During listening it is very important to pay attention not even to the listening itself, but also to the preceding and following activities. I think that a discussion before the exercise, introducing the topic of the listening, is very important. 

 

I absolutely loved the group formation focused on listening - apart from other types of group formation we had, this one was extremely difficult when it came to attention. But that is a good thing, because it makes children focus from the very beginning. Also, the mini lesson focused on learning new idioms mainly via listening skills was great - I loved watching the stages of the whole learning practice. 

 

I am afraid that in course books I use are all the listening rather long and dull, very often about an ordinary topic that interest no one. Also, I find the exercises rather complicated to understand - I understand that B2 plus level needs some sort of challenge, but I also think that they can be challenged in other ways. 

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Activities:

One way to see a marked improvement in your students’ listening skills is to give them short, daily skills practice. Any daily practice should be fun, and practical. In this case, the skills should include encouraging kids to focus on oral instructions, visualizing the tasks given, and completing them accurately. Give them short instructions verbally for completing a task, or two or three tasks in succession (depending on their age/cognitive development), and have them practice listening and completing the tasks without repeating the instructions.

Source: https://proudtobeprimary.com/listening-activities/

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Example: BBC 6 Minute English - http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english

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Preparation: tell students the name of the episode and let them guess what the episode will be about.