Category: Communication

Improve How You Speak so That People Will Want to Listen

The human voice is one of the most powerful sounds in the world. It can start wars, and it can say, “I love you.” Yet, many people do not feel as though others listen to them. In his TEDtalk (video below), sound expert, Julian Treasure, shares tips and useful vocal exercises to help you speak in ways that will cause people to want to listen to you.

He highlights 7 habits that should be avoided in the ways we speak and in the things we discuss (See image above or download full-sized version.).

Treasure shares 4 cornerstones on which to stand, to make your speech powerful and to promote change in the world. They are based on the acronym HAIL.

HAIL – to greet or acclaim enthusiastically

Honest – be clear and straight
Authenticity – be your self
Integrity – be your word
Love – wish them well

Treasure concludes by sharing tips on how to speak with empathy, and he offers his vision for a sonorous world of listening and understanding.

Maintain Healthy Relationships with Students Virtually

In our virtual, yet isolated, current environment, it is important to continue maintaining healthy relationships with students. “When kids spend their daytime hours in safe, supportive schools where adults work every day to build strong relationships with every student, they are simply better, more engaged learners” (source). Yet, how do educators continue to build strong relationships when students are on the other side of a screen? The suggestions below offer strategies to maintain strong relationships with students despite the virtual connection (source).

  • Communicate frequently – it is important that students see and hear you frequently. This action can be done through video chats or by posting videos on your LMS (learning management system – Schoology, Canvas, Google Classroom, etc). Students need to know you are thinking of them often. 
  • Create a routine – In person classroom routines are important, thus, virtual learning routines are important. The routine can be accomplished through morning meetings, responding to daily prompts, daily announcements, read-alouds, etc. Any type of activity that can be completed daily in order to create an environment that is safe will help students know you are there and available. 
  • Virtual check-ins – there are numerous students that benefit from daily check-ins with teachers in the school setting. This same type of check-in can be completed online. Whether they give a visual thumbs or down or they complete a Google Form like this one, students need to be able to share how they are feeling with the teacher and you as the teacher can pinpoint who is doing well and who is not. 

References:

Image source, Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

All other sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above. 

@hollandkaylah

Finish the Year Strong

The focus of education has shifted dramatically in the last few months due to the closure of face to face instruction. This unprecedented time has been deemed trauma-informed teaching. In order to prevail through the situation, many educators have turned to virtual education and video chats. The issue with video chatting is that there are limited ways to engage students through a screen. Below are several recommendations for amping up video chats in order to help educators finish the school year strong (source). 

  • Invite a guest speaker – think book authors or experts in your field. You never know if someone will say yes until you ask. 
  • Take your class on a virtual field trip – there are numerous options for virtual field trips right now so utilize your host screen and take your students on a journey. Click here to view a list of current virtual tours. 
  • Connect your students to another class – create an environment of global curiosity and connect your class with another class in another state or country. Students in both classes can work on projects together while both teachers co-teach. Twitter is a great place to find educators with similar passions to yours. 
  • Create a design thinking project that engages students both on screen and off screen. Future Design School created a Facebook group that includes at home design thinking resources.  

References:

Image source, Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash

All other sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above. 

@hollandkaylah

Engaging Optimism

Forbes recently published an article titled Leading in Times of Uncertainty that mainly discussed what businesses can do to look forward with a positive attitude instead of simply reacting to whatever may happen in the future. “With all the news primarily focusing on what’s going wrong or could go wrong, it’s critical that we give equal energy to identifying what is working and where are the benefits or opportunities in the midst of all this upheaval” (source). The truth is that our normal routine as educators has drastically changed over the last few months. However, despite the change, it is important to focus on the positive things that have taken place. Focusing on positive behavior can help to alleviate the anxious or nervous feelings students have. As you prepare to end the school year virtually, you can help students focus on the benefits that learning virtually have provided by creating a safe place for conversations. Ask students questions about how they feel in the current situation. Help students work through the negatives and lean on the positives. Ask students what they can do to improve their own situation and ask students what you can do to help. Having open and authentic conversations will help students begin to process our current circumstances in a positive mindset and will help prepare them to return to face to face instruction whether in a few weeks or in the Fall.   

References:

Image source, Photo by Oleg Laptev on Unsplash

All other sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above. 

@hollandkaylah

Emotionally Connected Educators

In our current global situation of quarantining at home and learning virtually, the most essential skill to educating students is vulnerability. Our current situation is one that has not happened before and makes educators and students feel afraid, stressed, and anxious. Educators often feel the need to seem like they have it all together so student’s will not know they are afraid or anxious. I once heard a presenter say that educators should leave their problems in the car when arriving at school so that student’s will not see them struggle but students learn from what is modeled and if educators model apathy then students will not learn how to deal with their emotions. David Brooks recently wrote an article titled “Student Learn From People They Love” (source). He states that if teachers show vulnerability, students will be able to connect with them on a personal level and will thus learn more from them as an educator because they have connected emotionally. Brooks states that an older view of educators is that “if you wanted to be rational and think well, you had to suppress those primitive gremlins, the emotions. Teaching consisted of dispassionately downloading knowledge into students’ brains” (source). However, in our current situation, we have seen numerous stories of teachers heroically overcoming so much in order to passionately care for and educate their students. Brooks discusses various research but concludes with the realization that “what teachers really teach is themselves — their contagious passion for their subjects and students. It reminded us that children learn from people they love, and that love in this context means willing the good of another, and offering active care for the whole person” (source). An educator’s vulnerability helps students feel connected and encourages them to learn. Students can also interact with each other through the same type of vulnerability. This type of teaching and learning has been named social emotional learning. Click here to read the entire article by David Brooks. 

Next Steps

Interested in learning more? Check out the websites below for great information. 

References:

Image source, The New York Times

All other sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above. 

@hollandkaylah