Tatiana felt listened to (left side ear) when others looked at her when she spoke and felt understood (right side mouth) when others asked her questions about what she said.
Listening, Sharing & Being Understood
My Equity Work in My Classroom:
What I’ve Noticed & My Equity Goal:
Since we’ve begun the school year, I’ve noticed that the same voices have been expressing their thoughts and ideas in class. When a question is posed, the typical response happens with the few raising their hands, wiggling in their seats waiting for the teacher to call on them. The rest of the students sit quietly, waiting it out. I have fallen into the trap that if the students aren’t sharing out their thoughts audibly with the whole class then that must mean that they are disengaged. I have resorted to using named sticks or calling out a student to share.
As I reflect on my practice, I realize that my reaction comes from my own experience in being afraid to share out loud my thoughts among peers. I am thoughtfully engaged in class discussions but feel more comfortable sharing with a partner or from my writing. I had always dreaded the teacher calling on me as a child. I was gripped with so much fear that I would stop thinking about what we were discussing in class and get distracted by the fact that I had to speak in front of everyone. I wondered, “Will the teacher think that I’m not smart enough if I don’t raise my hand?” I don’t want to continue this kind of fearful environment for my first graders. I want to enable my class to share their ideas in a safe environment where each student has the opportunity to grow their ideas through various interactions with their peers’.
Most of my students are English Language Learners and those who have English as their primary language also struggle with expressing themselves in a way that they feel understood by others. Due to these observations, I have begun to try various strategies to work towards my equity goal of fostering a learning environment where my students listen to each other and feel heard or understood by one another.
What I’ve tried:
I have implemented the following listening and responding strategies:
· Wait time: everyone thinks silently for 7 seconds before responding (this varies depending on the content of the question)
· Pair share and share out what their partner said to the whole group
· Learn how to ask for clarification from one another
· Teach students how to look and listen with their bodies
· Direct their listening by asking them what to listen for as students respond. Then, we share the connections we made while listening to our
various responses.
. Write or draw what they are thinking
· Eyes: eyes open if they need more instruction on content; eyes shut if they understand content
· Ask students how they prefer to share their thoughts with one another
· Ask students what responses make them feel like they are understood or heard by others in our class
What the results were:
A number of positive changes happened after the implementation of the listening strategies. After I gave the students the opportunity to have a silent time to wait and think before responding, the quieter students began to share more often. During pair share, some of the vocal students actually began their conversations by asking their partners the stated question or gave their partner the opportunity to go first. The momentum of the conversations was great except when I would walk around and listen in. The students would stop facing their partners and begin to talk to me instead. I would then redirect the students to face one another and continue their discussion.
When sharing out to the whole class after pair discussions, I would ask the students to share what their partner said. After modeling how to ask for clarifications, the students would turn to their partners and ask them to explain their ideas again or the partner would feel the freedom to say that what was stated was not what they actually shared. This provided great discussions on the value of listening to one another carefully so that we could feel heard or understood. Also, during one of our morning gatherings, I asked the students to listen for similarities in the responses. When students shared their connections with one another, I noticed that the more quiet students were given a “voice” when someone else stated “I noticed that ___ and ___ both ____.”
During our morning gathering I asked the students how they preferred to share their thoughts with one another and what response made them feel like they were understood. The students wrote their answers on an index card. I then tallied the responses and put them on the board for us to discuss.
What I’ve Noticed & My Equity Goal:
Since we’ve begun the school year, I’ve noticed that the same voices have been expressing their thoughts and ideas in class. When a question is posed, the typical response happens with the few raising their hands, wiggling in their seats waiting for the teacher to call on them. The rest of the students sit quietly, waiting it out. I have fallen into the trap that if the students aren’t sharing out their thoughts audibly with the whole class then that must mean that they are disengaged. I have resorted to using named sticks or calling out a student to share.
As I reflect on my practice, I realize that my reaction comes from my own experience in being afraid to share out loud my thoughts among peers. I am thoughtfully engaged in class discussions but feel more comfortable sharing with a partner or from my writing. I had always dreaded the teacher calling on me as a child. I was gripped with so much fear that I would stop thinking about what we were discussing in class and get distracted by the fact that I had to speak in front of everyone. I wondered, “Will the teacher think that I’m not smart enough if I don’t raise my hand?” I don’t want to continue this kind of fearful environment for my first graders. I want to enable my class to share their ideas in a safe environment where each student has the opportunity to grow their ideas through various interactions with their peers’.
Most of my students are English Language Learners and those who have English as their primary language also struggle with expressing themselves in a way that they feel understood by others. Due to these observations, I have begun to try various strategies to work towards my equity goal of fostering a learning environment where my students listen to each other and feel heard or understood by one another.
What I’ve tried:
I have implemented the following listening and responding strategies:
· Wait time: everyone thinks silently for 7 seconds before responding (this varies depending on the content of the question)
· Pair share and share out what their partner said to the whole group
· Learn how to ask for clarification from one another
· Teach students how to look and listen with their bodies
· Direct their listening by asking them what to listen for as students respond. Then, we share the connections we made while listening to our
various responses.
. Write or draw what they are thinking
· Eyes: eyes open if they need more instruction on content; eyes shut if they understand content
· Ask students how they prefer to share their thoughts with one another
· Ask students what responses make them feel like they are understood or heard by others in our class
What the results were:
A number of positive changes happened after the implementation of the listening strategies. After I gave the students the opportunity to have a silent time to wait and think before responding, the quieter students began to share more often. During pair share, some of the vocal students actually began their conversations by asking their partners the stated question or gave their partner the opportunity to go first. The momentum of the conversations was great except when I would walk around and listen in. The students would stop facing their partners and begin to talk to me instead. I would then redirect the students to face one another and continue their discussion.
When sharing out to the whole class after pair discussions, I would ask the students to share what their partner said. After modeling how to ask for clarifications, the students would turn to their partners and ask them to explain their ideas again or the partner would feel the freedom to say that what was stated was not what they actually shared. This provided great discussions on the value of listening to one another carefully so that we could feel heard or understood. Also, during one of our morning gatherings, I asked the students to listen for similarities in the responses. When students shared their connections with one another, I noticed that the more quiet students were given a “voice” when someone else stated “I noticed that ___ and ___ both ____.”
During our morning gathering I asked the students how they preferred to share their thoughts with one another and what response made them feel like they were understood. The students wrote their answers on an index card. I then tallied the responses and put them on the board for us to discuss.
Majority of the class felt comfortable sharing with the whole class while a good portion felt more comfortable sharing it with a peer or in writing. My challenge is to create space for students to be able to contribute their ideas in all these ways and help students respond to one another and I with them.
When asked what response from the class makes a student feel heard and understood, majority of the class wanted the visual of students looking at them and being silent while someone is speaking. The next highest response was asking questions and saying respectful words about someone’s ideas. Not many students felt that thinking about similarities and differences among ideas helped the speaker feel understood or heard. The external responses, whether done orally or through body language, helped students feel heard.
When asked what response from the class makes a student feel heard and understood, majority of the class wanted the visual of students looking at them and being silent while someone is speaking. The next highest response was asking questions and saying respectful words about someone’s ideas. Not many students felt that thinking about similarities and differences among ideas helped the speaker feel understood or heard. The external responses, whether done orally or through body language, helped students feel heard.
Next steps:
I noticed that the options on the lists were created by me. In order for our class to work towards listening and being heard by one another I need to model that skill by asking the students to express their own experiences on how good it feels to be heard and what attributes enabled that feeling instead of solely including my own assumptions. Through that discussion we can create our own protocol for how to listen and respond to one another in a way that everyone feels heard and understood.
My students and I had a class meeting where we created this protocol on what listening behaviors and respectful responses make us feel understood and heard. The students had time to reflect on their own and choose to write or draw their ideas. Then they shared their responses with a partner. The students were asked to share what they heard their partner say to the whole class. The responses were written on a chart for us to refer to all year.
I noticed that the options on the lists were created by me. In order for our class to work towards listening and being heard by one another I need to model that skill by asking the students to express their own experiences on how good it feels to be heard and what attributes enabled that feeling instead of solely including my own assumptions. Through that discussion we can create our own protocol for how to listen and respond to one another in a way that everyone feels heard and understood.
My students and I had a class meeting where we created this protocol on what listening behaviors and respectful responses make us feel understood and heard. The students had time to reflect on their own and choose to write or draw their ideas. Then they shared their responses with a partner. The students were asked to share what they heard their partner say to the whole class. The responses were written on a chart for us to refer to all year.
Majority of the class appreciated compliments and the visual act of looking at a speaker and remaining silent until one has completed their statements. A student had given a suggestion on how we could respond respectfully to each other when we disagreed with what a student says in class. This particular recommendation has helped open more conversations with one another by being “soft on the person and hard on the content”. We will refer to our listening protocol throughout the day with the various tasks we do with one another. During our class meeting, the students felt that others were responding respectfully to each other. Although they also felt we improved in how we looked and silently listened to each other, we still needed to be more consistent.
I too will hold myself accountable in checking in periodically with my more quiet students and see if the listening and responding strategies help them feel heard and understood and adjust our protocol accordingly. When I asked Matthew how he felt about sharing with this new protocol, he stated that he stills feels nervous sharing and likes being able to share with a buddy instead of the whole class. He said that the class has been nice to him when he does share but would rather still share one on one. I will be more conscientious creating opportunities such as these and have us respond to our thoughts through writing or drawing with chalk talk and gallery walks.
My Equity Work with My Colleagues:
I believe that much of the act of listening and being understood is an issue that also resides within our staff community. Much of our staff meetings involve administrators directing the agenda and staff following the items that are stated. Some staff have expressed a need to voice their concerns and create solutions as a community. But these concerns are only shared privately with a colleague or small group of peers. Concerns usually get expressed publicly when the issue has been happening for an extended amount of time without actions being taken. As a result, some staff members express frustration and conversations turn defensive and unproductive in reaching a solution.
A few things have been put in place to help us through this situation. Our current interim administrators have begun a suggestion box in their office. The staff, as well as students, are welcome to share their ideas and concerns in the box anonymously. We also have an Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) where each member represents each grade level from our school. As the first grade representative on ILT, I am challenging myself to listen and respond to each of the teachers in my grade level in a way that they feel understood and accurately voice their concerns during our meetings.
I have also wondered that if we spend our staff and/or professional development meetings living out the opportunity to share our voice and create more choice among ourselves, maybe we would have the tools to empower our own students to practice these same skills in our classrooms. I am part of a small group of teachers representing grade levels 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th. We have been studying project based learning together and are reading through Ron Berger’s book An Ethic of Excellence. We have decided to plan a professional development meeting around the core concepts of project based learning stated in Berger’s book this year. Our hope is to begin with how we can take steps towards building a culture of quality not only in student work but also in our relationships with one another, with our students, families, and community. I believe that listening and feeling understood is a good place to begin.
My Reflections on Equity:
I realize that much of how equity exists or does not exist within my practice as an educator and colleague at my school is colored by how I am actively looking out for and pursuing the equitable and segregating issues among my students, I with them, and I with my colleagues.
The equitable moments cannot be achieved without recognizing the inequitable moments in my students’ personal lives and creating space for those experiences to have a voice in our classroom and be understood. Walqui’s article “Access and Engagement: Program Design and Instructional Approaches for Immigrant Students in Secondary School” states that “educators must provide students with avenues to explore and strengthen their ethnic identities and languages while developing their ability to engage in the values discourses of this country.” If educators ignore this, students develop an endangered self where their cultural identity is damaged due to the increased demands to adapt to a new society. Audubon has a predominate Hispanic demographic. How can we give voice to our students’ histories and current stories?
I understand that when my students’ and colleagues’ experiences are given space to be heard and understood, there will be struggle. This brings to mind Frederick Douglas’s quote “If there is no struggle, there is no progress…this struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both mental and physical; but it must be a struggle” (4) When that moment arises, I will have an opportunity to make a crucial decision: struggle with my students and colleagues or flee. Although fleeing will cause less friction at the moment, it has significant repercussions thereafter. Fleeing will perpetuate an “endangering of self” among our staff and students. On the other hand, struggling will as Nathan says help us work towards “tolerating our different opinions without dismissing one another.” I choose the struggle.
I too will hold myself accountable in checking in periodically with my more quiet students and see if the listening and responding strategies help them feel heard and understood and adjust our protocol accordingly. When I asked Matthew how he felt about sharing with this new protocol, he stated that he stills feels nervous sharing and likes being able to share with a buddy instead of the whole class. He said that the class has been nice to him when he does share but would rather still share one on one. I will be more conscientious creating opportunities such as these and have us respond to our thoughts through writing or drawing with chalk talk and gallery walks.
My Equity Work with My Colleagues:
I believe that much of the act of listening and being understood is an issue that also resides within our staff community. Much of our staff meetings involve administrators directing the agenda and staff following the items that are stated. Some staff have expressed a need to voice their concerns and create solutions as a community. But these concerns are only shared privately with a colleague or small group of peers. Concerns usually get expressed publicly when the issue has been happening for an extended amount of time without actions being taken. As a result, some staff members express frustration and conversations turn defensive and unproductive in reaching a solution.
A few things have been put in place to help us through this situation. Our current interim administrators have begun a suggestion box in their office. The staff, as well as students, are welcome to share their ideas and concerns in the box anonymously. We also have an Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) where each member represents each grade level from our school. As the first grade representative on ILT, I am challenging myself to listen and respond to each of the teachers in my grade level in a way that they feel understood and accurately voice their concerns during our meetings.
I have also wondered that if we spend our staff and/or professional development meetings living out the opportunity to share our voice and create more choice among ourselves, maybe we would have the tools to empower our own students to practice these same skills in our classrooms. I am part of a small group of teachers representing grade levels 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th. We have been studying project based learning together and are reading through Ron Berger’s book An Ethic of Excellence. We have decided to plan a professional development meeting around the core concepts of project based learning stated in Berger’s book this year. Our hope is to begin with how we can take steps towards building a culture of quality not only in student work but also in our relationships with one another, with our students, families, and community. I believe that listening and feeling understood is a good place to begin.
My Reflections on Equity:
I realize that much of how equity exists or does not exist within my practice as an educator and colleague at my school is colored by how I am actively looking out for and pursuing the equitable and segregating issues among my students, I with them, and I with my colleagues.
The equitable moments cannot be achieved without recognizing the inequitable moments in my students’ personal lives and creating space for those experiences to have a voice in our classroom and be understood. Walqui’s article “Access and Engagement: Program Design and Instructional Approaches for Immigrant Students in Secondary School” states that “educators must provide students with avenues to explore and strengthen their ethnic identities and languages while developing their ability to engage in the values discourses of this country.” If educators ignore this, students develop an endangered self where their cultural identity is damaged due to the increased demands to adapt to a new society. Audubon has a predominate Hispanic demographic. How can we give voice to our students’ histories and current stories?
I understand that when my students’ and colleagues’ experiences are given space to be heard and understood, there will be struggle. This brings to mind Frederick Douglas’s quote “If there is no struggle, there is no progress…this struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both mental and physical; but it must be a struggle” (4) When that moment arises, I will have an opportunity to make a crucial decision: struggle with my students and colleagues or flee. Although fleeing will cause less friction at the moment, it has significant repercussions thereafter. Fleeing will perpetuate an “endangering of self” among our staff and students. On the other hand, struggling will as Nathan says help us work towards “tolerating our different opinions without dismissing one another.” I choose the struggle.
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