Teachable Moments
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
I Ran Out of Minutes!
It is very interesting to me that teenagers have a whole world that they understand and they are not going to take a lot of time trying to explain it to adults!
I have a 16-year-old, who has a "side kick" cell phone that requires her to purchase a phone card and put minutes on her phone. It amuses me that most of her friends have these phones that allow them to connect to the internet and text endlessly.
I asked her about a gentleman friend who usually sends a text or message through the internet all the time. My daughter explained that they were still "friends", but the reason why he hadn't stayed in contact was because "mom...he ran out of minutes! duh...everybody understands that!"
Well, it became an Ah-Ha for me because my teachers say the same thing when I am visiting classrooms to observe instruction. The effective use of time is often not used very effectively at all. Teachers often state (just like my daughter), "I ran out of time!"
My advice to all classroom teachers is to be watchful of your instructional time. The warm up activity should not take 25 minutes then adequate time has run out to get to the "meat" of the lesson such as directed instruction or time for students to work in pairs or groups.
It is vital to consider your transitions, procedures and routines and materials needed to execute the lesson.
Watch your minutes...they count!
I have a 16-year-old, who has a "side kick" cell phone that requires her to purchase a phone card and put minutes on her phone. It amuses me that most of her friends have these phones that allow them to connect to the internet and text endlessly.
I asked her about a gentleman friend who usually sends a text or message through the internet all the time. My daughter explained that they were still "friends", but the reason why he hadn't stayed in contact was because "mom...he ran out of minutes! duh...everybody understands that!"
Well, it became an Ah-Ha for me because my teachers say the same thing when I am visiting classrooms to observe instruction. The effective use of time is often not used very effectively at all. Teachers often state (just like my daughter), "I ran out of time!"
My advice to all classroom teachers is to be watchful of your instructional time. The warm up activity should not take 25 minutes then adequate time has run out to get to the "meat" of the lesson such as directed instruction or time for students to work in pairs or groups.
It is vital to consider your transitions, procedures and routines and materials needed to execute the lesson.
Watch your minutes...they count!