I think most of us go into teaching because we enjoy the process of communicating ideas.  And most of us (ME!) are energized when we inspire our audience to consider new things.  I recently listened to a five part discussion hosted by Diane Pence, a graduate intern at Eastern Illinois University on Mastering Non-verbal Communication in teaching.  I appreciated her insight and will refer back to what Diane said regarding effective communication with your students and their parents.  At the end, she distilled it down to three words:

 

Observe

Attend

Be Culturally Aware

 

 

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Of all non-verbal communication techniques I think facial expressions communicate volumes.  And my students need consistent, high-quality feedback, which believe it or not, sometimes looks like a facial expression.  One thing that I experimented with was asking the students to give me their eyes once they were finished writing down their spelling word during our spelling test.  When they gave me their eyes I smiled at them, not a huge teethy grin, but a soft, small, genuine smile.  This helped my students needing more time to sound out and write the word, without feeling pressured to hurry up because others were raising their hands or audibly telling me they were done.  It also helped me connect, face to face, with each student.  They noticed that I looked them in the eye and smiled.  I use this often now and it’s very effective in keeping the environment quiet and also making a good individual, personal connection with every student.  And in many cases, showing empathy with my eyes does wonders for my students when they are looking to me to validate their perspective.  I appreciate what Pence said about not breaking eye contact abruptly (i.e. looking at your watch while the other person is talking).

 

As an elementary teacher, watching my students' body language and facial expressions (sometimes tears in their eyes) has let me know when I was too firm or made a wrong assumption about their behavior (i.e. when I had them move their behavior clip down because I saw them talking as a means of being off-task, when in reality they were helping a friend stay on-task).  As a form of verbal communication, I have apologized on many occasions (and felt like a dog when I was too harsh) and asked them to forgive me.  More on that later...

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Being mindful of my vocal tone and volume, not too loud or not too soft, is very effective in one on one conversations as well as whole groups.  When I am giving Whole Group Instruction and I notice that not all students are engaged, I will change my vocal tone and/or my volume (sometimes I get completely silent until the student who is off in lala land returns to me, which I measure by their returned eye contact) to help them re-engage cognitively.  And one of the things I do the most when my students are too loud (almost every time I’m taking three full classes (68 students) into the hallway from outdoor recess), is say in a quiet voice “If you hear my voice clap once.  If you hear my voice clap twice….”  And I keep going until everyone is silent (and the talkers in the rear of the line hear everyone clapping and starting paying attention to what’s going on...6 claps later).  Then I give directions.  In my own classroom, I do this most often before we transition from group work to something more independent that requires everyone to listen to the instructional goals.  And I find that when I talk quietly they almost always mirror my volume.

 

Open posture.  This is a good one.  My body language says a lot.  I try to conference face to face with my students once a week.  It's either at my teacher table or my computer, I make sure the space between me and the student is clear between us and I lean-in if what they're telling me is important.  Typically the content of our conference is about either a specific assignment (especially if we're working on a writing piece) or any unfinished work they have yet to complete.  I get an understanding of how well they're grasping the main ideas needed to finish the assignment.  I also give them the opportunity to self-assess by looking through their unfinished work folder and identify where they're stuck and what type of intervention they need (time at my teacher table, help from a friend who has finished and understands well enough to help).

 

I really love what was said by Diance Pence about “Mirroring”.  I found this technique to be somewhat intuitive, but I appreciate hearing the underlying reasons behind each form of mirroring. One example that I have often utilized is having the same emphasis of body language as that of my student.  When my student is recounting a story or giving me a handmade drawing or gift, my body language mirrors their excitement.  But I have had some really sobering, tender moments with my students too, where mirroring looked more like sitting down and taking a more subdued posture.  Actually, one tender moment occurred during an Author's Study of Eve Bunting, the day I read Bunting's book "Gleam and Glow".  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I was reading the book to the class, a little more than half way through, I got completely choked up.  I had to stop reading.  I was caught off guard by the fact that they father resurfaced at the point in the story that he did.  I swallowed a bunch of times, wiped the tears from my eyes, and eventually regained my composure. I used it as an opportunity to share why I was moved and how we can be moved when an author does a really good job of pulling us into the setting, helping us relate to the characters, giving us a feeling of being compelled by the problem and overjoyed with the solution.  I finished reading the book and it was one of the sweetest moments I've had teaching, they all clapped.  And one of my students came to me aftewards and said "Ms. Keilers, I'm sad." (this student was not an attention seeker and I knew it was a big step for her to approach me with such vulnerability).  I moved us to the table in the back.  She went on to tell me that her uncle died and she never met him.  And that he was very important to her dad and to her other uncle.  I mirrored her soft tone and low volume.  I hugged her, I listened and showed empathy.  

I also asked more questions because I could sense that she wanted to talk about it.  This is what I want my teaching to do, to inspire them to feel and think and connect our learning in the classroom to their lives outside of the classroom.

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Actually, the Author Study Unit as a whole proved to be very moving for myself and my students alike.  Pictured above are the books we read by Eve Bunting.  We also watched an interview where she explained the fact she was an immigrant from Ireland when she came to America (specifically California).  And she went into meaningful detail about all that that implied for her and her family.  One of the most meaningful things I've taught thus far.

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Pacing is another way I have used my students' body language to take them to a calmer state (because second graders are still learning impulse control and how to self-regulate their emotions).  So if they come to me with a complaint or minor injury (hello Recess duty!), I mirror their posture and pace them towards a more positive posture.

 

Diane Pence also discussed eye movement as what we do when we are thinking about something (and accessing another part of our brain), which was so interesting!  Eye movement is such a natural part of communicating with my students and I have never put words to it or understood the psychology behind it.

 

Looking Up - accessing visually (picturing what happened).  Which helps to use the word “See” to connect with them, “I see what you mean…I see you are not happy…"

 

Looking Sideways - accessing auditory (what they heard)  “I hear what you’re saying…"

 

Looking down to the right - kinesthetic  “That must feel awful….I feel really happy for you…"

 

Looking down to the left - internal dialogue (editing what they are going to tell you)  

 

 

Cultural Norms.  Research what you don’t know, so that you can reach them and connect with them in a way that feels safe and appropriate for them.  Do they use body language?  (I.e. shaking hands between opposite genders)  Do they make extended eye contact? (i.e. Islamic Culture)  Being sensitive to the students culture.  And there are always non-verbal cues that tells us how to relate to them. Because I've traveled quite a bit, I am familiar with a lot of the cultural norms among my students' cultures, but not all.  I always have more to learn.

 

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