For the next 2 weeks, as a school, we will be looking at the concept of Active Listening, still under the umbrella of Manaakitanga. Listening is one of the most important skills we can develop. How well we listen has a major impact on our learning, as well as the quality of our relationships with others. Research suggests that we only remember between 25 percent and 50 percent of what we hear. That means that when we talk to our students, colleagues, customers, or spouse, for 10 minutes, they pay attention to less than half of the conversation! The way to improve our listening skills is to practice "active listening." This is where we make a conscious effort to hear not only the words that another person is saying but, more importantly, the complete message being communicated, by using our whole body. In order to do this we cannot allow ourselves to become distracted by whatever else may be going on around us, or by forming counter arguments while the other person is still speaking. Nor can we allow ourselves to get bored, and loose focus on what the other person is saying. We will be teaching our children to look at the person talking, to think carefully about what the person has said, to hear the key words or message, to share their ideas once that person has finished talking, to show empathy to the person talking (maybe by nodding, or smiling), to stand or sit quietly while listening, and to face the speaker.