Sorry guys I fell a bit off schedule yesterday and didn’t have time to post so I’m posting this one now and I’ll have a VLOG for my final post later so definitely stay tuned for that!
Today I will be talking about a key skill I gained during my four years at IUP and that is listening skills.
It’s funny that this is a skill I need to write about because we hear it all the time that we need to use these and it’s something we learn very early on but I can’t stress enough how important it is.
The problem you face with listening skills is making sure you pick up the key elements and making sure you don’t get distracted and miss important information. For example, I’ve had many assignments where my professor has said something different than in the rubric and I needed to use my listening skills to either catch the mistake, or ask her if she meant to change the directions. Always asking questions if something doesn’t sound right to you can help you so much in the long run!
Some obstacles you face are avoiding the distractions around you, not knowing entirely what a phrase or word means, and ensuring you catch all of the important information while essentially toning out the things that aren’t vital to the assignment or directions.
I know it can be hard to not talk to your friend or look at your phone when you should be listening carefully to something, but if you hear it right the first time you will avoid any confusion. Ways to overcome these obstacles include asking your peers or your instructor questions when you are confused about something. Getting clarification early on makes things easier than the night before you’re supposed to do an assignment and you’re unclear of the directions. To avoid the distractions around you, turn your phone off so you aren’t tempted to look at it and maybe isolate yourself from your friends so you don’t have anything to take your ears off the directions. Sometimes using your phone can be helpful if you’re either recording the directions or writing them down for a later date to reference when actually completing the assignment, but definitely if you’re texting during the directions, you will probably miss something and it will hurt your grade later on.
If the professor says something is important or mentions due dates or specific rules, it would be smart to highlight those things or write them down somewhere so you have all the important information in a safe space. It really isn’t hard to listen, you just need to be aware that sometimes directions are only given once and if you miss it then you risk missing points on your grade.
The solution to listening skills is easy: Write things down and ask questions! I can’t stress enough that no question is a bad question. This will help avoid all confusion and allow you to do your assignment better if you fully understand the instructions.
What are some things you do when directions are being given and you have no rubric in front of you? Do you write it down somewhere, do you just go off your memory later on? Comment below your techniques! That’s part of the cup o’ Joe for today, until later!
-Joe