Developing the skill of listening takes practice and for those with cancer, it's important to be heard. In this post, learn how one survivor helped others learn how to listen.
BY Bonnie Annis
PUBLISHED July 04, 2019
Bonnie Annis is a breast cancer survivor, diagnosed in 2014 with stage 2b invasive ductal carcinoma with metastasis to the lymph nodes. She is an avid photographer, freelance writer/blogger, wife, mother and grandmother.
My granddaughter is five. She's about to start kindergarten. Sometimes, when she gets busy at play, she doesn't pay attention to her name being called. Over and over again I'll repeat her name, getting a bit little louder each time. Eventually, when my voice reaches a certain pitch, she'll stop what she's doing and turn my way. I tell her it's important to put on her listening ears.
“Listening ears” was a concept I implemented many years ago when I was a preschool teacher. Working with children between the ages of three and five was challenging. The position I held was not that of a "glorified babysitter," as some might be inclined to think. We actually taught age appropriate concepts to the children. We wanted them to learn.
One day, when I was particularly frustrated and the children weren't listening, I gathered them into a circle and had them sit on the floor. All eyes were on me as I reached up and pretended to unscrew first one ear and then my other. They started to laugh. As I mimed that I couldn't hear them, they became very still and quiet. I then reversed the process and began to "reattach" my ears. As I did, I allowed my eyes to grow large and told them in a very quiet voice, "I think I can hear you now." That little act prompted the implementation of a useful phrase in my class. Whenever the children were not paying attention, I'd speak loudly and say, "Let's put on our listening ears now." All the children would copy me as we tightly screwed on our listening ears. After I had their full attention, I was able to teach.
“Listening ears” was a concept I implemented many years ago when I was a preschool teacher. Working with children between the ages of three and five was challenging. The position I held was not that of a "glorified babysitter," as some might be inclined to think. We actually taught age appropriate concepts to the children. We wanted them to learn.
One day, when I was particularly frustrated and the children weren't listening, I gathered them into a circle and had them sit on the floor. All eyes were on me as I reached up and pretended to unscrew first one ear and then my other. They started to laugh. As I mimed that I couldn't hear them, they became very still and quiet. I then reversed the process and began to "reattach" my ears. As I did, I allowed my eyes to grow large and told them in a very quiet voice, "I think I can hear you now." That little act prompted the implementation of a useful phrase in my class. Whenever the children were not paying attention, I'd speak loudly and say, "Let's put on our listening ears now." All the children would copy me as we tightly screwed on our listening ears. After I had their full attention, I was able to teach.
No comments:
Post a Comment