Oral Communication

Oral communication is one of the foundational tools that students learn to develop in schools at an early age. Oral communication is an essential skill to posses and it can have an impact to help improve other essential learning skills such as reading and writing. Communication can also make learning easier for students, and help students achieve their goals. When students become effective communicators they will become more confident in some of the roles that they are taking part in and will become less likely to hesitate answering questions or speaking up during class. Therefore, effective communication skills can lead to strengthening a student’s self-esteem, so that they are more confident in their learning abilities and will strive for higher standards in their personal growth and development.

As a teacher, we must reward verbal and open communication in the classroom because I believe that if a teacher does this they will notice an improvement in the class performance and achievement levels. If I am promoting open communication in the classroom, I hope that students are willing to participate in discussion and perhaps engage in debate.  Public speaking can help students develop their critical thinking skills, which can be used towards many different types of learning across the curriculum. By asking my students questions and having them participate in discussions and debates, I will be able to see if my students have retained the material properly or understood the specifications of the requirements on a particular task. If there is little feedback in their responses, then I know that the students possibly did not understand the information. Having an open communication with my classroom is extremely important because it allows the students to express any questions and concerns that they might have and it also give them the ability to assess where they are at in their learning and self reflect. For myself, it allows me to assess my students and provide them with feedback and support to guide them in the right direction to enhance their learning.

In our literacy class, we were asked to review an article entitled Debate: Where Speaking and Listening Come First. This was an excellent resource that discussed the importance of promoting public speaking and the ability of student engagement in the classroom. The authors suggested that teaching our students how to effectively communicate and debate in the classroom would boost student’s self-confidence and improve their critical thinking abilities. They also identify what debate looks like and sounds like in the middle school classroom environment and how debating differs from simple conversation. The authors also, provide teachers with strategies on how to engage their classrooms into student-centered activities, such as debating; the article also provides strategies on how to assess classroom discussions and conversations.  I think that this is extremely to teach our students these skills because often people do not know how to think critically when they engage in a conversation because it is not something that comes naturally to us, it is something that is learned.

                                           [Online Image].Retrieved from Giphy.com