Future Ready Skills Learn and Earn--Elementary: January: Effective Communicator

January: Effective Communicator

A Little Background
We probably all think we know what effective communication looks like. AND, if we teach any form

of writing, kindergarten through 12th grade, we likely think we’ve got this Future Ready Skill nailed. However, if the essential elements and importance of Effective Communicator were already sufficiently addressed in our curricula, we wouldn’t call it out in the Future Ready Skills. Although we do a great job of teaching writing K-12, there are elements of effective communicator that don’t get much attention.

Check It Out
Read the description and review the grade-level checklist for Effective Communicator at the Future Ready Skill website.

Boost Your Own Expertise
Mind Tools is an online learning site/repository of essential career skills. The audience for their articles is clearly adults in the workforce. Nonetheless, many of their articles have relevance in schools as well--you’ll just have to think outside the cubicle.

Visit the Communications Skills area of Mind Tools site and browse through the several articles that are available. (NOTE: you can select and read up to three articles for free. Not all articles are free, but you should be able to find one that is.) Select and read one article that is of interest to you, then select one to read that you think could have relevance in your classroom. OR, alternatively, read this article that addresses 9 effective communication skills and 5 barriers to effective communication.

Prompt
Part 1: Referring to our description of Effective Communicator and the grade level checklist, which elements of effective communication don’t currently get much attention in your classroom? How might you be able to authentically address one or two of them in your classroom so that your students gain a fuller understanding of Effective Communicator?

Part 2: Identify the articles you selected from Mind Tools and tell us why, then explain how you might adapt the second one to resonate with your students. If you opted for the alternative article, identify one skill and one barrier you could imagine addressing with your students to improve their communication skills.

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Kim Fitzpatrick (RC) · 311 weeks ago

PART 1:
From the grade 3 checklist, I chose the following elements of effective communication to focus on as a classroom community: 1) I listen, read, and observe carefully to make sure I understand others' messages, and 2) I respond appropriately. We are working on our conversations with writing partners during our writing lessons each day, and students need practice in both of these areas. When sharing their goals as writers, they are also asked to share what they worked on today and how that went, pointing to specific places in their writing where they worked on a specific skill or strategy. Their partners are working on providing feedback that is useful and appropriate, based on the information their writing partners shared with them. It's a work in progress, but they are already impressing me with their communication skills.

PART 2:
From Mind Tools, I chose the article: How Good Are Your Communication Skills?
This article listed specific steps in the communication process, including active listening, and providing feedback. I chose this article because of the breakdown of each skill and examples of how to demonstrate it successfully during a conversation. I could definitely apply this to my third grade classroom and refer to it for our writing conferences. Students are currently working on productive feedback based on what their partner shares with them, instead of just saying "good job", and "I like it". They're doing great so far, but this is definitely an area where we have room for growth, and communicating effectively is a lifelong skill that should be intentionally taught.

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Mark Lange (RC) · 307 weeks ago

Part 1: Referring to our description of Effective Communicator and the grade level checklist, which elements of effective communication don’t currently get much attention in your classroom? How might you be able to authentically address one or two of them in your classroom so that your students gain a fuller understanding of Effective Communicator?

After revisiting the Effective Communicator checklist, I wanted to work on #1 I review, evaluate, and adjust my communication as necessary and on #2 I respond appropriately. Being a math teacher leads to helping students with #1. We are constantly answering real world problems. As a group the students share answers and methods on how they solved the problem. In the beginning of the year, there were arguments and not ones that assisted learning. As a class we worked on disagreeing appropriately with others and proving with evidence why they think their solution is correct. Over time, students stopped arguing and spent more time working together to help understanding. The groups now review (students share), evaluate everyone’s method (often there is more than one way to a correct answer) and have adjusted how they argue points. #2 aligns with number #1. In the beginning of the year, I had some strong opinionated boys, who were never wrong of course. Through the real world problems, modeling and conferencing I am happy to say that all students respond appropriately, with minor hiccups. Our science discussions have helped with this too. Considering that unlike math, which is mostly computation based, science is more overall understanding of our planet and our universe. These strong willed boys had no prior knowledge and if they did, it was often untrue. So they had no leg to stand on to argue their points. A humbling experience for a few. Now after they understood what I was teaching…that was another story, but as I said, we worked on it. 

Part 2: Identify the articles you selected from Mind Tools and tell us why, then explain how you might adapt the second one to resonate with your students.
From Mind Tools, I chose the article: How Good Are Your Communication Skills?

Specifically I focused and continue to on the “Feedback” portion because it aligned with what I wanted my students to improve on. Of the bulleted points, Defensiveness, agreement and comprehension (or lack of understanding) seemed the best to focus on with my classes during group work and discussion. All of these happen at every table at the beginning of every “new” math concept and throughout lessons. Defensiveness, since many feel they are right, lack of understanding because it is brand new and hopefully over time, agreement happens if the kids truly listen to each other. It has been a work in progress and I am still modeling and reinforcing how to argue appropriately. However, I am now using table groups that show these skills to model for the rest of the class. When it comes from peers, I feel it has a deeper impact than from an old man in front of the room telling them this is how it should be. I am proud of my students’ work this year in communicating effectively.

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Kelsie Gooch (GPES) · 306 weeks ago

Part 1: Referring to our description of Effective Communicator and the grade level checklist, which elements of effective communication don’t currently get much attention in your classroom? How might you be able to authentically address one or two of them in your classroom so that your students gain a fuller understanding of Effective Communicator?

From the grade k-2 and 3-5 checklist, "I use appropriate media and technologies to support my message." is a an area I would like to use more. I currently work out the gym for EEP and struggle to use technology in such a large space. I would like to be able to display directions, play fun videos and music and make EEP more energized. We currently have to move to the library if we want to watch a video and I want to work towards finding the best use of our space where I can keep tech plugged in and ready and not have to move spaces.

Part 2: Identify the articles you selected from Mind Tools and tell us why, then explain how you might adapt the second one to resonate with your students.

I read the article on "10 Common Communication Mistakes" article and "How Good Are Your Communication Skills" because I was curious to see if there were gaps in my communications skills that I wasn't aware of and to see where I could improve. I realized that I need to work on keeping a open mind when meeting new people since I am interacting with so many people who are picking up their kids I need to be able to ask good questions to understand their backgrounds and how to best teach their children according to their needs.I also need to have a good relationship with families so that if they have concerns or questions, I can answer professionally and with empathy.

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Lauren S (RCES) · 279 weeks ago

From the first grade checklist, I chose the following element of an effective communicator: I listen, read, and observe carefully to make sure I understand others’ messages. I chose this because with first graders, this is always an area to improve upon. We do lots of partner work and turn and talk activities. We practice how to be a good partner by listening to what the other person says and respond appropriately. This skill can also be used when dealing with friendship conflicts. It is important that when students are trying to solve a problem that they listen to everyone, and as a group decide the appropriate solution. Often times, students will jump to conclusion, so remind them to listen to others first will help give them the skills to resolve conflicts on their own.

From Mind Tools, I chose the article “How Good Are Your Communication Skills.” I chose this article because it liked how outlined the communication process by breaking it down systematically. It gave great tips on how to improve your communication skills through conversation by being an active listener. I can definitely see this being used with in my classroom in regards to turn and talk partner conversations. What sometimes can happen during these conversations is after the first person shares, he or she begins to lose interest in the conversation. By teaching my students how to be an active listener, deeper conversations can be had during these turn and talk partner conversations and all students will feel like their voice has been heard.

1 reply · active 271 weeks ago

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Beverly Meeks · 271 weeks ago

Hi Lauren,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts about responding appropriately and being active listeners during partner talks and how important it is to be an active listener when the 2nd person is sharing so there can be a richer discussion and each partner is engaged. We should start working on these two skills within Effective Communicator earlier in the year so our students can do better at communicating during conflicts.

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Celine H. · 278 weeks ago

Part 1: In my classroom we need to work on "I reflect on my communication and adjust as necessary." In first grade students often react on feelings and emotions and cannot reflect on their feelings without getting upset. Students are so focused on what happened to them and do no think about what they may have done to others. We discuss each side of the story and then fix the issue.

Part 2: Communication Planning. This can be used in first grade to help students plan out what they are going to say. This article teaches teacher and students how to get your message across the correct way.

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Mandy K (CRES) · 278 weeks ago

Part one:_I decided to choose, "I listen, read, and observe carefully to make sure I understand others’ messages" because I think this is something that we are constantly working on, yet still needs to be fine tuned. At the kindergarten level, we need to practice listening to others and trying to figure out what they are saying.

_Part two: __
I chose communication and then went to the team building. There is a list of questions to determine what the issues are in communication. This would be well utilized in a class in a class where students are not getting along well.

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Alyssa H. · 278 weeks ago

Part 1: I think that one that is being addressed but I could do this better would be “I use appropriate media and technologies to support my message.” I have print outs of emotions so that kiddos can identify how they are feeling, a way that they could communicate with me or their friends could be pointing to the emotion they are feeling. This provides a way for kiddos that struggle with expressing themselves, this is another tool (or technology) to ease their need to let people know that they are experiencing.
Part 2: On the Mind Tools website, I was looking at “How Good Are Your People Skills?” In the article they had some good thought provoking questions to reflect on. While they would need to be altered to the kindergarten level, they are really good skills to think about not just as students but as humans. One area discussed that I think would be a good focus in my own room would be talking about barriers, how to accept them, and how to work with them.

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Madison N (CRES) · 278 weeks ago

In my classroom, I would like to put more emphasis on " I Respond Appropriately". I think it is important that students are able to evaluate, critique, and add-on to other student thinking and ideas. Currently, we are really working on sharing ideas and strategies during our math lessons. When students are able to have deep conversations about difficult problems, they are able to not only able to explain their thinking using evidence but also listen to ideas they may not have not thought of. I will continue to teach this skill and encourage my students to have authentic conversations about their learning. This skill also relates to knowing how to respectfully disagree with someone's idea. Many of my students love to have the "right answer" and be the first one to share their thinking. We are still working on the appropriate way to listen before discrediting another student's idea. I teach this through a lot of modeling and the use of sentence stems or talking points to help students understand how to respectfully disagree with one another.

I chose the article "How Good Are Your Communication Skills" from Mind Tools. The section that really resonated with me was the section on "Planning Your Message". This section discussed the importance of understanding why you are communicating, who your audience is, and how you plan to send a message in the most appropriate way. Some students are inclined to verbalize the first thing that comes to their mind without really thinking about what they are going to say. These skills can be used in my classroom by allowing students to have more think time and to encourage them to always think about their goal of communication. By have the discussion around who their audience is and how they can best get their point across, students will be more successful communicators in and out of the classroom.Talking about how we may communicate differently around different subject areas would also be a beneficial conversation to have in my class.

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Kathy J. · 278 weeks ago

Part 1: I teach Future Ready Foundations Classes to Grades K-5. I find that responding appropriately is a skill that is lacking at all grade levels. I feel that participating in relevant role-playing activities where appropriate responses are modeled and then giving the students time to practice role-playing responding appropriately would be a great activity.

Part 2: After reading, "Understanding Communication Skills on MindTools.com, I think I would extend role-playing activities into exploring the consequences of appropriate and inappropriate responses and how that effects relationships with peers in the classroom. This could lead to a rich discussion and help them connect choices have consequences both positive and negative and that they are responsible for those consequences based on their ability to respond appropriately.

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Kelly M (CRES) · 275 weeks ago

Part 1: I teach 1st grade and in my classroom, students are lacking in 'responding appropriately'. This falls into many situations such as responding when someone answers a question incorrectly or makes a mistake in front of their peers, but it also occurs during peer conflict when we are working through hearing both sides of the conflict and trying to resolve it. I can also see this during partner talk or turn and talk time as sometimes once a partner has shared, they are not being an active listener to the other partner. What is developmentally appropriate continuously comes up in discussion in 1st grade. Many 1st graders are responding at their developmental stage, but as a teacher, I can coach them on how to listen to each other, and find possible solutions in their peer conflict, or how to be an active listener all the time. First grade is a perfect time to role play situations and "practice' how to respond to each other.
Part 2: I looked at, "How Good Are Your Communication Skills?". Thinking about what I mentioned in part 1, the article mentions skills that all people can use in their life. What stuck with me is the active listening piece and how important that is to teach in first grade so that students are familiar with the term, use it during school, but also in their post education life. This promotes deeper thinking, deeper questioning, and even a better understanding of someone else's perspective which can be used to solve peer conflict, improve partner talk, as well as show respect to others when listening to what they have to say.

1 reply · active 271 weeks ago

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Beverly Meeks · 271 weeks ago

HI Kelly,
I agree with you that with the primary grades responding appropriately and being an active listener are developmental skills that teachers need to coach, guide, and nurture. I am focusing a bit more on these two areas you mentioned through my partner reading time in my classroom this year since partner reading has taking a deeper focus for me. Coaching and guiding my students to be active listeners with their partners and finding supportive, kind ways to coach their partner as they read is an on going learning process. Let me know if you find any words or phrases you have taught your students to use during partner or team talk that is helping. I could use some good ideas too.

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Kimberly F (TSD) · 272 weeks ago

Part 1: I chose the element of "considering your audience's needs". It's not that this element doesn't get attention in my classroom, however third graders are still largely egocentric, particularly when it comes to their writing. Teaching them about author's purpose and the point of view of their reader is important. Students need opportunities to practice sharing, presenting, responding to questions, meeting with partners, offering and receiving feedback and constructive criticism. This skills should be intentionally taught often and deliberately throughout the year.

Part 2: I read "How Good Are Your Communication Skills?". This article really focused on how to deliver your message to your audience, keeping in mind the recipient's perspective, anticipating other people's reaction to your message (which can be hard for third graders), and thinking about how we choose our words and body language in a way that allows the other person to really hear our message. The article supports our Future Ready Work as we help grow more effective communicators. I'll definitely give more thought to this as I teach writing this week, reminding students to think about their audience and how they can share their messages most effectively. This is also our FRS this month, so it's in the spotlight!

1 reply · active 271 weeks ago

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Beverly Meeks · 271 weeks ago

I agree with you Kimberly that it is hard for primary students to keep in mind their audience when they are writing. I found it a smidge easier for my students to focus on writing to their classroom audience when writing their informational book, teaching a classmate(s) about a topic important to them. Let me know how your writing unit goes and if you notice a difference with their audience focus. Have a great second half of the year.

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Stacey P (TSD) · 271 weeks ago

Part 1: Of all of the the statements on the Effective Communicator self-reflection, the element of effective communication that I feel could use some attention is "I review, evaluate, and adjust my communication as necessary."
I am currently running through the Future Ready curriculum for the first time. Since these lessons are new, the FRS team as a whole is working hard to adjust lessons and make them as effective as possible. Sometimes these adjustments are made "on the fly" during a lesson, when a concept or topic isn't resonating well with my students. Other modifications come after running through an entire lesson and having some time to reflect on how it went. This is definitely a work in progress.

Part 2: I could imagine addressing Barrier #2 (not paying attention to the person you are talking to) in order to help students improve their communication. I have noticed that listening is a skill that could use a lot of refining among many students (as well as my own kids!). Naturally, communicating effectively with someone also involves listening. This is different from simply waiting for one's turn to talk. With some of my grade levels, we are currently running lessons on mindful listening, which emphasizes the importance of really focusing on what they are hearing, and reinforcing that this is a skill that takes a lot of practice.
The skill that I would like address with my students to be more effective communicators is Skill #2 (non-verbal communication). This is a topic that I have addressed many times with my teenage daughter; particularly how one's tone of voice can really affect the delivery of the message. I think this is a very worthwhile aspect of communication that I would like to incorporate into my FRS curriculum. Considering one's own tone of voice, facial expressions, eye contact, and posture are all important factors on how communication is received.

1 reply · active 262 weeks ago

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Paige S (RCES) · 262 weeks ago

I like how you related the student goal of adjusting communication as necessary to what we all do as teachers. This transparency with the students is a great way to communicate the importance of this point in the self reflection. You are also being a great role model of reviewing evaluating and adjusting, which will help students see exactly how it is done as long as you are explicitly with them about what you are doing to make things better for everyone!

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Judy K (TES) · 268 weeks ago

Part 1: Referring to our description of Effective Communicator and the grade level checklist, which elements of effective communication don’t currently get much attention in your classroom? How might you be able to authentically address one or two of them in your classroom so that your students gain a fuller understanding of Effective Communicator?
I use appropriate media and technologies to support my message, is the one element that I feel like does not get very much attention in my classroom. I feel like maybe I can use cards or feelings cards to help my kids convey their feelings or if they are having a hard time expressing themselves. I also can try to find online resources that so how kids can effectively communicate with one another or how to. Maybe finding videos on how to talk to one another and being mindful at the same time.

Part 2: Identify the articles you selected from Mind Tools and tell us why, then explain how you might adapt the second one to resonate with your students. If you opted for the alternative article, identify one skill and one barrier you could imagine addressing with your students to improve their communication skills.
Barrier- Avoiding the concerns of others: I feel like this barrier is sometimes hard for kids in the elementary level. They really don't account how it makes the other person feel but rather they are all wrapped up in how they feel and want to express themselves which is fine but they also need to hear and listen to the other person that is talking. I feel like we can have dialogue in the class and maybe have scenarios where kids can act out and discuss how and why someone might feel like that and talk about it. I feel like children need to see positive modeling and it is okay to feel mad, ipset, angry, or sad but that we need to express them in a positive way and that the other person needs to understand and empathize that people feel differently and that is normal. That it does affect the other person too.
Skill- Being Empathetic: I feel like talking about this about real life situations would be a great way to show kids what is it to be empathetic and to have them aware that everyone has a story and comes from different places and walks in life. To have discussions and when problems arise, not to avoid it but have conversations in class where kids feel respected and feel safe to share what they feel or want to share.

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Paige S (RCES) · 262 weeks ago

Part 1: For this exercise I chose the grades 3-5 effective communicator checklist. The two that stood out to me most that are most often left behind are “I consider my audience’s needs” and “I choose and use the form that best fits my situation.” We work really hard, with the help of sentence stems to be effective oral communicators, perfect our persuasive writing and so on, but they are not often given the opportunity to choose which form on their own. Leaving some projects more open ended so students can choose the form that works best not only for the situation but for each individual's style of productivity would be a great way to help students have a better understanding of being an effective communicator. Additionally, having students understand who their audience would be (peer, teacher, parent, principal) would change the tone of the work and how it is communicated. Giving more background information and discussing as a whole class how the communication would change depending on different audiences and the background of the project would be a great conversation starter for students and help them think more deeply about being an effective communicator.

Part 2: I read the alternate article for part two of this module. For one skill that I would like to address that seems the most important to me is active listening. Students often want to interrupt a partner they are talking with, which is one aspect of active listening we could address. Looking towards the person talking and thinking about what they are saying, asking clarifying questions and not just absently waiting for your turn to speak are other aspects of active listening that would be the first to be addressed. One barrier that I would like to address first is avoiding the concerns of others. Students at elementary age are naturally self centered, so making sure they see information from different points of view will help them make better group decisions and build empathy. Having students learn to compromise and not always trying to get their own way but what is best for everyone is a developmental skill that would tie in nicely with this aspect of being an effective communicator.

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Zoryana L. (LWES) · 253 weeks ago

One element of communication that doesn't currently get much attention in my classroom is "I choose and use the form (oral, written, visual, and nonverbal) that best fits my situation." Most of the time, I choose the form for my students when they are asked to communicate through an assignment or with one another. This doesn't give students the opportunity to choose a form that best fits their own personal situation and preference. When prompting students to communicate with one another, I am going to work at giving them options and making sure they know what their options are when they have to communicate with one another or with any other individual.

In the alternative article, one powerful form of communication that was discussed is non-verbal communication. In my classroom, this is certainly a skill I can imagine addressing with my students to improve their communication skills. To go along with non-verbal communication as a skill, not paying attention to another person while they are communicating (e.g. looking away from them) is a barrier that can be addressed in my classroom. Interestingly, the barrier I chose connects to non-verbal communication because sometimes students use non-verbal actions that show that they are not paying attention to others. Overall, students must be in tune with their non-verbal communication at all times and it is my belief that teachers should educate children on their non-verbal communication as much as their communication in other forms.

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Maureen B. TSD · 253 weeks ago

When looking at the elements of effective communication, there was not one that stood out to me that usually falls by the wayside. However, there are two elements that next year i would like to focus on. The first is "I consider my audience’s needs and feelings." Empathy is so important in first grade, and it is when students are really starting to become aware of others around them. The second element that I will focus on is "I respond appropriately." At the beginning of first grade, kids tend to still do a lot of random commenting,so we focus heavily on staying on topic and answering appropriate questions.

1 reply · active 253 weeks ago

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Maureen B. TSD · 253 weeks ago

Replying to my own post since i posted before I did part 2.

I chose to read the alternative article. The barrier I would like to address is "not paying attention to the person you are talking to." First graders often have only their own thought in their head, and fail to listen to their peers. They just think of what they are going to say next. To eliminate that barrier, the skill I would like to focus on isasking questions, to show the person who is speaking that you are listening.

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Susan H (SLES) · 252 weeks ago

The 2 that stand out to me from the checklist that are not promoted currently in my classroom is choosing the best media for the situation and choose and use the form that best fits my situation. I currently set the kids up with a document in Google Classroom and ask them to write to communicate for writing and some of their reading presentations. I would like to go beyond this and have the kids choose what media will work best and what communication form best fits the situation. In order to do this I will have to familiarize my students with other technology applications and formats and go over guidelines of oral presentations.
I would like to also address the barrier of non-verbal communication. The kids that I teach are 8 and 9 years old. Many have not mastered the ability to speak in front of the class while making eye contact and standing tall. In addition, as audience members, the kids do not always stay present and show that through non-verbal communication. Many have their eyes wondering, playing with their hands or the carpet. I do enjoy the Choose Love curriculum that was piloted in my class this year. It addressed how to show respect with non-verbal communication. I will continue to use this curriculum for that reason, but would also like to find some other lessons that address these barriers.

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