who seek to develop our own problem solving skills so as to encourage students to do the same, by emphasizing context within content, by emphasizing how it will develop skills within the students. Most importantly, by becoming receptive and engaged listeners ourselves, so our students will mirror such, too.

99% of the time, with some error, this will normally get those students to have their ears "wide open!"

Just remember, be proactive about getting your students engaged, and the rest will fall into place!

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