God gave us two ears and one mouth to show us that we should listen twice as much as we speak - An Arab proverb
What a powerful statement! I think this impacted me to my core. Frequently I find myself over talking to my students instead of cultivating an environment in which their voice is heard. I also think it is such a sad statement about society and how we interact that we are thinking of what we want to say next in a conversation rather that truly listening! I find myself often having to pray to God to help me have stronger listening ears. One things that I appreciated in the questions that followed is - Can you tolerate silence? This is a fabulous questions to ask. I have come to a place and understanding in my life where I crave silent times. I have struggled with getting this idea across to my students and after much trial and error and prayer I am going to try and implement a new idea in my classes this year. I think that our digital students are not used to silence ever and need to be made aware of the power and beauty within silence - so one day a week I am going to have my students go on a least a five minute walk in my class where we either go to the chapel or go outside to just be quiet and to listen. I was inspired by one of my favorite quotes - Make time for quiet moments as God whispers and the world is loud. I want to encourage silent times for my students and have them appreciate the benefits of taking a step back for reflection and putting down and away technology.
In the following chapter I had a few favorite ideas and quotes but when I reread what stood out to me the most was 'A teacher cannot preach this ethic of caring. She or he must live it." One thing I loved is that it put she before he. I just do not see that very often ;) More than that I think this entire summer at ICEL has taught me how much more authentic I need to be with my students. I am aware that they love to know everything about their teachers and follow our example, but i never realized how much I need to stop and take care of me so that I can be the best me and that by caring for myself I am caring for them.
Lindy I really loved the Arab quote as well! It really puts our listening skills into perspective! I completely agree with you that people tend to talk over one another instead of listening to what the person actually has to say. We are so busy worrying about what we are going to say, we forget to listen and just take it in. We are so fortunate to have so many wonderful people around us. This quote really made me reflect on my listening skills. i really enjoyed going over these two chapters with you and Bipin the other day. I look forward to sharing our thoughts with the class tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteLindy you have beautifully brought out the importance of listening and silence in our lives and in the lives of our students. I feel that these two aspects are closely related. If we have the ability to keep the inner and outer silence, the art of listening becomes a reality for us, lest what we hear is like pouring water on the rocks. It is our responsibility not only grow in these two graces but also help our students to cultivate them in their lives.
ReplyDeleteLindy, I appreciate your open sharing about yourself. We all need to listen. Our listening skill can bring in tremendous change in us and in our students too.As the English prover goes, "Action speaks louder than words," it is quite true that our action can influence the lives of our students.
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