Teachable Moments

I love a good teachable moment!

"Ms LeRoy, how long until lunch?" they wonder.

"Well I am glad you asked!" Then I start in on a lesson on time. Don't I teach time to my kids? Well of course I do, but using a real question that the students are asking I am to meet the two main criteria for learning: sense and meaning. Two criteria that according to David A. Sousa are required for long term storage of information.

Meaning
Students need a reason to learn, actually we all do. We call that reason, meaning. To remember the information, it has to have meaning to the student.  Reasons can come from internally or externally. Internal reason include: wanting to do improve their skills, curiosity, or wanting a challenge. External reasons for wanting to learn include: pleasing teacher or parents, passing a test, or wanting to take the easy way out. Research tends to support that internal reasons are more effective, so take advantage of them.

Wanting to know how much longer it is until you eat is an internal reason to learn.Check!

Sense:
It also has to make sense to the student. If it does not make sense, if they can not understand the information then they are not going to remember it.

Being able to look at the clock and experience the passage of time help kids to make sense of the information. Check!

I look for teachable moments whenever I can. It might be to review a concept we have learned or will be an activity I can refer back to when it is time for a lesson on that concept.