Communicating Effectively with Your Students

In a lecture given by Marquette University English Professor, Jean M. Czaja, she outlines 15 steps that a teacher can take to communicate effectively with their students.

1. Speak at a slower pace, but still naturally and articulate your words clearly
2. Ask direct statements and questions and avoid complicated sentence structures
3. Use simple vocabulary and avoid technical language that your students may not know.
4. Write down key words if your student doesn’t seem to understand you.
5. Use nonverbal cures such as gestures, facial expressions, and nodding to help convey meaning.
6. If your students don’t seem to understand you, repeat what you said again. If they still don’t understand you repeat what you said in a slightly different way.
7. Give your students time to understand what you’ve said before expecting a response. Don’t immediately repeat yourself.
8. Confirm that your students really understood you by using questions such as “Did that answer your question?”
9. Look at your students and pay attention to both verbal and nonverbal cues, which help convey meaning.
10. Tell you students when you don’t’ understand what they are asking you, but try to be specific about what it is you don’t understand.
11. Ask your students to repeat their question.
12. Paraphrase what you think the student is asking you.
13. Get to know our students
14. Share experiences from when you were a student
15. Be prepared for our class and make sure you are familiar with the material

Most importantly be persistent and patient with your students and give your students a chance to learn how to communicate with you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frwP9f85TnU