Introduction

Everyone makes mistakes, including adults like parents and teachers. It’s important for students to learn how to correct someone without being disrespectful or hurting their feelings. This blog post focuses on teaching middle school students the importance of indirect communication skills when addressing mistakes made by others. By learning these skills, students can maintain a positive and respectful learning environment.

No-Prep Activity

Here’s a simple activity that requires no preparation or materials from the educator. The activity aims to help students practice indirect communication skills when correcting someone’s mistake.

1. Divide the students into small groups of 3-4 participants.
2. Ask one student in each group to play the role of a teacher who has made a mistake (e.g., giving incorrect information or announcing the wrong date for an event).
3. Have another student in the group take on the role of a student who notices the mistake. This student should first demonstrate a direct and potentially disrespectful way of pointing out the mistake.
4. Next, the same student should demonstrate an indirect and respectful way of addressing the mistake.
5. Allow the other group members to give feedback on both approaches and discuss the differences in how they made them feel.
6. Rotate the roles within the group so that each student has an opportunity to practice both direct and indirect communication styles.

Discussion Questions

After completing the activity, use the following questions to stimulate further discussions among your students:

• Why is it important to consider how we correct someone’s mistake, especially when it involves an authority figure like a teacher or parent?
• How did you feel when you were corrected in a direct and potentially disrespectful way? How did it affect your willingness to listen and learn from the feedback?
• How did you feel when you were corrected in an indirect and respectful way? How did it affect your willingness to listen and learn from the feedback?
• Can you think of a real-life situation where you had to correct someone’s mistake? How did you handle it, and what could you have done differently?

Related Skills

Teaching students the importance of indirect communication skills when addressing mistakes is just one aspect of fostering social-emotional learning. Other relevant skills for students to develop include:

• Active listening: Encourage students to practice listening carefully to others and ask clarifying questions before jumping to conclusions or correcting mistakes.
• Empathy: Help students understand and share the feelings of others, enabling them to communicate more effectively and respectfully when addressing mistakes.
• Assertiveness: Teach students how to express their thoughts and feelings respectfully and confidently without being aggressive or confrontational.
• Conflict resolution: Equip students with strategies for resolving conflicts and disagreements in a respectful and constructive manner.

Next Steps

Developing indirect communication skills and fostering a respectful learning environment are essential aspects of social-emotional learning. To access free sample materials related to these skills and others, sign up at Everyday Speech. These resources can help you create engaging and effective lessons for your middle school students, enabling them to grow both academically and personally.