The Power of the Socratic Classroom

Listening with Your Eyes

"Listening with Your Eyes" is a game-changer, more so than I even thought when I wrote this book. As research indicates, upwards of 70% of our sensory processing is through our eyes. The implications in the classroom are pretty clear: what you are looking at is what you pay attention to. So using your eyes to track the speaker is not just polite, it's actually helping you process what is going on. Obviously, some students can do this more easily than others. Part of the trick is to help students with self-management. The message might be: Force yourself to look at the speaker as a practice. Do it anyway. An additional approach is to help students develop curiosity and wonder. Help them get interested in what their peers have to say, what ideas they can collect during a seminar, what other ideas they can develop by effective listening. I often say to my students that you can come into class with one idea and leave with 20 or 25 or 30 ideas if you listen carefully. We all benefit from such an outcome.