Activities Spelled Out: Active Listening
Throughout peer mediation training, students are not only learning skills to teach them the mediation process, but they are also learning everyday useful communication and listening tools. At the beginning of our training, we introduce a handful of active listening skills: non-verbal communication, open-ended and closed-ended questions, mirroring (reframing), and neutral language. Practicing these skills early in life are instrumental to becoming a strong communicator and peer mediator!
In our active listening activity, we’ve seen students break out of their shells with this role-play opportunity, and we hope it’ll also bring joyful learning to you as well!
Objective:
Students understand core characteristics of the active listening skills;
Students apply their understanding of the active listening skills using the provided scenarios.
Supplies Needed:
Active listening scenarios (feel free to use our scenarios or make up ones!)
Active listening reference sheet
Active listening station signs
1 Non-Verbal Communication sign
1 Open-Ended & Closed-Ended Questions sign
1 Mirroring (Reframing) sign
1 Neutral Language sign
Activity Directions:
Ask students to find a partner. If there is an odd number of students, ask students without a partner to join a pair. Assign the pairs/trios a number from 1-4. This number will indicate what active listening station they will start at (example. Non-Verbal Communication = 1, Open-Ended & Closed-Ended Questions = 2, etc…).
After each group is assigned a number/skill to start with. Explain that each student will get a chance to practice each active listening skill with their partner. Students will read the scenario posted at each station and decide which character they’d like to act out first. After about 2 and a half minutes, they will switch roles. Encourage students to use skills they learned from previous stations to build their knowledge. By the time students arrive at the final station, they should attempt to use all four skills as they roleplay the final scenario. Students will be at stations for five minutes until they’re asked to rotate to the next station. Students may use their active listening reference sheet while completing the activity.
Once students are clear on instructions, direct students to their starting stations. If there is enough staff capacity, assign a staff member to each station to help facilitate. There might be multiple groups at each station– make sure there are enough copies of the scenarios for each group to access.
After each pair/trio completes each station, students may return to their seats. This is a good time for students and staff to debrief their experience with the active listening activity.