Setting Co-operative Behavioural Norms:
“The Power of Paraphrasing” by Alyce Miller

Paraphrasing is an important teaching tool. It:
· Ensures active listening
· Prepares students for translating written text into their own words
· Is a keystone to conflict resolution

Seize the start of the school year to set basic co-operative behaviours as classroom norms. Establish the expectation of active listening by having students “echo back” to a partner what they understood the teacher to have said or what their partner shared. Then have them check for accuracy. By doing paraphrasing regularly, your students learn to be individually accountable for listening actively and to be mutually accountable for what their partner understands.

Here are the Performance Indicators of active listening 

Here’s what you do:

When working in pairs or groups of 3 or 4:
After each person speaks briefly, the partner or person sitting next to the speaker “echoes back” what s/he heard and understood. After paraphrasing, the person should check for accuracy with the speaker by asking “Is that what you said?” If it’s accurate, the original speaker confirms. If not, s/he can clarify what s/he meant. When the message is understood, the next person can then speak, and the process is repeated before another person speaks. Paraphrasing demonstrates respect for the speaker and the listener. Sometimes the lack of clarity is a result of how the message is presented. Giving one another immediate feedback enables communication to improve.

When the teacher speaks:
Giving instructions:
As educators, we are sometimes surprised that our instructions don’t always get carried out. Here’s a way to help you out. Before you ask students to act on instructions, it is often beneficial to first have them check with their partners what they understood the instructions to be. Give the students 30 seconds or so to confer. Then ask the class if there are any questions. Allow the students to respond, rather than you. In this way, you can discover the confusion and rectify as needed.

Giving a lecture:
When presenting critical information, stop talking after every 10 minutes of speaking and allow for “down time” for students to write down in their own words what they heard, and then to share their understanding with the partner. It may shorten your lecture a bit, but it sure increases understanding and retention! Here’s why:

Why paraphrasing is good for all:

(1) Increases accuracy and memory
By giving your students these multiple opportunities for paraphrasing what they heard
.. you are enabling them to:
· Articulate what they understood
· Clarify their understanding
· Check for accuracy of comprehension
· Increase memory retention. By immediately using the new information your students
.. are forming stronger memory links in the brain which aids future recall

(2) Enhances learning:
You can help your students enhance their ability to listen to, understand and remember lecture material by stopping every 10 minutes to allow students to
· Re-read and clarify notes
· Explain notes to their partner.
The Co-operative Learning goal is to give an idea and get an idea to add to their lecture notes. By having your students clarify their notes while the information is still fresh in their minds, their learning potential is greatly increased. The brain needs “down time” to process information. It cannot listen and process at the same time. That’s why it’s important for you to stop talking for 2-3 minutes after every 10 minutes of lecturing.

(3) Prepares students for paraphrasing written texts
In addition, this oral practice can serve to prepare your students for paraphrasing what they read. Once they read a short bit, they can share orally with their partner what they understood, check for accuracy (and agreement) and then write it down. Upon completion, a double check with other pairs is a good idea.

(4) Improves interpersonal communication skills
The ability to listen well and echo back what another person says ensures accuracy of understanding and exposes erroneous assumptions. By demonstrating respect for the speaker, tempers cool and the conflict can become productive and constructive, often resulting in greater creativity and synergy.

(5) Develops conflict mediation skills
This capacity to accurately echo back what a disputant says is a keystone to conflict resolution. It enables the conflict mediator to facilitate disputants to find common ground and resolve their conflict.

Active listening as a habit:
When you consistently ask your students to echo back, check for accuracy and double check with other pairs, you are helping them establish active listening as a constructive habit of mind. It is a respectful co-operative behavioural norm for your classroom.