Anna Bergamini - Communication

Communication

True listening requires a setting aside of oneself. It also temporarily involves a total acceptance of the other. As this happens, speaker and listener begin to appreciate each other.

-F. Scott Peck

10 ways to have a better conversationWhen your job hinges on how well you talk to people, you learn a lot about how to have conversations -- and that most of us don't converse very well. Celeste Headlee has worked as a radio host for decades, and she knows the ingredients of a great conversation: Honesty, brevity, clarity and a healthy amount of listening. In this insightful talk, she shares 10 useful rules for having better conversations. "Go out, talk to people, listen to people," she says. "And, most importantly, be prepared to be amazed."

In order for our students to truly thrive we must teach them the delicate balance between talking and listening. In her TED Talk, Celeste Headlee stresses the importance of really listening to others, which is something that teachers stress to students on a daily basis. Effective communication occurs when people take the time to truly listen with the intent to understand. That is what we want to teach our students. In order to help children develop the interpersonal skills I plan to model and reinforce good listening skills in my future classroom on a daily basis.

Learning how to communicate is a process that begins at a very young age and is scaffolded throughout one's life. In my Kindergarten placement, students begin to learn about helpful behavior and communication tools through the use of Kelso's Choices. This behavior curriculum is clearly meant to be used in the younger elementary grades; however, the messages/tools could work for any and all ages.

Kelso's Choices reinforce ways to deal with problems. Some of these choices are:

Apologize, Walk Away, Make a Deal, Talk it Out, and Wait and Cool Off

Integrating the "Whole Body Listening" approach into a classroom management plan is a must! In my opinion, this framework for active listening can be used for kids and adults a like.

Spending extra time on the "listening with our hearts" is a wonderful way to help people remember that if we are truly listening to someone, we are showing that we care about what the speaker is saying. That is what we should be teaching our students each and every day.

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