By Israel Galindo, Associate Dean for Lifelong Learning

Research tells us that between 75% to 80% of the communication flow in most classrooms is from the teacher to the students. While sharing information and directing instruction is a necessary part of the classroom learning experience, so is a teacher’s ability to listen to students. Listening to your learners means more than just hearing the words they use, or hearing to catch right answers and identify misunderstandings. Being a positive listeners takes skill, and, like every helpful teaching skill, requires practice. Test yourself to determine if you are a positive listener: