Teachable Moments

[MsCoffeeLover]

Another thread inspired this one as well.

What do you consider a "teachable moment?" In my little happy bubble, it tends to be a positive thing, but how do you view the "teachable moment?" I see them as the most amazing thing as though I have my entire audience captured or something came out of the lesson that you didn't expect. It is like the nice added bonuses of any lesson. Teachable moments are nothing but wonderful in my eyes, but there may be other moments that are just as "teachable" but may not be as positive.

What are some of your favorite "teachable moments?" I would totally love to hear them.

Example 1: The WWI video we just watched. It really opened the doors for discussions I didn't even know I could have with my kids. We were actually talking about racisms and prejudice and people that took chances and how far things have come in history. Seeing my kids really thinking and wondering and asking and remembering their manners in the form of a true discussion was amazing to me.

Example 2: We just finished an Industrial Revolution essay. Students had to write an opinion paper on whether they saw the Industrial Revolution as an overall advantage or a disadvantage and have some heavy duty support. We did the tchart and had more examples for both sides than a teacher could ever hope for. Then watching the kids really think is what amazed me. They were like, "What if you think it is both?" They were genuinely stumped. It was a series of essays I couldn't wait to read. I couldn't quit smiling at them. Even though I have no kids of my own, it felt as though all 25 of those kids were mine, and I was so proud. I wanted to send notes home to every last parent.

Example 3: We just covered Infectious diseases in Science. I have the power points and all kinds of gross things. One section was STDs. We can't teach sex ed as that is reserved for the health teacher, but we can teach the disease component. The first day just about every kid was ready to go home and take a shower. At lunch, kids were washing their hands as though they were scrubbing for surgery. The next day, they said the were going to go home and tell their parents they are never going to have sex. My job was done, and I didn't show a single picture of genitalia. Instead, my kids got to see how far a sneeze can actually travel when you don't cover your mouth or they saw sores from secondary and tertiary syphillis or a baby born with herpes. Several of them went home and got permission to do the Listerine challenge. One student had her mom time it, and made it up to 59 seconds. Another couldn't do it without crying. She barely made it thirty seconds.

The things kids to and say when they are really thinking and engaged. Those are the best teachable moments ever.

I would love to hear some of your favorite teachable moments.

[busbus]

After returning to school from our Christmas/Winter Break, early in my career, I explained to my students that that particular year was a Leap Year. We'll, hands went up! "What is Leap Year?" "Why do we have Leap Year." I tried to give a simple answer using, "Thirty days has September, April, June and November...." This was not satisfactory, so I had to explain that in actuality, there are 365 1/4 days in every year. Of course the students wanted to know about the 1/4 day. So I had to simplify it by telling them that we hold on to the 1/4 day every year until we have enough to make a whole day and that whole day is added every four years thus making our Leap Year. For this reason, "...all the rest have 31, except February which has 28 and in Leap Year 29."

I wasn't ready for this; but, I felt the need to answer my students' questions. I was teaching a class of learning support, special education students at the time. I had to go from the concrete to the abstract in explaining this phenomena. First I was sorry that I had mentioned that it was a Leap Year. However, after working it out with the students, I was glad. We did a lot of geography and a ton of math. I must say, it was a great impromptu lesson. My students were so proud of knowing how we had Leap Year that they told anyone and everyone who would listen.

That was a great teachable moment even though it took half of my morning to do. :)

[Coach]

I had a teachable moment yesterday. I teach 11th and 12th graders in a Washington DC suburb. The school has students who represent almost 100 native languages. I didn't know there were that many. I teach health science, medical terminology and anatomy. I was wrapping up the chapter on nutrition and briefly introduced the next topic. Cultural diversity.

I didn't think it would be a big deal since these kids have grown up with people that are different from them most of their lives. I figured on breezing through the chapter. I started off by saying look around, there are many different races and nationalities, there are schools where I grew up in Alabama with students of all one race (white) and schools in southeast DC with students of all one race (black), etc.

I got these comments: 1. When I moved here from Chicago, I ain't never seen no Spanish people before. 2. We won't be able to talk about that here. 3. I'd rather not deal with "other" people.

The teachable moment? Remember I thought that the topic would be no big deal and maybe not have to spend much time on it?

I said, "Now you see why we need to cover this."

Thankfully the bell rang and due to block scheduling I won't see them again until next week.

[Boxcar]

I think a teachable moment is any oppertunity to further a student's development.

It doesn't have to be the whole class, and it doens't have to be postive.

A student's misbehavior isn't postive. However, we can use these times as teachable moments. We can demonstrate a self-control technique or teach about empathy. We can begin a discussion about personal rights or obligations. We can gain a window of understanding by talking with the student.

Especially at the preschool level, the school day is full of teachable moments. A lot of the lessons are taught informally. A teacher must be ready to see the child's readiness to grasp a new and use that oppertunity.

One of the best traits a teacher can practice having is the abiltiy to say to the students ''I don't know the answer. Lets go look it up together.''