We all strive to seize the teachable moment.  How often are we successful?  Today, armed with day two of my lesson plan, I had a choice to continue with the plan or move out of the way to allow student-driven learning.  We started class by picking up where we left off from the previous lesson.  The first question launched was a high-order question.  This question sparked more questions and some rich thinking out loud.  I finally physically moved to the seat of a learner and joined the conversation as a co-learner.  At four separate moments in class, a learner turned to me and apologized for high-jacking “my lesson plan.”  The planned lesson did not occur; it could wait.  The lessons learned and the questions asked were richer in content and context.

Isn’t it interesting that the learners worried about my plan?  How conditioned are we?  How can we unlearn and relearn so that we listen carefully to questions?  How do we become a team of learners where the “teaching” responsibilities change quickly as the questions themselves?  How empowered to our learners feel to lead learning in a new or different direction?

What did I learn today?  Sometimes I should wait, listen, and learn.  I should facilitate learning by following their questions.

About the author: Jill Gough is a learner, challenged to teach and learn in our changing world. She risks, questions and seeks feedback to improve. You can follow her on Twitter at @jgough.

Image by Jill Gough.

_________________________

[This post was originally published as “edu180atl: jill gough 9.9.11.”]