Active Listening Protocol

How do I introduce Active Listening?

1. Create and post an anchor chart with cues to teach and reinforce the process.
2. Determine a physical cue to use with students as a signal for when they should actively listen (ex: slight tug on one ear).
3. Explain to the students that hearing isn’t the same thing as listening because listening involves paying attention and thinking about what is heard. Tell students that they are expected to be “active listeners.”
4. Introduce the protocol and physical cue for active listening by reviewing the anchor chart.
5. Suggested introduction activity: Active Listener Fishbowl (Show what an active listener looks like and what it does not.) Choose a small group of students to demonstrate having a discussion about a topic of interest to them. Teacher then acts as a student, and models poor listening and discussion techniques (moving around in seat, fiddling, calling out, waving hand in the air, etc.). Have students critique your behavior. Then do the process again, modeling good listening and discussion techniques. Debrief about the difference.
6. Incorporate active listening into classroom activities by verbally prompting students when they need to actively listen to the teacher or when they are going to actively listen to a peer or in a small group.
7. Praise students for using active listening, for sharing their ideas, and for staying on topic.