Evaluate the functional meaning of what the staff member or student has said in the classroom. The functional meaning is the meaning at the most basic level. This might be as simple as someone asking you to hand them a piece of paper, or it might be an abstract statement such as "I'm angry." Look at the functional first, so you have a baseline concept of what the student or staff member is saying.
Focus on the modal, or the likelihood of what the student or staff member has said. This allows you to evaluate the truthfulness of the statement, as well as its relation to other statements. If the statement the student or staff member has made is obviously untrue (something that you can prove otherwise or that you know otherwise) you can take this into account and act accordingly. If your evaluation shows that the statement is likely or true, you can approach it with belief instead of disbelief.
Analyze the conceptual meaning behind the statement. A concept is a bigger picture. The statement "I'm hungry" seems simple at the functional or baseline level, but on a conceptual level it can mean anything from "I was rushed this morning and didn't have time to eat" to "My family is too poor to buy breakfast for me." The conceptual meaning is not always obvious to you as a listener in a classroom. However, you should analyze all of the possible concepts for a statement while you listen to it, so that you can apply the most likely meaning to the concept, based on what you know. A conceptual meaning is often subjective. Teachers are more likely to understand a conceptual meaning if they know a student well, or have an inside knowledge of the situation. Whenever you listen for the meaning, however, keep in mind a list of all of the possible conceptual meanings so your understanding of what was just said is more complete.