In the April 30th edition of Education Week, Sean Cavanagh shares that students can improve mathematical skills while playing board games [Playing Games in Classroom Helping Pupils Grasp Math]. Exposing youngsters from low income backgrounds to simple board games that involved counting produced lasting gains in understanding of numbers.
Young people learn a great deal about the world through play and games are one of the sources of play Games that build an understanding of numerical magnitudes are crucial. Games offer math teachers a way of practicing and reinforcing arithmetic and other math skills.[See posting on mixed-age learners.] While games engage students, they also offer an opportunity to present high level concepts in a colorful and simple way. Educators and parents reluctant to game activities have difficulty with the idea that something can simultaneously be fun and worthwhile academically. (Cavanagh 2008)
You will find a spot to explore learning and playing for elementary students at the website- www.kinecticcity.com. Sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, this site is designed to draw students who might otherwise be intimidated or bored to explore science through simple technology activities that are fun.
One activity on gravity has students guide a spaceship from Earth to a docking station, using a computer mouse to operate the vessel’s thrust, angle, and launch. Students must account for the force of the Earth’s gravity to keep the ship on course. Try playing a few rounds of Slush Rush to see what Math thinking is practiced in the activity.
For older students try the algebra activity, Coin Problem, at the National Library of Virtual Math Manipulatives. You will find it under Algebra 9-12. Check out www.edportal.com for activities tied to lesson plans and standards.
Performance Learning Systems is offering an online graduate course for teachers interested in Simulations and Gaming Technologies for the Classroom. It offers strategies to engage students in complex problem solving, sophisticated collaboration, and creative expression through the medium of video games. During the course, participants evaluate learning games to determine their effectiveness and suitability for the classroom. Participants become familiar with contemporary gaming technologies, enabling them to understand the pedagogical models behind games and how gaming models may be used for learning.
Hope you soon have an opportunity to PLAY and LEARN.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
MIXED AGE GROUPINGS
I was very interested as I read an article in Education Week, (April 18, 2008), The Value of Aged-Mixed Play: Capitalizing on Children’s ‘Natural Ways of Learning by Peter Gray.
As an elementary teacher, I had several positive experiences with mixed age groups.
In my work with creating time for teacher coaching, I have often recommended teachers pairing mixed grades for students to tutor, so that one teacher can oversee two classes allowing a colleague time for coaching;
Example:
Pair (K-3),(1-4), and (2-5) with the older students all having a tutoring assignment. These pairs tutoring once a week can give every teacher in the school two opportunities a month to observe colleagues while all students are in powerful learning settings.
In my work with forming vertical teams in elementary schools (example: K,1,2 and 3, 4, 5 teachers working as a professional learning community), I often find that teachers create mixed–age groups for activities and later report very favorable outcomes.
Gray, a professor at Boston College and author of an introductory college text book, Psychology, states that the most obvious advantage of mixed age play is that younger students can engage and learn from activities that they could not do alone or with just age-mates, (a four year old playing catch with a nine year old).
“In the name of fun, older participants naturally, and often unconsciously, erect scaffolds that allow the younger ones to stretch and build their physical, social, and intellectual skills. Motivation is no problem in such learning. All the children are playing because they want to, and all strive to play well” (Gray 2008)
“The benefits of age-mixed play go both directions. In interactions with younger ones, older children exercise their nurturing instincts and take pride in being a mature person in a relationship. They also consolidate and expand their own knowledge through teaching.” (Gray 2008)
While conducting coaching training for instructional facilitators, I met John Bolender,a sixth grade teacher at Woods Learning Center in Natrona County School District in Casper, WY. John shared that they mix K-8 students for a weekly program called Circle Groups. I asked John to share some information and insights about the program.
Circle Groups
Circle groups are an opportunity to gather students from all grade levels at our school (K-8) into groups of about 21 students with two staff members. The purpose of circle group is really two-fold. The first is to allow students the opportunity to voice concerns and/or make suggestions for our school. We try to empower students to feel free to speak up when they are aware of a situation needing to be addressed. The second is to allow students from all grade levels to interact with each other and get to know each other in a safe environment.
In order to achieve the ratio of 21 to 2, all certified and most classified staff participate including all teachers, our administrative assistant, librarian, playground monitor, and special ed assistants. We meet for 30 minutes each week; for the last few years it has been at the end of the day on Mondays.
Most circle group sessions begin with the students sitting on the floor or in chairs in a, you guessed it, circle. Each week we check our circle spiral for any student entries from the previous week that need to be addressed. Any circle group student can make an entry any time during the session. The older students will sometimes write for the younger students. These entries range from student ideas for playground equipment to concerns about football rules to the desire to plant a tree on the school grounds. The entries and other items are discussed among all present. When issues are raised that affect the greater school community rather than just an individual circle group, the circle group leaders will bring those issues to the Friday staff meetings for further discussion. Staff responses, questions, suggestions are then taken back to the circle groups the following week.
The discussion period is followed by whatever circle activity is designated for that week. Early in the development of circle groups, each group leader was responsible for the weekly activity; this became burdensome, as it was another class prep for the teachers. Now, circle boxes or kits, usually prepared by some of the classified staff after input and ideas from all staff members, are circulated among circle groups from week to week. The activities are sometimes related to a school wide theme (India this year), but not necessarily. Some of the kits we have used include Jenga, origami, board games, Parcheesi, Chinese jump ropes, snacks and discussion questions, balloon creatures, Pass the Pigs, hula hoops, yoga, etc. We also work on community service projects such as making place mats or gift bags for Meals on Wheels. Often, school wide activities such as the end of the year field day and grounds clean-up are done in circle groups. This year, India Day activities were developed by our middle school students for all of the circle groups, and, since there were some of these students in each group, they were available to direct the activities.
Students feel empowered and know that their opinions are valued. The younger students learn to trust and look up to the older students. The older students learn to assist and nurture the younger. We often have kindergarten and first grade students clinging to and bonding with their 5th grade or 7th grade buddies. The older students often feel protective of their young friends and enjoy interacting with them and helping them learn and accomplish tasks. We feel that one immeasurable benefit of circle groups is the building of relationships and trust among the students, which in turn diminishes the level of teasing, harassment, and bullying that occurs at Woods. It helps us to establish the culture of community we strive so hard to achieve.
We have been doing circle groups for as long as our school has been in existence, 17 years. For several years, we would have the annual discussion about whether or not to continue with circle groups. We rued the loss of instructional time, the scheduling, and the hassle involved with circle preparation. Each year we would conclude that the positives outweighed the negatives. We don't have those conversations anymore. We know.Feel free to contact John with your questions: john_bolender@ncsd.k12.wy.us
As I read John’s comments I recalled several discussions with school teams exploring various restructurings that might require mixing grade levels. I frequently hear concerns about how older students could have negative influences on younger. I am often frustrated by those comments, thinking if that is true, we really need to get started getting the kids into relationships to change the existing culture. More Circle groups might be just what is needed!
As an elementary teacher, I had several positive experiences with mixed age groups.
In my work with creating time for teacher coaching, I have often recommended teachers pairing mixed grades for students to tutor, so that one teacher can oversee two classes allowing a colleague time for coaching;
Example:
Pair (K-3),(1-4), and (2-5) with the older students all having a tutoring assignment. These pairs tutoring once a week can give every teacher in the school two opportunities a month to observe colleagues while all students are in powerful learning settings.
In my work with forming vertical teams in elementary schools (example: K,1,2 and 3, 4, 5 teachers working as a professional learning community), I often find that teachers create mixed–age groups for activities and later report very favorable outcomes.
Gray, a professor at Boston College and author of an introductory college text book, Psychology, states that the most obvious advantage of mixed age play is that younger students can engage and learn from activities that they could not do alone or with just age-mates, (a four year old playing catch with a nine year old).
“In the name of fun, older participants naturally, and often unconsciously, erect scaffolds that allow the younger ones to stretch and build their physical, social, and intellectual skills. Motivation is no problem in such learning. All the children are playing because they want to, and all strive to play well” (Gray 2008)
“The benefits of age-mixed play go both directions. In interactions with younger ones, older children exercise their nurturing instincts and take pride in being a mature person in a relationship. They also consolidate and expand their own knowledge through teaching.” (Gray 2008)
While conducting coaching training for instructional facilitators, I met John Bolender,a sixth grade teacher at Woods Learning Center in Natrona County School District in Casper, WY. John shared that they mix K-8 students for a weekly program called Circle Groups. I asked John to share some information and insights about the program.
Circle Groups
Circle groups are an opportunity to gather students from all grade levels at our school (K-8) into groups of about 21 students with two staff members. The purpose of circle group is really two-fold. The first is to allow students the opportunity to voice concerns and/or make suggestions for our school. We try to empower students to feel free to speak up when they are aware of a situation needing to be addressed. The second is to allow students from all grade levels to interact with each other and get to know each other in a safe environment.
In order to achieve the ratio of 21 to 2, all certified and most classified staff participate including all teachers, our administrative assistant, librarian, playground monitor, and special ed assistants. We meet for 30 minutes each week; for the last few years it has been at the end of the day on Mondays.
Most circle group sessions begin with the students sitting on the floor or in chairs in a, you guessed it, circle. Each week we check our circle spiral for any student entries from the previous week that need to be addressed. Any circle group student can make an entry any time during the session. The older students will sometimes write for the younger students. These entries range from student ideas for playground equipment to concerns about football rules to the desire to plant a tree on the school grounds. The entries and other items are discussed among all present. When issues are raised that affect the greater school community rather than just an individual circle group, the circle group leaders will bring those issues to the Friday staff meetings for further discussion. Staff responses, questions, suggestions are then taken back to the circle groups the following week.
The discussion period is followed by whatever circle activity is designated for that week. Early in the development of circle groups, each group leader was responsible for the weekly activity; this became burdensome, as it was another class prep for the teachers. Now, circle boxes or kits, usually prepared by some of the classified staff after input and ideas from all staff members, are circulated among circle groups from week to week. The activities are sometimes related to a school wide theme (India this year), but not necessarily. Some of the kits we have used include Jenga, origami, board games, Parcheesi, Chinese jump ropes, snacks and discussion questions, balloon creatures, Pass the Pigs, hula hoops, yoga, etc. We also work on community service projects such as making place mats or gift bags for Meals on Wheels. Often, school wide activities such as the end of the year field day and grounds clean-up are done in circle groups. This year, India Day activities were developed by our middle school students for all of the circle groups, and, since there were some of these students in each group, they were available to direct the activities.
Students feel empowered and know that their opinions are valued. The younger students learn to trust and look up to the older students. The older students learn to assist and nurture the younger. We often have kindergarten and first grade students clinging to and bonding with their 5th grade or 7th grade buddies. The older students often feel protective of their young friends and enjoy interacting with them and helping them learn and accomplish tasks. We feel that one immeasurable benefit of circle groups is the building of relationships and trust among the students, which in turn diminishes the level of teasing, harassment, and bullying that occurs at Woods. It helps us to establish the culture of community we strive so hard to achieve.
We have been doing circle groups for as long as our school has been in existence, 17 years. For several years, we would have the annual discussion about whether or not to continue with circle groups. We rued the loss of instructional time, the scheduling, and the hassle involved with circle preparation. Each year we would conclude that the positives outweighed the negatives. We don't have those conversations anymore. We know.Feel free to contact John with your questions: john_bolender@ncsd.k12.wy.us
As I read John’s comments I recalled several discussions with school teams exploring various restructurings that might require mixing grade levels. I frequently hear concerns about how older students could have negative influences on younger. I am often frustrated by those comments, thinking if that is true, we really need to get started getting the kids into relationships to change the existing culture. More Circle groups might be just what is needed!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
OPTIMISM FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS
I recently presented a workshop for teachers at each of the middle schools in Vineland, New Jersey. My session was titled, "Attitudes and Their Impact on Morale and Student Achievement”. I asked teachers to examine how their optimism impacted student learning and to what extent they thought they should have optimism as an element of their curriculum.
We explored that optimism isn’t a personality trait but a set of behaviors which one can consciously practice. If a person can learn helplessness than it makes sense that one can learn optimism. In the Power of Optimism by Allen McGinnis, I found 12 behaviors for teachers to consider in their own lives and as important items to embed in their students’ experiences.
Optimists…
1. Are never surprised by trouble
2. Value partial solutions
3. Believe they have control over the future
4. Plan for regular renewal
5. Have heightened powers of admiration
6. Interrupt their negative trains of thought
7. Are cheerful even when they can’t be happy
8. Have an almost unlimited capacity for stretching
9. Build plenty of love into their lives
10. Share good news
11. Use their imaginations to rehearse success
12. Accept what cannot be changed
In a recent article, in the March 2008 ASCD Educational Leadership magazine, Cultivating Optimism in the Classroom, Richard Sagor states that students are motivated to put forth their best effort when they have faith in the future and themselves. Sagor reinforces that optimism can be taught and learned.
Faith in the future is one of the building blocks Sagor believes is key. In my book Tapping Student Effort, I called this “pictures of the future” which are critical to the motivation of effort. I found an urban teacher who took her fifth grade students to the stage on the opening day of school to have their pictures taken wearing cap and gown and holding a diploma…a picture of a successful future. Students pasted the pictures into their planners to be reviewed daily. The teacher requested two journal writings-"What did you do yesterday to make this picture a reality?” and "What should you do today to help?”. I recommended that middle school teachers work toward all eighth grade students having a five year plan in writing before heading to high school.
Teachers need to have pictures of their students being successful. I suggested that graduates of the middle school (opened in 1958) be found and interviewed for stories to be read by teacher and students.
Sagor’s second building block is personal efficacy…a deep- seated belief in one’s own capabilities. That efficacy is what promotes perseverance when one is confronting difficult task. Setting complex goals, especially those found in “live events”, provides great opportunities for students to “effort” and discover the payoffs. (See Erica’s senior project.) Instrumental music programs build efficacy for many students.
Peer coaching can be a very helpful tool to increase teacher efficacy. Last week I observed a 3rd grade math lesson where the teacher asked me to focus on the “math thinking” her students were doing. As I described my observation, the teacher’s smile grew. She soon told me about the hard work she had done with a math coach and how the students’ responses that I observed showed the payoff of her efforts and the students’.
That efficacy will cause the teacher to “raise the expectations“ for herself and her students.
Sagor posed a great question for teacher reflection and coaching, “Will students walk out of my classroom feeling more capable than when they walked in?” That is teaching optimism.
We explored that optimism isn’t a personality trait but a set of behaviors which one can consciously practice. If a person can learn helplessness than it makes sense that one can learn optimism. In the Power of Optimism by Allen McGinnis, I found 12 behaviors for teachers to consider in their own lives and as important items to embed in their students’ experiences.
Optimists…
1. Are never surprised by trouble
2. Value partial solutions
3. Believe they have control over the future
4. Plan for regular renewal
5. Have heightened powers of admiration
6. Interrupt their negative trains of thought
7. Are cheerful even when they can’t be happy
8. Have an almost unlimited capacity for stretching
9. Build plenty of love into their lives
10. Share good news
11. Use their imaginations to rehearse success
12. Accept what cannot be changed
In a recent article, in the March 2008 ASCD Educational Leadership magazine, Cultivating Optimism in the Classroom, Richard Sagor states that students are motivated to put forth their best effort when they have faith in the future and themselves. Sagor reinforces that optimism can be taught and learned.
Faith in the future is one of the building blocks Sagor believes is key. In my book Tapping Student Effort, I called this “pictures of the future” which are critical to the motivation of effort. I found an urban teacher who took her fifth grade students to the stage on the opening day of school to have their pictures taken wearing cap and gown and holding a diploma…a picture of a successful future. Students pasted the pictures into their planners to be reviewed daily. The teacher requested two journal writings-"What did you do yesterday to make this picture a reality?” and "What should you do today to help?”. I recommended that middle school teachers work toward all eighth grade students having a five year plan in writing before heading to high school.
Teachers need to have pictures of their students being successful. I suggested that graduates of the middle school (opened in 1958) be found and interviewed for stories to be read by teacher and students.
Sagor’s second building block is personal efficacy…a deep- seated belief in one’s own capabilities. That efficacy is what promotes perseverance when one is confronting difficult task. Setting complex goals, especially those found in “live events”, provides great opportunities for students to “effort” and discover the payoffs. (See Erica’s senior project.) Instrumental music programs build efficacy for many students.
Peer coaching can be a very helpful tool to increase teacher efficacy. Last week I observed a 3rd grade math lesson where the teacher asked me to focus on the “math thinking” her students were doing. As I described my observation, the teacher’s smile grew. She soon told me about the hard work she had done with a math coach and how the students’ responses that I observed showed the payoff of her efforts and the students’.
That efficacy will cause the teacher to “raise the expectations“ for herself and her students.
Sagor posed a great question for teacher reflection and coaching, “Will students walk out of my classroom feeling more capable than when they walked in?” That is teaching optimism.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
QUESTIONS-the Coach's Tool
This week, I had the opportunity to spend two days, coaching coaches. Visiting instructional coaches in Salem-Keizer Public Schools in Salem Oregon, I had the opportunity to observe instructional coaches conducting pre and post observation conferences, as well as, conduct observations of classrooms. In some cases after the observation, I role-played with the coaches how I would conduct the conference and then they conducted the actual conference with the teacher with my observation. As we debriefed, many of the coaches shared with me a renewed understanding of the importance of the questions that a coach uses.
For example, a coach who was concerned how to mention the off task student behaviors that she observed found that when she asked the teacher, "what she saw during the lesson that made her feel most comfortable and most uncomfortable”, the teacher shared the off task behaviors and opened the door for conversation. When I stopped a coach in the middle of a pre-conference after the teacher said for the second time that she wanted the lesson to go smoothly and asked “what is smoothly”, the coach gained a much clearer picture into the teacher’s agenda.
Performance Learning Systems is preparing an updated version of our three day coaches’ training (for more information email me at sbarkley@plsweb.com). It includes an extensive review of the research on coaching. What follows is the research summary of the role of questioning.
Research shows learning comes not from having experiences, but from reflecting on those experiences (Knight, 2007; Rodgers, 2002). Supportive yet challenging questions can encourage reflection (Barkley & Bianco, 2005; Gimbel, 2008). Wang and Odell (2002) suggested, “Mentors need to know how to question and help novices pose questions about prevailing practice and identify the assumptions underlying one another’s teaching” (p. 521). Dunne and Villani (2007) stressed the importance of asking questions that focus on student learning and student work and that encourage the novices reflect on their practices.
Helping professionals have long realized the potential of active listening as a crucial skill for nurturing growth and learning (Tate & Dunklee, 2005). While little research has been conducted on the use of questions in a coaching/mentoring relationship, a substantial body of knowledge concerning the use of questions in the educational process does exist (Buehler, 2005; Schroeder et al., 2007). It is likely much of this information can be extended to peer coaching situations. Udelhofen and Larson (2003) concluded dialogue and discussion are the primary tools of effective mentoring. Browne and Kelley (2007) suggested the ability to ask the right questions is a crucial to creating effective dialogue
Research shows how a question is asked influences its effectiveness (Bell & Smith, 2004; Dillon, 1997; Wang, 2006). Clarity of educators’ questions correlates positively with student achievement (Jarolimek & Foster, 2008). Bowman and McCormick (2000) found that with effective coaching, teachers could improve their level of clarity in asking questions.
Through the use of carefully framed open- and closed-ended (yes/no) questions, mentors can increase the probability of eliciting the kinds of responses desired (Dunne & Villani, 2007). Certain topics require close-ended questions to elicit factual or specific answers, while open-ended questions are more useful for encouraging evaluation and interpretation. Wang (2006) cautioned close-ended questions “…cannot be used to extend the scope of a conversation because a questioner restricts information, which is introduced” (p. 544). Listening carefully to the answers will enhance mentors’ knowledge of new teachers’needs and concerns (Dunne & Villani, 2007).
Research shows employing pauses and probes to obtain more complete answers is beneficial (Davenport, 2003). “Silence following a question can make a coach feel uncomfortable, but that may be time in which the teacher reflects” (Feger, Woleck, & Hickman, 2004, p. 16).
Research shows when questions stimulate novices’ thinking, rather than leads them to an expected answer, they are more likely to understand on a deeper level (Jarolimek & Foster, 2008; Knight,2007). Follow-up questions that refocus or redirect students’ incorrect or incomplete responses enhance student achievement (Dantonio, 1990). It is likely the same tactic aids learning in a coaching/mentoring environment.
Research shows good mentoring sessions allow novices to ask questions of the coach/mentor. This is best accomplished in an accepting and noncritical working relationship (Knight, 2007). In addition to questions that assess knowledge and understanding, other questions help coaches to explore values, promote creative thinking, and help evaluate situations (Morgan & Saxton, 1991). The most crucial point is that successful questions must be planned, not improvised (Dillon, 1997). Barkley and Bianco (2005) suggested effective listening is more than passively hearing another; active listening requires asking questions and paraphrasing the speaker’s content. As Katch (2003) suggested, asking effective open-ended questions sometimes requires teachers to give up their need to control the discussion and instead listen, for understanding. Active listening, in contrast to passive listening, involves an interactive dialogue in which the listener not only hears the speaker, but also paraphrases, summarizes, clarifies, or otherwise elaborates on the content and feelings revealed by the speaker (Ivey & Ivey, 2006).
For example, a coach who was concerned how to mention the off task student behaviors that she observed found that when she asked the teacher, "what she saw during the lesson that made her feel most comfortable and most uncomfortable”, the teacher shared the off task behaviors and opened the door for conversation. When I stopped a coach in the middle of a pre-conference after the teacher said for the second time that she wanted the lesson to go smoothly and asked “what is smoothly”, the coach gained a much clearer picture into the teacher’s agenda.
Performance Learning Systems is preparing an updated version of our three day coaches’ training (for more information email me at sbarkley@plsweb.com). It includes an extensive review of the research on coaching. What follows is the research summary of the role of questioning.
Research shows learning comes not from having experiences, but from reflecting on those experiences (Knight, 2007; Rodgers, 2002). Supportive yet challenging questions can encourage reflection (Barkley & Bianco, 2005; Gimbel, 2008). Wang and Odell (2002) suggested, “Mentors need to know how to question and help novices pose questions about prevailing practice and identify the assumptions underlying one another’s teaching” (p. 521). Dunne and Villani (2007) stressed the importance of asking questions that focus on student learning and student work and that encourage the novices reflect on their practices.
Helping professionals have long realized the potential of active listening as a crucial skill for nurturing growth and learning (Tate & Dunklee, 2005). While little research has been conducted on the use of questions in a coaching/mentoring relationship, a substantial body of knowledge concerning the use of questions in the educational process does exist (Buehler, 2005; Schroeder et al., 2007). It is likely much of this information can be extended to peer coaching situations. Udelhofen and Larson (2003) concluded dialogue and discussion are the primary tools of effective mentoring. Browne and Kelley (2007) suggested the ability to ask the right questions is a crucial to creating effective dialogue
Research shows how a question is asked influences its effectiveness (Bell & Smith, 2004; Dillon, 1997; Wang, 2006). Clarity of educators’ questions correlates positively with student achievement (Jarolimek & Foster, 2008). Bowman and McCormick (2000) found that with effective coaching, teachers could improve their level of clarity in asking questions.
Through the use of carefully framed open- and closed-ended (yes/no) questions, mentors can increase the probability of eliciting the kinds of responses desired (Dunne & Villani, 2007). Certain topics require close-ended questions to elicit factual or specific answers, while open-ended questions are more useful for encouraging evaluation and interpretation. Wang (2006) cautioned close-ended questions “…cannot be used to extend the scope of a conversation because a questioner restricts information, which is introduced” (p. 544). Listening carefully to the answers will enhance mentors’ knowledge of new teachers’needs and concerns (Dunne & Villani, 2007).
Research shows employing pauses and probes to obtain more complete answers is beneficial (Davenport, 2003). “Silence following a question can make a coach feel uncomfortable, but that may be time in which the teacher reflects” (Feger, Woleck, & Hickman, 2004, p. 16).
Research shows when questions stimulate novices’ thinking, rather than leads them to an expected answer, they are more likely to understand on a deeper level (Jarolimek & Foster, 2008; Knight,2007). Follow-up questions that refocus or redirect students’ incorrect or incomplete responses enhance student achievement (Dantonio, 1990). It is likely the same tactic aids learning in a coaching/mentoring environment.
Research shows good mentoring sessions allow novices to ask questions of the coach/mentor. This is best accomplished in an accepting and noncritical working relationship (Knight, 2007). In addition to questions that assess knowledge and understanding, other questions help coaches to explore values, promote creative thinking, and help evaluate situations (Morgan & Saxton, 1991). The most crucial point is that successful questions must be planned, not improvised (Dillon, 1997). Barkley and Bianco (2005) suggested effective listening is more than passively hearing another; active listening requires asking questions and paraphrasing the speaker’s content. As Katch (2003) suggested, asking effective open-ended questions sometimes requires teachers to give up their need to control the discussion and instead listen, for understanding. Active listening, in contrast to passive listening, involves an interactive dialogue in which the listener not only hears the speaker, but also paraphrases, summarizes, clarifies, or otherwise elaborates on the content and feelings revealed by the speaker (Ivey & Ivey, 2006).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
