"Repeat after me!"

It sounds simple but it is easy to forget.  In class a few weeks ago we were told to remember to get the students to repeat instructions back to you after you have given them.  I remembered people telling me this over the summer, but as with a lot of things that we were told this summer, I seemed to just forget.  Anyways, following class, I started to make sure that I asked the class to repeat back what I just said.  In recent days I have been doing more interactive activities (mainly to keep me sane...) and I have started to make sure that I have my class repeat my instructions.

So why is this so important?  Because it does not matter how fun I make an activity, my students never listen to my instructions the first time.  Is this really an issue found only in the Delta? No of course not! The average student, hell the average American does not hear what you have to say the first time you say it.  Thus by repeating the instructions back, I am ensuring that the students are listening and perhaps if you didn't hear it the first time, then maybe you will hear it the second time.  Trust me, there is nothing more annoying than giving directions 10 times.  But also, repeating instructions help you to see if the students are actually comprehending what you are saying.  Perhaps there is a step that you left out or that was not clear. Then you can correct it before you let everyone go and everyone has the same problem.

It sounds silly, but yes, remembering to ask the children to repeat back the instructions was one of the most helpful things I learned from class the other day.