7 Ways to Get Your Students to Really Listen

Classroom teaching is perceived as an important part of the education system. To make a child learn about society going to school is a basic necessity. Due to the prevailing system, online education is a part of the curriculum now but still, the impact of classroom teaching is simply unmatchable. Being in the classroom students are likely to study and understand the concepts with a personal touch but still, there are instances where the attention of students gets diverted. It is a common scenario which as a teacher you might observe. There would be some students who would be daydreaming while some look out of the window or searching a website on their mobiles. So there are a number of things taking place in the world which makes it very easy for the students to get distracted during class. So in this situation, it is a major concern to create a classroom culture where the focus is on learning, and distractions are kept to a minimum. It would even promote classroom management.  To accomplish this challenging task, active listening should be promoted among the students. You should guide the students to be engaged in conversation in a positive manner to develop their thought processes. Thus here are seven ways to get your students to really listen.

1. Use the technique of multisensory curriculum 

Promoting active listening in class is a tough job. You might give your best but students still are inattentive. This scenario will make you feel bad and even at times, you won’t feel like teaching.  But at that point, you need to understand the students and practice a multisensory curriculum to promote active listening. Multisensory learning is a technique that engages two or more of the senses (such as sight, hearing, or smell). For example, if you want to teach the students about the existing planets then teach them by creating a song out of it. Even with that, you can ask the students to draw the scene as you speak. This would be an efficient matter in which students would be more glued to your words and even their understanding would be better. This is a clear concept where more than one sense in involved and active listening could be promoted.

2. Ask questions

Being a teacher it is your utmost responsibility that your students learn to the best of their abilities. The students should be able to understand all the concepts. You simply cannot have one-sided communication in the class. Your motto is not to deliver the content and go away but even to make the concept of the content clear to the student.  So in such a situation the most viable means to check that the students are actively listening is by questioning them.  The questions should make the students feel involved. Do this practice of asking questions in between the sessions. You can ask different kinds of questions. It could be about the topic, a relevant example or even you can ask the students to give views about the topic.  To promote active listening, do not choose the same students again and again for the questions. Asking questions should be done to random students so that the whole class stays active during the whole session. With this concept of questions being asked to random students, there would be fear in the students that their turn might come. So this is one simple way by which you can ensure that students are listening and even it would give you clarity of their understanding process.

3. Have group activities in the classroom

To promote active listening in the class, you should focus on group activities.  Group activities like debates, group discussions, role-play and mock interviews could be conducted. In these activities, you can involve a number of students. As a teacher, you should motivate the students to participate in this learning process and along with the students, you should be a moderator. When you organize such activities students have to take turns and speak. In this process, the students become active as they have to understand the concept spoken by the student just before them. To motivate the students to participate you could even give them marks in their course curriculum. To the more in the process of group activities, voice modulation will be there which would capture the attention of students on its own.  Thus this process is a participative process and would promote the culture of active listening in your class. 

4. Remove all the classroom distractions

Usually, it is observed that teachers put up charts, maps, paintings, and various kinds of structures in class for the students to feel lively.  The reason for putting up this study material on bulletin boards is to help students stay busy during their free time. But on the contrary, it can create negative effects or you can say it could be a source of distraction for the students. The students during the lectures may keep on staring at those paintings or structures and won’t listen to the teacher. So as a teacher you should understand that a child needs to be fully attentive towards your lessons.  The main focus of the students should be on understanding the classroom teaching which is being conducted by the teacher. Thus in that condition, removing all distractions is a good option. It will make the students focus on the teacher’s lesson. In place of those charts and paintings,  infographics should be emailed to the students as they are an effective means to learn. During their free time, students can check on their emails in labs and study infographics that are sent.

5. Say no to devices in the classroom

In a number of schools and colleges, carrying your laptop, IPad, and mobile phone is allowed.  It is assumed that students will learn better when there would be a combination of classroom teaching and technology. But this concept certainly fails in reality. It is being observed that the human brain is not good at multitasking. Especially when it is about in-class multitasking, it is noted that students who use mobile phones and laptops in between the class get a low score when compared to other students who don’t.  This is because when students use gadgets their attention gets diverted as soon as the phone rings or there is a notification on the laptop. So the listening gets disturbed and students can’t be forced to actively listening. Thus in this situation, say no to devices in the classroom. Students can keep their belongings in lockers or vinyl over the door shoe hanger and use them in their free time.

6. Be excited the moment you enter the classroom

Students are keen on learning when the teacher is excited to teach and is full of zeal. If you being a teacher would look dull and sleepy, the learning won’t be effective as students would feel you are not giving your hundred percent.  So to keep the class entangled and promote active listening, enter the classroom with a big smile and ask them certain general questions that would make them inquisitive about the topic. If at the start you are able to capture the attention of the students, then during the whole lectures students would be active listeners and even you would notice them being participative in the classroom too.

7. Identify the main points

If you catch hold of the student’s attention in the beginning it would be easy to carry it for the whole lecture.  So to begin with, firstly show your excitement and then create curiosity in the minds of students by writing the main points on the board. You should not write the whole concept but just the headings so as to make students think. Once the thinking process of students begins and you start explaining those points the students would be active listeners and would create pictures in the mind about the same. This is a good way to initiate active listening as with headings the students would just know about the title but for the concept, the students have to listen to you. So in any class, you begin by just write the key points in bold so as to initiate the active listening process in students.

Thus to conclude being an active listener is also a process of learning.  It is an art that is learned gradually. It takes a lot of time, persistence, and patience to develop the skill of hearing someone and understanding their point.  Every person may have a different viewpoint so understanding it could be a little complex but for an active listener; it would be an easy job. As a teacher, you might have to face students of different age group, so in that scenario, you need to make students understand the importance of active listening and how the students can improve it by practicing daily in their lives by avoiding all distractions.

How do you get your students to really listen? Share in the comments.

Related posts:

5 Ways to Promote Active Listening In Your Classroom

Related resources:

Active Listening Modeling Script

Note Taking Cards for Active Listening

Active Listening Bundle

Jessica Robinson finds her peace in penning down intriguing and captivating blogs for her readers. So, she has been creating the finest pieces of content for over a decade while working at ‘The Speaking Polymath’.

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