Everywhere you look, educators talk about reading and writing, reading and writing. They are almost one word now: readinganwriting. But to be literate today demands so much more! We must expand our definition of literacy. Students need to be “oral communication literate” in a world where speaking skills are on display in so many digital ways. Students need to be able to be “sound and image literate,” because every message has those attached. Students need to be “bias literate,” understanding their own and recognizing bias in others. Students need to be “Internet literate,” understanding how to read and analyze what they find online (including fake news). This talk explains the need for rethinking our limited ideas about literacy and shares practical ways to create students who are truly, broadly literate.
State standards, including Common Core, include speaking. More importantly, life demands effective oral communication: people who speak well are more successful professionally and socially. And of course, speaking skills are on display with so many digital tools. An example: video interviews.
In spite the critical importance of speaking well, few teachers have specific lessons to develop oral communication skills. We assign oral activities, but we don’t spend much time teaching students how to be successful with those activities. What does it take to be an effective oral communicator? Whether one-on-one, small group, class discussion, class presentation, digital storytelling, podcast, or more, the same rules apply. This talk provides a practical, logical framework for teaching speaking to all students for all purposes. Learn how ACOVA, PVLEGS©and Six Trait Speaking improve class discussions, formal speeches, and one-on-one communication.
Sitting still and being quiet is not enough.
Listening in the digital age requires a new set of skills . This talk gives teachers an overview of the components of effective listening and offers ideas for developing the skills students need today to understand and evaluate the massive amount of input they receive daily from various media. Included are suggestions for teaching:
Active Listening
Media Literacy
Internet Literacy
Persuasive Techniques
Eye-opening, motivational, and practical, this presentation helps teachers give students important life skills that go far beyond mastering the standards.
Introduce teachers to tools and websites that give meaningful opportunities for oral communication. By expanding assignments beyond the classroom, we can inspire more and better speaking from our students. Technology demands more oral communication: video conferences, Skype, webinars, podcasts, video phone calling, and more showcase oral language. We can use digital tools to improve the speaking skills of our students.
Learn how to use Vocaroo, Flipgrid, Padlet, Google Voice, VoiceThread, and the many available ways to record and share spoken language. These tools are valuable for practicing speaking as well as showcasing speaking. Become aware of and comfortable with ways to update what you already do.
Standards and life beyond school demand understanding how to create and support arguments. More than that, all students should understand persuasive techniques and principles of good reasoning and how to apply them in speaking and writing. How do we respond to the demands for more emphasis on teaching these topics? How many teachers feel competent teaching these skills? Every teacher has a different idea of what an argument is. Few have much experience specifically teaching the needed skills.
This talk explains the basics and suggests practical ways to teach students to build effective arguments. Move beyond discussions, essays, and speeches that spout opinions, and show students how to powerfully communicate their positions.