I'm trying something different this semester with my Communication I students. We've often looked at our use of cell phones, but they often do not agree with the findings. They can get pretty protective about their phones and their use. So this semester, I'm trying a different angle. One of the forms of communication that we are losing due to phone usage is the ability to have conversations. I cannot even name the number of people I have had conversations with that are simply one sided. The other person loves answering questions about herself, yet she doesn't ask any back. So we are concentrating on conversation this semester while at the same time, using our phones less. Tricky, I know.
We are beginning with the folks in our room. It's a safe place and an easy way to practice conversations. This will grow to outside the classroom and finally into the dreaded lunch room. I'm going to be asking each student to sit by people they normally don't sit with at lunch. From there, they will have to have conversations. Once we accomplish that, we will take this skill outside of school. I would love to visit independent living areas and nursing homes.
I have never tried a semester long Flex, but I think this is the idea behind all of it. My hope has always been that my students will experience something and take it upon themselves to simply continue doing it. So we are trying that. My hope is that we can grow as communicators, but also grow as people when we get to know other people's stories.
I have plenty to work out to use more elements of TfT, but this is a start. Stay tuned.
