Skip to main content

Watching teachable moments unfold

Teachable moments are defined as an unexpected opportunity seized by a teacher to offer their thoughts on a topic or to stimulate a student's mind to find answers to their questions (Lewis 2020).

As a new mom, I look to my parents to learn how I can model their parenting styles (because they're different but complementary) to how I parent my child. I also read quite a few parenting books and articles, and follow responsive parenting accounts on social media. Based on what I've observed my parents do, I think they probably read the same books and articles and followed the same social media accounts... except that they have not. They probably just figured out, over the years, that being responsive to a child's needs is a good way of parenting. And even as all their kids are now adults, they still find opportunities to teach and to model.

One particular instance pops up in my mind:

Anna's a relatively new driver. She's not very confident in maneuvering her car through tight parking spots. One afternoon, the whole family was going somewhere, with the cars fully packed (we couldn't carpool; normally, we'd only use two of the three cars when on trips). Daddy and Mommy were in the Sentra; Anna was in the Prius; Val, our son, and I were in the C230 (I was driving). Sensing that Anna was stuck on the driveway because of a particularly tight parking situation on the sidewalk, Daddy got out of his car and coached Anna to safely drive her car out of that tricky situation. 

Val and I were watching this as Anna—slowly but surely with Daddy's coaching—steered the car out of the driveway. He commented that Daddy could've just taken the driver seat and maneuvered the car just so we could leave faster. I responded that this is a teachable moment and Daddy seized the opportunity to guide Anna and let her learn a very valuable lesson on spatial awareness and defensive driving. After all, this is Daddy's parenting style: he doesn't have the time to do things for you but he has all the time in the world to teach you how to do them (or boost your confidence so you can do them yourself).

I don't know if Val has fully grasped or appreciated the value of this teachable moment because he didn't comment any further. What I do know though is that I enjoyed watching Anna learn and gain more confidence behind the wheel. I can only wish that when my son asks difficult questions or finds himself in sticky situations, I will be able to guide him and boost his confidence so he can find the answers himself and he can figure a way to solve his challenges.

Later, I realised that this was a teachable moment for me on parenting.


Reference:

Lewis, Beth. "How to Create Teachable Moments in the Classroom." ThoughtCo, Aug. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/what-is-a-teachable-moment-2081657.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for dropping by!

Before moving on, please share your thoughts or comments about the post. :)

Thanks again!

Popular posts from this blog

10 things I learned while driving on Marcos Highway to Baguio City

I went on a day trip to the City of Pines, which was around a 700-km drive from my house. I drove  going up there and then from the city to Victoria, Tarlac. After that, my dad took over the driving duties. It was day trip with Tita Ising and Tito Sibing with us. Anyway, this trip was my first time to go to Baguio City with me behind the wheel. As everyone who drives up knows, there are three main routes to Baguio from the lowlands: Kennon Road, which ascends from Rosario, La Union. It was out of my options because it's too dangerous to use that road in the rainy season. The second route is via Naguilian Road, which makes my trip a lot longer because the beginning of the ascent is in Bauang, La Union (further north). The last route, and the one I took, was the Marcos Highway, now known as the Aspiras-Palispis Highway. This 47-km road starts from Agoo, La Union and is touted as the safest route among the three.  As I drove up and then down (on the same day; we were in Bagu
4 comments
Read more

How MALDI-TOF-MS makes mycobacterium diagnosis faster and more accurate

The laboratory I work in has plenty of instruments that help us characterise and identify microorganisms causing diseases in patients. One of my current projects is to validate an instrument called "matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometer" (MALDI-TOF-MS) in identifying members of the Mycobacterium  species. Many of these organisms are opportunistic, meaning they only cause illnesses in people whose immune systems are not strong enough to fight infections. Mycobacterium leprae  is known for causing leprosy, but we cannot grow this bacterium in culture media, so we cannot isolate it. Mycobacterium tuberculosis  complex, on the other hand, is a group of several species of Mycobacterium  that causes tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a disease that killed 1.6 million people in 2021 alone. It is a leading cause of death globally, second only to COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Identifying the Mycobacterium species that has infected a patient is
Post a Comment
Read more

a crash course on traditional Filipino houses

On Dr Jose Rizal's birthday this year, I was back in historic Manila with Ate Bing, Ate Mary , and Manuel . But instead of visiting him, we opted to soak up on Philippine culture. Our first stop: the Cultural Center of the Philippines ' (CCP) Museo ng Kalinangang Pilipino .  Aside from the musical instruments, I noticed the dioramas about Filipino homes. Filipinos living by the sea (the 'sea gypsies', Sama Dilaut or Badjao ) have boathouses; those who live in the mountains, like the Bagobos , have developed interconnected houses in the trees; Filipinos who live along the path of the strongest typhoon winds, such as the Ivatans , have developed houses of thick limestone walls; and people who live in calmer conditions used bamboo and nipa to construct their houses, like the lowlanders and the Agtas . Sama Dilaut 'lepa' and houses on stilts (in the background) Ivatan limestone house nipa hut Ifugao 'fale' Maranao '
Post a Comment
Read more