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Study Skills 2: Improve your Listening Skills
We may think we’re quite good at listening
Paying attention to every word,
But when it comes to writing it down,
We’ve not understood what we’ve heard!
We all think we are good listeners, but it is amazing how much children miss through trying to listen in the wrong way. Most try to memorise what a teacher is saying while they are saying it and so soon lose the thread of what is being said.
You can suggest the following strategies to your children to help them become better listeners. Think about the subject as you go into the classroom and get your things out.
- Leave any thoughts that are worrying you outside the classroom. You could try to have a special space in your mind that ‘holds’ such thoughts while you are busy and until you are ready to deal with them.
- If possible, have your book open so that when the teacher starts talking, you can have a visual image to help you concentrate.
- Try to attach new information to what you already know about the topic.
- Don’t talk to your neighbours or you will make them lose concentration.
- When following instructions, make a mental picture of what you are being asked to do.
- Longer instructions can be jotted down in ‘shorthand'on a rough piece of paper.
* Shorthand is when you write something down in a quick way. This can be done by using symbols eg: a crown for monarch or king. It can also be done by abbreviating long words such as parliament to ‘parl’. Warning: Always use the same symbols and abbreviations or you will get muddled!
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