Effective Communication in the Classroom (page 2)

Good communication skills are imperative if you are to deal successfully with the administrators, teachers, and service personnel on your school campus—in both formal meetings and informal interactions.

Considerations

• Assume the best of everyone.
• Operate with the assumption that everyone has the students’ best interests in mind.
• Remember that effective communication is the key to having your suggestions and ideas heard and taken seriously.
• Keep a positive attitude.
• Take time to say “hello,” and listen to others as much as possible.
• Practice empathy and understanding.
• Put yourself in the other person’s shoes.

Body Language

Body language—a person’s stance and presence—speaks volumes, even if not a word is spoken.

Considerations

• Determine whether your body language is in sync with your message.
• Make sure that your nonverbal signals match your words, so that you communicate clearly and are perceived as being approachable.
• Present yourself so that your posture communicates confidence, rather than making you appear unsure of yourself.
• Keep in mind that different people may perceive you differently: Your body language may be perceived differently by men and women, or by different cultural groups.
• Practice eye contact.
• Analyze your physical proximity to the person you are talking with, how your arms are positioned, and the way your facial features convey what you are thinking.
• Try to stay neutral in professional conversations.

Positive Communication

Interactions that are unassuming and clearly understood will be perceived as positive communication.

Considerations

• Assume a neutral frame of reference when you go into a meeting.
• Don’t form an opinion or frame a response before you hear from all of the participants in a meeting (potentially every member of the grade-level team, the parents, the administrators, and the support staff).
• Listen carefully. Misunderstandings usually occur when we don’t listen.
• Respond with a coherent, quick, informed, and honest reply.
• Avoid speaking in a negative tone of voice. Speak so as to have your ideas acknowledged, rather than disregarded because of a negative attitude.
• Be open to learning. No one enjoys a “know-it-all.”