• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Emerging Scholars Blog

InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network

DONATE
  • Home
  • About Us
    • About Our Bloggers
    • Top Posts
    • Commenting Policy
  • Faith/Science Resources
    • STEAM Grant Series
  • Scholar’s Compass
    • Welcome to Scholar’s Compass
  • Connect
    • Contact Us
    • Events
    • Donate
You are here: Home / Christian Thought and Practice / Teaching Tips: Listening

Teaching Tips: Listening

June 6, 2017 by Jayme Yeo No Comments

class small group photo
Photo by uonottingham

Jayme M. Yeo shares some things she’s learned about listening to students for our Teaching Tips series. See her other writing for the ESN blog here.


For me, there is no more challenging—or important—pedagogical exercise than listening. At its most basic, listening to my students signals to them that our conversations in class are real, and that I respect and value their contributions. But it does more than that: really listening to my students also challenges me to see course material with new eyes—their eyes. It forces me to approach the familiar grounds of knowledge using unfamiliar pathways. At its best moments, listening to my students equalizes us as we become collaborators in the project of learning.

I offer here three concrete practices for listening in the classroom:

  1. Be present. You are entering the classroom. Pause. Breathe. Acknowledge your students. Repeat this practice throughout class to avoid pushing too quickly past student questions or feedback. Being present is slow and slowing. It means that you may not “cover” all the material you want to. You may abandon entire Powerpoint presentations to pursue students’ questions. At the same time, it doesn’t mean you’ll allow a misplaced question to derail the conversation. It’s a balancing act, being present.
  2. Give students the tools to speak. Reading questions or, even better, preparation assignments ensure that students will have thought about the conversation before it even begins. In classes of up to 25 students, I assign daily writing tasks. Far from “busy” work, these are questions we directly discuss in class. Sometimes I ask students to revise their initial responses during a class session. They challenge their thoughts, hopefully change them. I grade preparation writing on good faith effort, which takes about 10 minutes for each class session.
  3. Ask students for feedback. Conduct mid-term formative reviews using a teaching center or a colleague if necessary, at week 4 or 5 in the course. I ask students three questions, based on my institution’s teaching center evaluations: “what has helped you learn in this class, what has prevented you from learning, and what changes to the class would help you learn better?” Mid-term reviews are not for the faint of heart: be prepared to make real adjustments. For weeks following a midterm review, I will point out changes I make in class. “You asked for more small group work, so that’s what we’re doing now.” I want students to know that I heard them, that, like them, I’m learning. I want them to know that, from where I stand, we are all always learning.

Jayme Yeo

Jayme Yeo has a PhD in English from Rice University and joined the English department of Belmont University in 2013. She specializes in seventeenth-century British devotional poetry, early modern political culture, and affect. Her current book project explores the affective and political dimensions of religious experience in early modern poetry. She teaches classes on British literature and academic writing, including one class that integrates poetry with community service and political activism.

More Posts

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • More
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest

Filed Under: Christian Thought and Practice Tagged With: listening, teaching, Teaching Tips, Teaching Tips Series Spring 2017

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Become a Member

Membership is Free. Sign up and receive our monthly newsletter and access ESN member benefits.

Join ESN Today

Top Posts

  • Christian Views of Creation
  • The Message of Genesis 1
  • Faith and Doubt in Emily Dickinson’s “This World is not Conclusion”
  • Daniel: Notes for Bible Study Groups, Part 2
  • Introducing Kuyper's "Sphere Sovereignty"

Facebook Posts

Facebook Posts

Footer

About Us

The Emerging Scholars Network (ESN) is a national network within InterVarsity’s Graduate & Faculty Ministries which supports those on the academic pathway as they work out how their academic vocation serves God and others. We encourage and equip undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, and early career faculty as they navigate each stage of their academic vocation and transition to the next step in or beyond the academy.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Recent Posts

  • Vocation: What is Vocation?
  • Science Corner: The Real Aliens Were the Friends We Made Along the Way
  • Event Announcement: In Search of Shalom: Race, Justice, and Immigration

Article Categories

Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Contact Us
Member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students
Copyright © 2021 - InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA ®. All rights reserved.

InterVarsity, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, and the InterVarsity logo are trademarks of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA and its affiliated companies.

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.