January Lesson #1- "Seek First To Inderstand, Then To Be Understood"

Post date: Jan 25, 2016 4:25:54 PM

For the month of January we have been working on Habit #5 - "See First To Understand, Then To Be Understood"

Habit #5 is "Seek First To Understand, Then To Be Understood" and this means that I listen to other people's ideas and feelings. I try to see things from other's perspectives and viewpoints, not just my own. I listen without interrupting. I use my eyes, heart and ears to listen and truly hear what the other person is saying. I am confident when voicing my own ideas.

In Kindergarten we read the story "Jumper and the Lost Butterfly Net". Jumper Rabbit really wants Goob Bear to play, but Goob doesn't feel like it because he lost his butterfly net. While goob is trying to tell Jumper while he is sad, Jumper keeps interrupting and begging Goob to play, not really listening and see how sad his friend really is. Jumper goes off to play leaving Goob alone. Along the way he runs into Tagalong Allie, who is hard to understand. When Allie says "Me Thweter Back Woods" (My sweater is backwards) Jumper can't understand what she is saying because he really isn't listening. Lily Skunk helps Tagalong Allie and teaches Jumper that you have to listen with your eyes and heart, not just your ears. Jumper realizes he wasn't listening to Goob and returns to his friend to help him find his missing butterfly net. They find the net and Jumper teaches Goob about what he has learned about really listening.

In 1st Grade we read the story "Lily and the Yucky Cookies". Lily Skunk wants to bake cookies for her friends, but is in a hurry and doesn't listen to her dad trying to read the recipe to her. She ends up giving her friends a really yucky batch of cookies and gets embarrassed when they tell her that aren't that good. Lily goes back and her dad explains to her that sometimes we need to slow down and listen, making sure that we have everything we need and know what to do. She bakes another batch of cookies, listening to the instructions this time, and makes the best cookies ever for her friends enjoyment!

Our discussion, for both grade levels, centered on a few questions - Have you ever been frustrated when someone is not listening to you? Do you truly listed to what others are saying, or do you just hear them? What makes a good listener? How do you show you are being a good listener?

We ended our discussion with some role plays on being good listeners. We really focused on listening and not interrupting our friends when they talk, using good eye contact and restating what we heard from the other individual.

In the end, we all agreed that being a good listener is a skill that we all can work to improve on everyday!