Active Listening & Wait Time

By | November 8, 2011

Two key strategies  (active listening and wait time) used in classrooms also work in small groups. They assist group leaders as well as the groups they lead. Both show respect for the learning in progress.

Active listening demonstrates taking turns as well as respect for the speaker.When a person is speaking, all attention needs to be placed on the speaker.  Listeners are:

looking at the speaker

keeping their bodies quiet

not speaking while the speaker in talking.

Wait time is an extension of active listening and demonstrates respect of each individual’s thinking. Wait time means that after a question is asked, respondents have 5-10 seconds of quiet while they think. This short break gives methodical thinkers a chance to formulate their answers. It gives speedy thinkers time to reach beyond their first answer , replacing it with their better or best answer, rather like brainstorming.

Both practices can be used in and out of classrooms. Respect for learners has no walls.