Listen First

From Phil: Listening in Two Parts

This entry has two parts.  They seem like separate topics, but I hope you see the connection by the end.

Part I: Our Last School Board Meeting

Most school board meetings have only a handful of people in attendance.  When we know TV reporters and a huge crowd are going to show up, as a rule, it's usually not a good sign.  This past Wednesday's meeting was an exception to the rule.

Even though hundreds were in attendance, and even though those in attendance had dramatically differing views on what course of action the board should take, the discussion was focused on instruction and what is best for the children of Hamilton Southeastern.

I found this to be encouraging, even if the content of the discourse—using technology to support instruction in the elementary classrooms—was difficult and even contentious.

Our district leadership had a hard decision to make.
I believe how they made the decision is as important as
the final result.

The school board had a tough decision to make, but I would like to focus less on the final decision they made and more on how they made the decision. Without going into details, I can tell you that all school board members, Dr. Bourff, Dr. Combs, and Dr. Loane received many, many calls, emails, and personal contacts from concerned stakeholders on both sides of the issue.

These folks also spent hours talking to teachers, parent organizations, and specialists in a variety of professions. At the last two board meetings, they provided time to listen to concerns of parents and community members.

From all of these meetings, conversations, and communications, Drs. Bourff and Combs created multiple drafts of recommendations and made multiple revisions, attempting to address as many of the concerns as possible, but still honoring the hard work of the 1:1 Design Team and pilot teachers.

The result was a compromise that many, but not all, can support.  The recommendation voted on by the board and passed 7-0 is not perfect, as they will readily admit, but it is their best effort at responding to the concerns they heard, balanced with what they think is best for our children.

Rather than making decisions first and telling what they planned to do, they listened first, made choices, listened again, and made more revisions.  Only then did they make a final decision on the course of action.

Part II: In the Classroom

The school board's thoughtful approach to this difficult topic might have some ramifications for those of you in the classroom.  Try this exercise:

Spend a minute looking at this addition problem and how a student responded.

After looking at the problem, what would you say to and ask of the student?  Be careful.  This may be a trick—or at least tricky—question.

This exercise was developed by Deborah Loewenberg Ball, Dean of the School of Education at the University of Michigan, as way of assessing depth of understanding of pre-service teachers on “High Leverage Teaching Practices.”

Loewenberg Ball and her colleagues developed this list of strategies after a lengthy process of research, study, and field testing.  Included in their final compilation of high-leverage practices is “Eliciting and Interpreting Individual Student’s Thinking.” 

One the tools used to assess teacher proficiency in this areas was the problem listed above. 

How would you talk to this student?

To score proficient, the pre-service teacher must avoid two temptations: The first temptation is to tell the student what he did or didn’t do well.  The second temptation is perhaps more difficult; it is to tell the student what he was thinking—a practice all too common in classrooms everywhere according to Loewenberg Ball. 

The problem is that telling short-circuits listening, and can lead a teacher down the wrong track with the student.

The better approach is for the teacher to get the student to explain his thinking about the problem.  Only then, can the teacher know for sure what the next step should be.

So what was the student thinking?

With the problem above, when the researcher talked to the student about his answer, she found that the student had added the tens column first:

2 tens + 3 tens + 1 ten = 6 tens

Then, he added the ones column.

9 ones + 6 ones + 8 ones = 23 ones

So 623 represents 6 tens and 23 ones. 

In his head, the student added 60 (six tens) to 23 and ended up with the answer of 83, 

which he wrote in the blank. 

An interesting question: Did he do it wrong?

It’s tempting to get off track, isn’t it?  At first glance, you might jump to conclusions that this student made mistakes—or even that he cheated to get the correct answer.  But when given the opportunity to explain his thinking, you begin to appreciate the student’s depth of understanding.

It depends on what you hear....

This student used a very sophisticated method for solving the problem.  It indicates a deep understanding of the meaning of numbers.  Certainly, it is different than the way most of us learned to do addition, but the student’s thinking is solid and is far from wrong!

Look at the problem again and notice all the things the student did well with this response!  Notice also how difficult it would be to build on his strengths if a teacher spent the first part of the conversation correcting or telling the student what he was thinking. 

The High-Leverage Instructional Practice of “Eliciting and Interpreting Individual Student’s Thinking” may look different for you, depending on which grade level and which content you are teaching, but the concept doesn’t change.

With this strategy, the work for the student is to share their thinking.  The teacher’s work involves listening first.

Listen First

Listening before telling is hard work but has many applications well beyond the classroom.  This week, the actions of the school board and the research on High Leverage Teaching Practices reminded me how difficult and how important this work can be.

Keep up the good work, the hard work, of listening, HSE.  The results will be improved learning for our students.

Respond to Phil: plederach@hse.k12.in.us

Have a great week.

Your HSE Teaching and Learning Team

• Jan Combs, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning
• Stephanie Loane, Director of Elementary Education
• Tom Bell, Director of Special Education
• Jeff Harrison, Director of Educational Technology
• Phil Lederach, Director of Secondary Education

Some final thoughts....

• The first duty of love is to listen.  –Paul Tilich
• Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit and listen.    –Winston Churchill
• When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know.  But if you listen, you may learn something new.  –Dalai Lama