Sharon has a Masters of Science in Mathematics
Effective teachers carefully plan instruction. They use school or district guidelines to make decisions about content to teach, and they key in to students for specific instructional strategies. This way, they are able to meet the needs of all students as the proper content is being covered each year. When lessons are planned with intention and attention to detail, teachers are prepared, and students receive quality instruction.
Sometimes, though, something unexpected can occur during a lesson that offers the teacher a chance to teach students unplanned, yet truly important and impactful, informtion. We call these teachable moments. You can't plan for them or figure out an easy way to make them happen. Rather, teachers need to be aware of when teachable moments happen, how to properly respond to them, and how to make the most of these magical moments.
Teachable moments can be brief explanations of content that weren't planned for, or they can be so engaging and important they lead to whole units. Teachable moments happen during a regular class time when a side interest seems to seize the attention of the majority of students. For example, during a lesson on types of clouds, a student asked a question about the changing climate. Sally, a seasoned and gifted teacher, answered the question, prompting more from other students. Sally noticed the students' genuine interest in this topic, and told them she would find a way to work the concept into their unit on weather.
Sally made the snap decision to take the teachable moment and fit it into her current lessons on climate. She knew it was a teachable moment because:
Sally knew this was a teachable moment because one off-topic question led to more. Though only a few students asked questions, most were interested, and all had some idea of what climate change was. They knew enough about the topic to ask questions, but not enough to fully grasp the concept. Sally knows she's experiencing a teachable moment when students are hungry for more information on a topic. Their natural curiosity and interest in the topic helped her to see it as a topic she could help them understand.
In order to be able to recognize and act on teachable moments, a teacher needs to be flexible during instruction and planning. When teachers are flexible, they easily modify or adjust plans to meet the needs of students. When Sally noticed her students' interest in climate change, she may have been inflexible, shutting down the students' curiosity and sticking rigidly to her original plans. Doing this, however, does not allow students the opportunity to learn material they find engaging.
When teachers are flexible, they are responding to student need and interest. We saw Sally jump at the chance to add to her students' understanding of climate; she recognized the opportunity to build on their current energy and interest in the topic and adjusted her lesson to respond to their questions. After the class, we see her planning for future student learning that enhances their understanding. Because she was flexible and responsive, students' interest in and level of engagement is high.
Sally decided to take hold of the teachable moment and integrate it into her current plans. This is one way to act on teachable moments. She could have briefly answered questions, then returned to her planned lessons. She could also have side-barred her current lesson for the day, choosing instead to take the whole class time to explain and teach about climate change. She may have gotten on the Smart board and shown students the impact climate change has on the environment and researched possible solutions to the problem.
Since Sally's curriculum goals and objectives are flexible, she can push off her current plans for weather instruction and replace or rewrite them with the topic of climate change. For example, she may choose to capitalize on the student's enthusiasm for climate change by rewriting the next week of lessons, replacing the section on weather patterns with content she finds on climate change. Or she may rewrite the entire unit; instead of focusing on climate patterns, clouds, and weather patterns, she may make the main focus climate change, allowing students a chance to dive deeply into this content.
Though teachers plan detailed lessons, sometimes they are required to be flexible with their instruction. They may need to modify teaching plans in order to act on a teachable moment, or a time when an unplanned topic of interest arises. Teachers can recognize a teachable moment by looking for student interest, questions about the topic, and an eagerness to learn more.
When teachable moments occur, educators can choose to use a brief class time to explain and teach the new ideas, use a future class time to address the topic, or even rearrange or rewrite curriculum to go deeply into content. Acting on teachable moments is a way for teachers to respond to student need and interest.
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Using Danielson's Framework for Teaching in the Classroom13 chapters | 81 lessons
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