One of the strengths that I have noticed through my many classroom visits so far this year, is our ability to build strong communicators. To that, I want to highlight some of the best practices that I have witnessed. With our charge being to develop the whole child, I would encourage you to consider what you do to intentionally build strong communicators (a learner profile).
I've noticed:
- Rules/expectations being established regarding listening. I witnessed a rule where when a student is sharing a thought, all other hands are required to be down. This, in my eyes, promotes active listening and seeking first to understand. Communication is more than just the spoken word, so requiring students to keep their hands down until after a peer is done sharing is a clever way to promote listening to others.
- Talk moves. I love talk moves, and I feel that by the time kids leave QUEST, they should be great listeners who respond to the thoughts of others in a way that acknowledges that they were listening. Instead of just having a random popcorn of ideas being shared within your class, talk moves would require students to use prompts to respond: "I agree with ________ because..." or "I understand what ___________ is saying, but I have another idea." Imagine if we all created anchor charts for our rooms requiring students to use talk moves? By the time they were to leave QUEST, we would be able to allow their conversations to carry on without us.
Asking a question, having students write or draw their thoughts, and then having them share in a group is something I witnessed. This practice is powerful as it ties the written word with the spoken word, but more than that, it allows students time to process their thoughts before sharing it with the group. We ask some profound questions here at QUEST, so providing that extra wait time, or time to process their thinking, provides for stronger and deeper communication.
Using the phrase raise your hand "when" you have an answer. After that, you wait...and wait...Instead of saying raise your hand if, when you say when you are teaching the kids that all should be thinking and not waiting for someone else to communicate.
Modeling effective communication. I see this a ton. We are models regarding listening and speaking, so when we are addressing those standards, we are constantly demonstrating how to be effective listeners and communicators. We do this well!
At our CIA meeting, Val is going to warm us up using a peace circle activity. I understand that QUEST has learned about peace circles before, but I would ask that you look at it and consider how you might use circles to increase listening and communication. When you close a workshop and are looking to promote discourse, the peace circle model can be a great tool for students to demonstrate listening, thinking, and speaking.
Keep up the great work, QUEST.
