Engaging Children to be Readers — Improving Classroom Talk — Part 12

“Effective listening is the single most powerful thing you can do to build and maintain a climate of trust and collaboration. Strong listening skills are the foundation for all solid relationships.” -Michelle Tillis Lederman

Eighty percent of our waking hours are spent in some form of communication and most of that communication is speaking and listening (Wilt, 1950 as cited in Hyslop & Bruce, 1989). What does this mean for a literacy rich classroom? After reading that quote it made me think about the amount of time I spent teaching students the skills of speaking and listening. If I’m honest, it was not at all. I assumed students knew how to be effective speakers and listeners. As a child that was extremely introverted, I was mortified to have to speak out loud in class. This fear actually continued well into adulthood for me. I felt like I was not able to articulate my ideas, thoughts or feelings effectively. After I spoke I was so focused on critiquing my comments that I disengaged from listening and then failed in the listening aspect of the conversation as well. Teaching effective speaking and listening skills develops classroom community, improves oral language for all students, not just the ELL students and helps build confidence.

This makes me think about an ELL student I had named Sandra. She was from a large family. Sandra was the fourth child in their family that I had as a student. The other three I had as a Reading Recovery teacher. Sandra was in my second grade classroom. Knowing the family as well as I did, I noticed that Sandra was very shy and quiet. She rarely spoke even in a one on one conversation with me. During parent teacher conferences (where the oldest daughter was translating for the parents) I shared how Sandra never spoke in class. The mother got all animated and shared that Sandra never spoke at home either. Her siblings always spoke for her. Moving forward I worked diligently to help Sandra learn to speak in our classroom community. This was accomplished by scaffolding over time starting with speaking to me by whispering in my ear, then having her share with a classmate. Next I had her share her partners idea from their turn and talk sharing. I would stay close to her for support, usually with my arm around her. This built her confidence over time to eventually share her own ideas with the class. By the end of the year, she was comfortable and willing to share with her classmates. As I reflect on that experience I realize now that I should have been more intentional with all my students to help them build their speaking and listening skills.

Dr. Ernest Morrell states, “ninety-five percent of the time they spend listening in the whole class discussion.” I see a two-fold problem with that statement. First, students need to be spending a lot more time talking and sharing during whole class discussion. Integrating turn and talks allows students and opportunity to speak and process learning verbally with a classmate. Second, if the skill of critical listening hasn’t been modeled and taught ninety-five percent of the this discussion time is most certainly ineffective.

During whole class discussions we need to help students learn to become better active listeners, better questioners, and respectful participants that know how to take turns and not monopolize conversations, but also help the shy, introverted student learn to participate. These students need to understand that their thoughts and ideas are valuable. Withholding them leaves the group missing a valuable perspective. These speaking and listening skills are actually critical life skills that help children learn how to dialogue meaningfully with others.

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“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”

― Frederick Douglass

The joy is in the journey!

Blessings and Peace,

Mary