Rocco, You are not alone here. What can you do to limit yourself to arriving at an answer before the person has finished talking?
Dr. Jean Norris
Arriving at an answer before the person has finished talking.
I certainly agree with that. I learned long ago that truly listening is the most important thing we can do properly help our students, but when you've been having the same conversation over and over I think the brain naturally starts filling in their part of the dialog, at which point we aren't "really" listing to what they are saying; this is a big mistake - every student truly is unique with their own concerns, issues, problems, etc. and what they are telling us is the key to helping them get the most out of their education. I have learned to "check up" on myself every now and again, to make sure I am hearing what the student says and not what I think they will say.
LeAnn,
Wow! That is fantastic insight! Let us know how it goes!
Dr. Jean Norris
During this module, I realized that in recent personal conversations I have been interrupting friends. Now that I am aware of this, I can catch myself, and allow friends, and students, to complete their thoughts before I chip in.
Asmir, Great awareness! What can you do to listen better?
Dr. Jean Norris
Not taking the time to listen to all that the student got to say.
andrea, Interesting! I want to make sure I understand, can you explain what you mean by limiting yourself?
Dr. Jean Norris
I think I limit myself when someone is giving to many details for me to keep up with.
Another great question, Carlos, consider this for a moment: are all of your students the same, even though you hear similar things from all of them?
Dr. Jean Norris
Since i do the same thing and speak on the same subject its natural to feel you've heard at all before,how can i show 100% attention when i feel this way,is there certain words i can use ,i try and use body language by leaning forward and it works well is there any other methods?
ALICIA, That kind of focus is definitely possible. What specific things can you do to make sure this happens?
Dr. Jean Norris
I need to learn how to focus entirely on the employee or student sitting in front of me.
Julie, It's so great you are aware of this. Keeping that in mind, how can make sure you stay "in the moment"?
Dr. Jean Norris
There are times when I'm focused more on the solution than listening to the entire problem. I know I'd get more out of the conversation if I would be present in the moment instead of thinking that I already have a solution.
Kevin,
This is another excellent observation. Just being aware that our actions may result in missed opportunities is the first step. What might you do differently now that you are aware of this?
Dr. Jean Norris
For myself it is not limiting myself to listening but to the questions that might come up in chats. I tend to focus on getting the information out that is needed for the assignments and what is expected from the students and as the questions roll by I miss them and the students might get frustrated as I have passed something by that they did not understand and then I will need to go back over the same steps to clarify their questions that I missed.
Julie, I can see how that would be a concern. What can you do to limit multiple students coming in at once?
Dr. Jean Norris
My listening is limited when i have several students coming to me at once which happens often. I may be working with a prospect and another student comes in and I find it hard to determine which to listen to at that moment.
Michael, You got it! You never know, the student might be telling you exactly what they need to enroll while you are thinking about the next step. So, knowing that, what is something that you can do to prevent thinking about the next step?
Dr. Jean Norris
