Teachers must be able to form positive relationships with students and to communicate effectively. There are some good, strategic methods for implantation in your classroom.
21st Century Classroom Communication
Technology Integration
Using technology, such as videos, tablets, visual aids, and other types of graphic organizers can help to engage students better. Be sure that the media you select is used to enhance the objective and better explain rather than using technology just for the sake of using technology. Many apps can be used to get students to give you feedback on whether they understand the lesson. Nearpod or Kahoot are a few that work well for all ages.
Students enjoy being able to participate and answer all questions as opposed to raising a hand and only having one student be able to give an answer. The data that can be collected through these apps is also helpful for the teacher. It is easy to get an idea of background knowledge fairly well in a quick way.
Collaborative Learning Structures
Cooperative learning is a great way to get kids to communicate with each other as well as with the teacher. It promotes positive interdependence, and the teacher should be sure to build in both individual and group accountability. Teamwork skills can be directly taught at the primary levels and reviewed in older grades. Face-to-face groupwork is important to students today, where much of their communication has become through a device. Explicitly teaching these skills is vital.
Active Listening and Questioning
Have a good, accurate idea of what the students already know (background knowledge) so that your questioning is on target, not too hard and not too easy. Focus the questions on a wide variety of students. Repeat what their answers are by paraphrasing and following up with clarifying questions. Make the questions open-ended as much as possible. Probe further after a student answers. Help them to do deep thinking about the topic. Asking why or challenging their assumptions/thinking will cause them to have a deeper understanding in the long run. Vary your vocal tone and speed to maintain interest. Move about the room so that students will continue to be engaged.
Maintain eye contact while students answer questions and use movement to convey enthusiasm for the topic. Students who feel their teachers are actively listening to them tend to build a better connection with that teacher and have more trust in the relationship.
Positive Reinforcement
Be sure to give positive reinforcement to students. It should be sincere and very specific. Smile at the student and tell them exactly what was so great about their answer. Using I-phrases can also help with praise. “I was impressed that you gave good eye contact to the entire class as you gave that speech” is one example of an I-phrase. Research shows that specificity is more powerful than a general phrase such as “good job!”
Metacommunication
It will be important to explicitly teach students how to be a good communicator.
Metacommunication is communication about communicating. This is not something that all kids will just pick up, so explicitly teaching these skills will be very helpful as they work in a group with other students and communicate with all other teachers around them. Model the thinking process for them. Go over how to enter a room, make eye contact, summarize, and be positive toward others in getting a message across.
Talk about how body language can positively or negatively affect the spoken word. Give them examples. Students today are exposed to electronic devices and do not spend nearly as much time in face-to-face interactions as they used to years ago. They often enter the school behind in this area.
Gather Feedback Regularly
Getting regular feedback from your students about your own communication is a must! For older students, written/computerized surveys may be used. For younger students, picture-based responses can be used while verbally asking the questions. You will want to know if the students feel safe in your classroom, if they are comfortable coming to you with questions, how well they can understand you when you speak to them, and what they wish they could tell you.
Younger students will quickly give you feedback if you ask them specific things. Older students may want more anonymity, and so an anonymous, brief survey will be helpful. Give the surveys several times a year. Show students you care, and you take their feedback seriously. This will help to build more trust. Doing this at first can be a bit uncomfortable, but the results make it worthwhile.
Incorporating Effective Communication Strategies into Your Classroom
As you plan each unit, be sure to plan for these specific strategies just as you would plan for a lesson. Not actively planning for them leaves it up to the chance as to whether or not you will build them into your classroom.
Putting cues to yourself on a slide in your presentation to the class is a good way to remind yourself of some of these strategies. Another strategy that works well is to put a visual reminder to yourself at eye level on the wall opposite to where you typically stand when you teach. As you move back and forth around the room, you will see this cue, and remember to use the strategy you are targeting.
Attend workshops about student engagement and effective communication. Kagan offers great engagement training as well as coaching. Your instructional coach in the building is also an asset to use when you are trying to improve in the use of these strategies. Regardless of the way you begin to implement, use a step-by-step approach, and do not give up. Write a yearly plan for yourself and review it at least monthly to chart your progress.
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