Teachable Moments in the Written, Taught and Tested Curriculum

On February 1, my son came home from school and I asked him the following question:

"So Evan," I said, "Did you talk about Egypt today in Humanities class (Geography)?" "No," said my son, "we haven't started North Africa yet."

When I tweeted about it that evening, I included the tag: #linearlearningfail.

Recently there have been several current events that have provided great opportunities for learning in the classroom. Unfortunately, those "teachable moments" occurred at times that may not have been ideal for teachers to use in their curriculum, or didn't meet a grade level subject area standard. Perhaps they had an assessment they had been planning, or their favorite lecture on the Gettysburg address, or even a unit on Ethiopia. It got me to thinking about what gets taught in school, when it gets taught, and whether or not current events can provide richer, relevant learning opportunities than what might get written down in content standards, taught to the class, and/or ultimately assessed. When events happen that are tied to the curriculum, should teachers take advantage of the opportunity to make the connections? Should they use these moments to illustrate concepts that students are expected to know, and provide relevance to their learning?

Egypt

Totaling 80 pages, the Minnesota Social Studies Standards, which were adopted controversially in 2004, are broken down into U.S. History, World History, Geography, Economics and Civics.

The standards for each subject is listed for K-3, 4-8 and 9-12 and it is up to individual districts to determine what specific grade level will meet that standard.

Students in grades 4-8 learn about government, but only in relation to United States government. They learn geography, as well as history. Did the recent events occurring in Cairo and other parts of Egypt provide teachers the opportunity to solidify connections to these lessons? I think so!

As I watched the amazing events transpire in Egypt, and viewed how social media was impacting those events, I wondered how many classrooms would take advantage of this opportunity to view first hand a relatively peaceful democratic movement.

I created this screencast to demonstrate how much information was coming out:

Here in "real-time" social media sites and on cable news channels, students could observe history in the making, and make connections to civil disobedience, our own Bill of Rights, non-violent protest, diplomacy, and geography, with a teacher their to guide them and weave the standards into the discussion. How many Social Studies teachers took advantage of that opportunity? How many Language Arts teachers, with communications standards in their curriculum took a moment to share the massive amount of powerful communication and collaboration being used by the protesters?

Wisconsin

Recently on Facebook, one of my friends was complaining about the teachers calling in sick to protest Governor Scott Walker's proposal to eliminate collective bargaining for teachers and other public employees. She pointed out that many parents rely on school for custodial care while they are at work. While I believe that the teachers are exercising their civic right of assembly in the wake of Governor Walker's refusal to negotiate attempt to push the bill through, I understand her concern. My hope, as illustrated in a column in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, is that when teachers return to the classroom they will use this as an opportunity for dialog, beliefs, a discussion of workers rights, economics, politics, First Amendment rights and civil disobedience. They are living those rights and beliefs out in front of our eyes, and as educators, have a unique opportunity to share that experience with their students.

Blogging Teacher

A few months ago, Natalie Monroe, a teacher in Pennsylvania had a bad day at work. The students were particularly unruly and didn't seem to care about what she was attempting to teach to them. She decided to share her frustrations about her experience on a blog that a friend had suggested she set up. And so she did. She berated the student attitudes, lack of interest, and lack of parent support, calling the students, "rude, lazy whiners." Surprisingly to Ms. Monroe, parents and students found out about the blog and were upset to read the commentary there.

This past week, Ms. Monroe has been making the morning entertainment program circuit and blogging again, attempting to repair her reputation. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that she has learned her lesson from all of this. As Chris Lehmann eloquently stated on his blog, Monroe did not do the most important thing she should have: apologize!

Not only have Monroe's students been hurt by her words, but her digital footprint and reputation have been permanently disfigured by her actions. How many teachers took time during class this past week to have a discussion with students about their own digital footprint and make a connection with the methods they use to communicate with others?

I believe that learning is NOT linear, and that as educators, we should jump at the opportunity to connect student learning to real world events and experiences. Of course, we never know when those opportunities may arise, but expert teachers will seize the opportunity to blend these events with the written curriculum to make the taught curriculum a richer experience for their students.