Communication & Listening Skills Without a Cellphone

Do you really hear what people say? How do we relate without technology? Are these all a thing of the past? Not in my class. Students will learn the art of communicating. We live in a world where communication is often done through our phones and technology, and it is often forgotten how to communicate one on one. My class will teach respectful ways to communicate. 

A willingness to put down a phone and understand how communication skills can impact your life is required. 

Week 1: What is communication? How does communication affect how we think? We watch a short video by Gary Turk
This will be taught with us talking about what communication really means.
--Homework: Put down your mobile, switch off your T. V., or any electronics for thirty minutes and ask your family how their day was. Write down how it felt to not have electronics for 30 minutes. What did you learn from talking to your family?

Week 2: What does communication look like? We will be discussing listening techniques. In this class we will take a moment to talk and see if a person was really listening, we will read and see if what someone heard was really what was read. 
--Homework: Take 30 minutes to listen to someone, without any distractions. Write down if you feel you have good listening skills or if you could improve them.

Week 3: Being present at the moment-- Listening. What distractions around us cause us not to listen? This will be taught with us talking through techniques to help us listen and be attentive to what is being said. We will talk about how distractions can allow us to lose out on school and life.
--Homework: Write down what distractions you feel are around you when people are talking.

Week 4: How communicating to different ages and different situations matters: Learning how to put these into practice. We will go over all we have learned and practice what it takes to continue these skills. Once again Gary Turk vidoes will be listened and viewed. 


*All homework assignments are optional.
All classes will be taught with a hands-on approach and learning from videos and examples to help each student learning what it takes to live away from technology and learn to be better listeners.