{"id":2060,"date":"2020-12-19T21:00:30","date_gmt":"2020-12-19T21:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=2060"},"modified":"2020-12-19T21:05:16","modified_gmt":"2020-12-19T21:05:16","slug":"ftv-communication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=2060","title":{"rendered":"FTV: Communication"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0 following snippet of information was printed in the \u201cCHEERS and JEERS\u201d section of the AARP Bulletin back in March of 2016 and was recently unearthed from my pile of clippings:\u00a0 \u201cCHEERS . . . to the new SAT test that will focus less on obscure vocabulary.\u201d\u00a0 The press release said:\u00a0 \u201cThe abstruse vocabulary words of the SAT have engendered prodigious vexation in millions . . . .\u00a0 The new SAT will be more trenchant and pellucid, and the format will no longer pertinaciously reward students who punctiliously engage in the antediluvian praxis of committing idiosyncratic words to memory.\u201d\u00a0 While the above passage smacks more than a little of something written with tongue firmly planted in cheek, it underscores (for me) that the words we use can be a big impediment to communication.\u00a0 How many times have you found yourself on one end of a conversation feeling like a cartoon character with a thought balloon containing a large question mark dangling over your head?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If you were there and remember the 1960s, you probably came across one of those posters that encouraged one to \u201cTHIMK!\u201d (and no, this is not a typo on my part).\u00a0 It was a message with multiple meanings from \u2018proofreading is essential\u2019 to \u2018did I read that right?\u2019 while leaving each person free to find their own interpretation.\u00a0 The \u2018THIMK!\u2019 poster always inspired me to come up with different ways to make my students analyse their world:\u00a0 look for the obvious clues and find the simplest solutions to complicated problems.\u00a0 In my world, \u201cKeep It Simple, Stupid\u201d (or KISS) was never meant to be an insult.\u00a0 When they tried to make it a kinder, less harsh sounding reminder by dropping the last \u2018S\u2019 (so no one would feel bad), the phrase lost all of its punch.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Former colleague Mark Bobula taught me that even \u2018yes\u2019 and \u2018no\u2019 answers can give one pause to think.\u00a0 At some point, I adopted Mark\u2019s habit of answering a \u2018no\u2019 question while nodding my head in an up and down (the classic \u2018yes\u2019 motion) while saying \u2018no\u2019.\u00a0 The ears heard \u2018no\u2019 while the eyes were seeing \u2018yes\u2019.\u00a0 The idea was to get the student asking the question to go back and determine if a) they had asked the right question or b) had the \u2018askee\u2019 not understood what was being asked.\u00a0 It was a tool employed to slow them down and loop back to the beginning of the problem solving process.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think I ever thanked Mark for this great teaching tool.\u00a0 I know it drove a lot of my students nuts, but it was a very effective way to get them to think.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As undergraduate college students taking the required \u201cFundamentals of Teaching\u201d class, we were offered many tips.\u00a0 Of course, a lot of them were forgotten when we ventured out to our first teaching jobs, only to resurface as we learned the art of communicating with our students.\u00a0 One of the biggies was, \u201cDon\u2019t make your points by raising your voice.\u00a0 If you start loud, you will need a megaphone to be heard by the end of the first semester.\u201d\u00a0 Boy, did I miss this one by a mile.\u00a0 Having always been blessed (or cursed) with a loud voice, this newly minted teacher simply solved the problem of student inattention by raising my voice.\u00a0 My first year in the classroom, I had five large classes of seventh grade students and a mixed grade study hall of over one hundred.\u00a0 By Christmas break, this habit of raising my voice had me going home hoarse many days.\u00a0 I returned after the holidays vowing to find a different way to conduct business.\u00a0 I still raised my voice too much, but I also began to see the easiest way to get a rowdy class to pay attention was to stop talking altogether.\u00a0 Once they realized we were at dead stop and settled down, I would dial it back to the point where they would have to ask me to speak up.\u00a0 Simply crossing my arms and waiting became the signal that they had crossed the line.\u00a0 When a few of the students would tell those around him to shush up, I knew I was on to something.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It took some time before I realized the acoustics in the old high school turned junior high didn\u2019t help matters. The high ceilings did funny things to sound.\u00a0 A room full of students talking sounded like a tornado or a hive of angry bees, yet when it was just me talking at the front of the room, my voice wouldn\u2019t carry to the far corners unless I amped it up a bit.\u00a0 By the end of that first year, the number one note to myself for the next year was \u2018do not raise your voice until the second semester\u2019.\u00a0 When we finally moved the JH classes into the \u2018new\u2019 school building on Parker Avenue, it took me a couple of years to adjust.\u00a0 The lower suspended tile ceilings gave those classrooms entirely different acoustics.\u00a0 The new surroundings hit home when a student actually asked, \u201cWhy do you talk so loud?\u201d\u00a0 I was never afraid to use my big voice when needed, but I eventually learned that louder doesn\u2019t necessarily make for better communication, especially in a room with good acoustics.\u00a0 \u2018Loud\u2019 became a \u2018when needed\u2019 tool in my bag of teaching tricks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The late Helen Toivonen taught me one of the most effective ways to communicate with students.\u00a0 Being pretty much the same from Helen\u2019s area in the vocational business classes to mine in the science areas, some students would always complain that they were being given too much work.\u00a0 Helen\u2019s tactic was to, as she would say, \u201cGive them what they want:\u00a0 \u2018Oh, you don\u2019t want to do the assignment today?\u00a0 Okay, never mind!\u2019\u201d\u00a0 As strange as it sounded the first time she told me this, I decided to give it a try.\u00a0 Before I knew it, the kids were begging me to give them their work when I told them,\u00a0 \u201cOh no, you guys are just overworked.\u00a0 You probably don\u2019t need to do any more work to pass.\u201d\u00a0 Soon, they were pleading for their assignments, some even demanding that I give them the day\u2019s work.\u00a0 Even after Helen retired, she would smile ear to ear when I shared my latest tale of getting my students to work harder by refusing to give them assignments when they complained about having to do so much.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Another \u2018less is more\u2019 lesson in communication came when I realized that some students would often ask questions so they could simply write down the answer without thinking about it too much.\u00a0 Having spent too much time being the \u2018answer man\u2019, I finally learned how to answer a question with a question.\u00a0 The one frequent complaint I got from parents at conference time was, \u201cMy kid says that you won\u2019t answer their questions!\u201d\u00a0 Initially they were surprised when I replied, \u201cYou are absolutely right!\u00a0 I do not answer all of their questions.\u201d\u00a0 Once the reason was explained (not answering questions they posed to get a shortcut around finding answers or solving problems), parents were usually fine with what was going on.\u00a0 Showing students how smart you think you are is not the key to providing them with the skills they will need to get by in life.\u00a0 Being a source for \u2018instant knowledge\u2019 is not a substitute for learning how to dig for information.\u00a0 This is why the current state of technology scares me more than a little:\u00a0 \u2018Googling\u2019 has begun to elbow out \u2018thinking\u2019 and even if it can be a great tool, it makes for lazy learners.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I am not a technophobe or a luddite.\u00a0 Keeping up with changes in educational technology has always been part of the job.\u00a0 I began my career adding grades up long hand before moving to a hand held calculator and eventually a computer based grade handling system.\u00a0 When computer labs were installed for student use, I always found ways to incorporate this new tech into my lessons.\u00a0 Before the labs were built, we only had one or two computers in our classrooms so one had to find ways to rotate students through a few stations one or two at a time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When Wikipedia was first unveiled, it was prone to spreading misinformation.\u00a0 As an \u2018open source\u2019, entries were often edited by people who didn\u2019t do a great job checking their facts.\u00a0 I steered my students away from that source but over time, the fact checking improved.\u00a0 Up to my retirement in 2018, items students found on Wikipedia (and other sources) were still often wrong.\u00a0 I spent a lot of time teaching students how to verify facts and claims during my teaching years.\u00a0 When my later students already had the skills to use the technology at their disposal, the lessons became more about how to identify good sources and spot fraudulent material.\u00a0 It is so easy to access information today that we find ourselves overloaded by more data than we can actually absorb.\u00a0 Anyone who uses modern communication technology with students must spend time teaching them how to filter the good from the bad and the ugly (not to mention the ridiculous).\u00a0 If one believes everything they hear or see on a digital platform without a critical eye toward being scammed, then we are all in serious trouble.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Here is a timey example.\u00a0 As I was putting together the last paragraph, my phone rang and I got what was obviously a pre-recorded message:\u00a0 \u201cHi.\u00a0 This is Jacob.\u00a0 I forgot to mention one of the benefits that you are due in our last phone call.\u00a0 Please press 1 and we can discuss this valuable benefit that you will be missing out on.\u201d\u00a0 Okay.\u00a0 I have never had a discussion with anyone by the name of Jacob about anything dealing with benefits for any program.\u00a0 The bait here is \u2018the valuable benefit\u2019 that I am missing out on.\u00a0 The scam alert sirens went off immediately when he didn\u2019t identify what the benefit was or what company I supposedly had an earlier discussion with.\u00a0 They think I am old and confused enough to assume that I am indeed missing out on something of value if I don\u2019t press 1 right now!\u00a0 These people disgust me to no end.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Communicating via misrepresentation and fabrication of the truth is vile.\u00a0 Targeting older folks who may not be so tech savvy is even worse.\u00a0 My father, the former detective, was well into his eighties when he got a call from my sister\u2019s \u2018daughter\u2019.\u00a0 It was the typical, \u201cGrandpa, we are on vacation in Florida and got a speeding ticket.\u00a0 We need $XXX to get our car out of impoundment and I am so scared.\u201d\u00a0 Luckily my brother was handling the folk\u2019s money affairs at the time because he saw through the scam instantly when dad called asking him for a money transfer to help out his stranded granddaughter.\u00a0 When dad couldn\u2019t quite believe that someone would try to pull this kind of scam, brother Ron said, \u201cCall Jessie and see if she is home.\u201d\u00a0 A simple solution.\u00a0 Once he confirmed that it was a scam, my dad was alternately embarrassed and outraged that someone would target older folks.\u00a0 We assured him that these scams target anyone who scammers feel are vulnerable.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t the first and would surely not be the last person targeted by scammers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Again, I am not anti technology.\u00a0 I choose to not have a magic box in my home to do simple tasks for me just as I choose to not subscribe to Facebook, Twitter, or the like.\u00a0 If preferring to get my information from printed sources is old school, then I am old school.\u00a0 Do I use the internet and a cell phone for research and communication?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Do I feel welded to it?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 My new phone is \u2018smarter\u2019 than the first computers I ever owned, but there are days that I don\u2019t bother to turn it on.<\/span><\/p>\n

Certainly I pay for not checking my email on a daily basis, especially when I am catching up with the stuff happening at WOAS-FM.\u00a0 As a retired volunteer who goes in periodically to keep things moving along, I find that my email will have somewhere between 100 and 200 messages waiting for me every two days.\u00a0 When I apply my own brand of filtering (\u201cthese need attention, these go straight to the trash\u201d), it usually leaves me with 20 to 25 items that need to be dealt with.\u00a0 Do I break out in hives if I miss a message from two days ago?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 When my phone jangles as I am driving, do I feel the need to pick it up so I won\u2019t miss something?\u00a0 Absolutely not!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There is danger in being part of this \u2018need to know immediately\u2019 age.\u00a0 Being distracted from an important task like \u2018driving on public highways\u2019 by this insane idea that communication devices need immediate attention can have deadly consequences.\u00a0 WOAS-FM has collected $6,000 in grants from Michigan\u2019s \u2018Strive 4 a Safer Drive\u2019 program over the past six years.\u00a0 The local Public Service Campaign our student volunteers conduct is called \u2018Don\u2019t be Distracted\u2019 and takes dead aim at those who insist on driving with their phone in hand.\u00a0 The fact that we have already been granted a S4SD grant for the seventh consecutive year tells us our work isn\u2019t done.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Technology marches on, but in many ways, I kind of miss the days when we didn\u2019t even have an answering machine.\u00a0 I believe my dad had the right idea:\u00a0 when we built the first version of our camp on Huron Bay, it had no phone.\u00a0 Dad waited until after he retired to put a phone in and that was only because he didn\u2019t want to have us worry about them when they were there.\u00a0 It also made it easier to coordinate who was coming out to visit.\u00a0 He never did put in an answering machine there.\u00a0 I still have not embraced the idea that my brother has installed a dish antenna for TV and internet service at The Swamp.\u00a0 In all the years we spent vacationing there, we never worried about what we may have been missing\u00a0 back in the civilized world.\u00a0 I am firmly convinced that it would be good for the body, mind, and soul for everyone to take an \u2018unplug the phone and computer\u2019 vacation periodically.\u00a0 Try it and see if it lowers your blood pressure a couple of notches.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Top Piece Video:\u00a0 Led Zep offer their take on Communication . . .\u00a0 breakdown, that is!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0 following snippet of information was printed in the \u201cCHEERS and JEERS\u201d section of the AARP Bulletin back in March of 2016 and was recently unearthed from my pile of clippings:\u00a0 \u201cCHEERS . . . to the new SAT test that will focus less on obscure vocabulary.\u201d\u00a0 The press release said:\u00a0 \u201cThe abstruse vocabulary words […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,8,12,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-from-the-vaults","category-humor","category-woas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2060"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2063,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2060\/revisions\/2063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}