Teaching Moments (Teaching Around Extraordinary Events)

Hello everyone,

Much of what we do in education revolves around setting up artificial constructs that allow our students to learn things in some order (i.e., thematic, sequential, chronological) and make applications/connections to their lives.

Occasionally things happen in the outside world that interrupt the order but provide for excellent teaching opportunities. Those are called "teaching moments," and they must be taken when they come because they can't be duplicated. Further, they usually can't be avoided; they have a way of imposing themselves on the students' consciousness in an inescapable fashion.

The political situation surrounding today's planned student walk-outs is such an opportunity. The bizarre weather of a few days ago was as well. The War in Iraq; the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001; the two shuttle disasters; the Columbine shootings; the 1992 riots; the Simpson trial. All of these events thrust themselves into the classroom forcibly, and can be turned into extraordinary teaching opportunities, or can be squandered or (worse) allowed to fester.

Let me give a few suggestions on how to handle things.

1. Be willing to throw out your regular lesson plan for all or part of the period. More immediately after the event

it will be more important to do so. (If first period needs to talk about it; 6th period may be sick of it). Be willing to keep or adapt your lesson to the event. Be flexible.

2. Allow students to talk. Teach them to talk appropriately about things. Teach them to control their emotions in discourse. Teach them to disagree respectfully. Teach them to debate.

3. If the event was particularly emotional, you may have to ignore the advice in #2, and let them cry about it. This is important, for example, if someone close to them dies in a public way--a teacher, a student, a TA, or the president.

4. If you are qualified, teach them to understand the situation. If you are not qualified, you might teach them a skill related to their reaction: how to find out accurate information, how to evaluate information, how to communicate their feelings.

5. If they're sick of it, don't press it. You'll be tempted to keep the magic of the moment going as long as possible. Let their interest dictate for the first day. By the second day (if it's not an ongoing situation), transition back to normalcy.

6. Sometimes, they will want to extend things; be careful of the tactic of getting you to cancel work so they can beat a dead horse. The first day might be fine; if they need to talk about it more than one day (and it is not ongoing), you might say, "I'm willing to keep talking about it; let's just make sure you know what your homework is; everything we don't accomplish in class will have to be homework." You'll get a true test of their need to talk about something by their willingness to accept the homework.

7. Be very careful not to advocate anything illegal. (Don't encourage them to walk out, for example. Don't urge rebellion or riot. You'll lose your job.)

Above all, take the moment when it presents itself. Some of the best teaching you'll ever do will happen when you have a situation that truly allows you to teach.

Jeff Combe