Triple A Listening is a technique that you can teach your students, as well as a technique to apply to your teaching and your own learning experiences.
Maintain a Constructive Attitude
A positive attitude paves the way for open mindedness, which applies to the teacher’s attitude and the students’ attitudes. Students are affected by a teacher’s overall attitude during the day and his or her attitude toward a particular subject. Try to maintain a positive attitude—even if you do not like the subject being presented.
Strive to Pay Attention
Attentive listening means the ideas and information being presented is being processed. Your students cannot attain concentration by concentrating on the act of concentration. Using different strategies and teaching methods helps keep the students tuned in to lessons. Incorporating differentiated instruction strategies is an excellent way to increase the likelihood of your students’ attention and authentic learning.
Cultivate a Capacity for Adjustment
This can apply to both the content of the lesson and the attitudes or views that may arise during the lesson. Many teachers provide a list of lesson goals and objectives to the students prior to teaching the lesson. However, sometimes lessons take unexpected turns and different information may be covered, just like life takes unexpected turns sometimes. Teachers should teach their students the skill of adjusting their listening in response to the flow of the lesson.
The other area that students may need to adjust is their feelings and views towards a subject. They may have preconceived notions that change when they learn more about a concept. For example, students may feel classic novels are boring, but suddenly find themselves interested in a particular title. They need to have the skills to adjust their views of classic novels.
The above information was adapted from Walter Park's How to Study in College, Fifth Ed.