Listening and Critical Thinking
October is National Popcorn Month
Being a great leader doesn’t just mean being able to speak in front of the
whole school without getting nervous. Being a great leader means being able
to listen as well! One of the ways listening can serve you is by enhancing
your skills as a critical thinker.
We can identify four kings of listening:
Appreciative Listening – listening for pleasure or enjoyment, as when we
listen to music, to a comedy routine, or to an entertaining speech.
Empathetic Listening – listening to provide emotional support for the speaker, as when a psychiatrist to a patient or when we lend a sympathetic ear to a friend in distress.
Comprehensive Listening – listening to understand the message of a speaker, as when we attend a classroom lecture or listen to directions for finding a friend’s house.
Critical Listening – listening to evaluate a message for purposes of accepting or rejecting it, as when we listen to the sales pitch of a used-car dealer, the campaign speech of a political candidate, or the closing argument of an attorney in a jury trial.
The last two types of listening – comprehensive listening and critical listening – are the kinds of listening that we use most often. When we listen to speeches in class, when taking notes in other courses, when communicating at home or on the playground, and when responding to the commercials on TV or other persuasive communication we face every day. They are also the kinds of listening that are most closely tied to critical thinking.
Critical
thinking involves a number of skills. Some of those skills – summarizing
information, recalling facts, distinguishing main points from minor points –
are central to comprehensive listening. Other skills of critical thinking –
separating fact from opinion, spotting weaknesses in reasoning, judging the
soundness of evidence – are especially important in critical listening.
Whether you are using Comprehensive Listening or Critical Listening you must
your mind as well as your ears. When your mind is not involved, you may be
hearing, but you are not listening.
From – Public
Speaking by Stephen Lucas
October Quote
There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots
may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on
the feelings, as now in October.
- Nathaniel Hawthorne
If you have a quote, inspirational
story, or activity idea you would like to share with us, please email us at:
TACSC@TACSC.org
Can you think of a better way to commemorate National Popcorn Month than having a Student Council Movie Night or even an all school movie night? While you indulge in your salty buttery treat, consider choosing a moativaitonal movie to strike up disccion. Did you know tha teach eyar at TACSc’s Summer Conference Leadership Conference we show a leaderhswip inspirited film? Here are just a few titles of past summers (just as an aside, TACSC will celebrate its 22nd anniversary next year… and in all those summers TACSC’s Executive Director, Marilyn Thickett has never repeated a single film… just proves that there are still great films being produced with good messages and positive plots!)
Tucker: The Man and His Dream
Glory
Dead Poet’s Society
Lean on Me
Rudy
Oh God, Book II
Cool Runnings
Iron Will
With Honors
The Air Up There
Simon Birch
Remember the Titans
The MightyCheckout this website for great ideas on popcorn and the history of popcorn!
Here are some books to go along with the theme!
The Popcorn Book
Popcorn
The Popcorn Dragon
Popcorn Thematic Unit
Sing a Song of Popcorn
Popped Culture: A Social History of Popcorn in America
Popcorn Plants (Early Bird Nature Books)
For Popcorn Lovers Only
There’s a Troll in My Popcorn
Pop: A Popcorn PartyOther October Holidays
Aids Awareness Month
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Family History Month
Dinosaur Month
National Cookie Month
National Pasta Month
Oktoberfest
National Telepathy Day
World Smile Day
National Bring Your Teddy Bear to Work Day
Native American Day
Columbus Day
National Grouch Day
Say hey Day
Make A Difference Day
