Para eLink: Where Minnesota's Paraprofessionals Learn Online

competencies | tutorial | glossary | help | site index

7.5 (7S2C, 7S8C): Ability to employ constructive communication strategies and approaches in working with and responding to students, their families, and school and community personnel.


1	1R	2	2R	3	3R	4	4R	5	5R	6	6R	7	7R	8	8R

9	9R	10	10R	11	11R	12	12R

Communicating with Students

When talking with students, it is important to engage in behaviors that facilitate openness and acceptance. When we actively demonstrate specific behaviors, students tend to be more receptive to listening and communicating with us.

Follow these suggestions while communicating with students.

Posture: Try to make your posture mirror that of the students. It is helpful to have your shoulders squared with the student's and on about the same level so you are face-to-face. It is also helpful to have a slightly forward lean toward the student.
Eye Contact: Eye contact with students shows that you are interested in what they have to say.
Facial Expression: What is shown on your face should match what is on the child's. Smiling when the child is obviously sad would be an example of an incongruent facial expression.
Distance: Distance from the child shouldn't be too close or too distant; about 3 to 4 feet is the average. Standing too close can make the student uncomfortable, while standing too far away can indicate that you are disinterested in what the students is saying.
Distracting Behaviors: Distracting behaviors, such as playing with your hands, staring out the window, or doing something else while listening should be eliminated when talking to students or staff members.
Voice Quality: Your tone should match the child's. It would be inappropriate to be loud if the child is in a quiet mood.]

Read a few more helpful hints here.

Initiating and Directing Student Responses

As educators, we ask questions of students on a daily basis. As with any form of communication, the way the question is phrased will affect the quality and type of answer we will receive. The purpose of asking questions to gain information from others. These are called information seeking questions. Other questions may provide information and direct the student to answer in a certain way, or they may clarify or confirm information.

Most of the questions asked of students are direct questions and a specific answer is required. For example, “Can you tell me the answer to #1.”? This form of question is interrogative and is usually a closed answer question where the student is looking for a specific answer. Questions that are open ended questions and indicate to the student to express his or her thoughts or opinions. For example, “How did you come to that conclusion?”

By becoming a more effective questioner, you are providing opportunities for students to more openly respond and relay their thoughts. This promotes students to be more reflective and provides situations for them to actively become involved in their learning. By learning more about your style of questioning you will become more effective when asking questions.

Use these suggestions to practice effectively asking questions of students.

Pause effectively before and after asking a question: Pausing before you ask a question gives you time to phrase your question. Pausing after you ask your question allows the student to think about their response.
Monitor your questioning interactions: What types of questions do you ask? Do you ask closed questions when what you really wanted were for the student to elaborate on his or her answer? Ask the question in a format reflective of the information you are seeking.
Ask meaningful questions: Monitor how many questions you ask, and the types of questions. Could you make questioning more effective if you asked fewer questions, more questions, or different types of questions?
Check for Understanding: It is important that we monitor students' understanding. To check if a student understands what was communicated, ask the student to repeat directions, questions or summarize what was said.

Information in this lesson is used with permission from:

Project PARA (n.d.). Paraeducator Self Study Program. Retrieved on April 16, 2002, from Project PARA Web site: http://para.unl.edu/default.html