Over the last three sessions, the District Leadership Fellows have been developing their Active Listening skills. The cohort first learned the basis of Active Listening which is OARS: Open-ended Questions, Affirmation, Reflective Listening, and Summarizing. The Fellows then applied this skill by interviewing each other in breakout rooms.
In the following two sessions, the Fellows applied these skills within Mursion. Mursion is a mixed-reality teaching simulation environment often used to support teachers in practicing classroom management, pedagogy, and content. The simulation environment allowed Fellows to apply their Active Listening skills to “real-world” situations without putting “real” people at risk.
Six District Leadership Fellows participated in the Mursion Active Listening session over the two meetings. After completing each simulation, the Fellows discussed what the Fellow did well and what they could have done better.
In the next session, the Fellows will present their Mid-Year update on their district projects. In January, the cohort will convene at SMU to further discuss the direction of their district projects.
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