Tuesday Tips: Embracing Teachable Moments

Teachable moments are a regular occurrence in nearly every encounter we have with kids. You may walk into the classroom intending to follow your daily curriculum focused on the seven continents, when a child asks a question pertaining to an earthquake in Haiti they heard about the evening before.

At this moment, you have a choice. You can stick with the curriculum, and steer the conversation back to the lesson you had planned…

or…you can roll with it.

Give the kids some time to research the natural disaster. Allow them to talk to their families and friends at home as well as do some individual research on the earthquake and how other communities in the world have overcome massive natural destruction. The next day come back to the discussion and allow them to share their findings with one another. Plan an activity that gives the kids in small groups a chance to come up with a “plan of action” on what the people of Haiti could do to start rebuilding their infrastructure and compare their ideas with how other communities have rebuilt. This gives an opportunity for critical thinking about real life issues and a chance to hear others’ ideas that they can build on. It provides growth in essential thinking skills for their future school and work endeavors.

So…

embrace the question, and allow for follow up. Recognize the value in what the child is asking about. Kids hear lots of little bits about what goes on in the world, and they are often deterred from asking questions about it. They get stuck in the routine of following the discussion that the adult has planned, without being allowed to address their curiosity. That is exactly why we must be aware of these teachable moments when they occur. During the times when a unique topic or question arises that lends to a discussion about what currently interests the group, grab it! While I am not suggesting that lesson plans should be abandoned to allow for free discussion at all times, I am suggesting that the value a student gets out of discussing something that sparks their curiosity may, at times, outweigh the lesson plan. If we don’t allow for flexibility once in awhile, we are teaching kids not to question things, to ignore their innate curiosity, and to be rigid with their plans. These things contradict the reasons most of us work with youth. So I encourage you to look for these teachable moments. They often don’t require huge changes in plans, and encourage having an open mind. These opportunities can be precious and fleeting. Being aware of when they occur can create great discussions full of growth and learning.