The Nueva School's Innovative Learning Conference

To quote Erik Palmer, “Tragically, most students don’t speak well. You’ve noticed.”

One important element of a student’s educational growth and development is the ability to effectively communicate thoughts, not only on paper, but also through oral communication. Helping students find their voices in the classroom, and using those voices to “speak up and be heard,” has been an important part of our humanities curriculum at Nueva. Although Susan Cain, author of Quiet, suggests that one-third of us are introverts, that does not preclude that fraction from becoming accomplished public speakers. This presentation will illustrate some tools and techniques we employ as we work with students to help them become more effective communicators, both in and out of the classroom.