More Teachable Moments-- How it works

First, SHOW ME some actual pictures while I listen in at the Author's Front Porch. (lengthy load time, but fun)

Or, DON'T SHOW ME some actual pictures while I listen in at the Author's Front Porch. (fast, but not as scenic)

Excerpts from PREFACE

MORE TEACHABLE MOMENTS evolved from an intuitive and empirical developmental approach, yet it is not without theoretical foundation. It is as though, having discovered electricity, I then proceeded to identify the theory under which it worked.

During my attempt to locate the school of thought with which this program most closely identified, I was directed by a school principal to read A WAY OF BEING, by Carl R. Rogers. The educational views and theories presented very closely aligned with and supported the rationale behind MORE TEACHABLE MOMENTS.

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Who can use MORE TEACHABLE MOMENTS?

The program is designed for teachers to use in a classroom setting. Selected portions may also be used by facilitators of workshops for adults, families or youth groups.

For what age or grade levels is the program appropriate?

Field testing has shown that kindergarten through twelfth grade students have benefited. Many of the processes have also been used in adult workshops with great success.

The reason the program benefits such a wide population is that the subject matter is important to all ages and does not require significant cognitive understanding. For example, all ages can appreciate how it feels to be interrupted and can develop supportive ways of resolving these kinds of situations.

Must the program presentation be altered to accommodate various ages?

Most of MORE. TEACHABLE MOMENTS consists of experiential student participation. The teacher becomes a facilitator of various processes that allow students to realize knowledge from within. Therefore, very little actual instruction is conducted by the teacher.

The teacher alters the presentation by upgrading/downgrading the vocabulary used for instructions and descriptions. Occasionally the lesson will contain two levels of example illustrations, one for elementary students and one for secondary students or adult participants.

When using the program with adults or students above sixth grade level, encourage everyone to let the child within play and have fun. Tell them that some of the processes may seem a little silly at first, but each one is potentially of great value to them.

How much class time is required?

The ten lessons take about one hour each with the exception of lesson seven. This lesson is presented in two parts, each taking about one hour, and is to be delivered on two separate days.

Between some lessons it is recommended that additional time be allotted for Heart Talks. A Heart Talk takes from twenty to forty minutes.

Teachers report that the program saves more time than it uses.

How much teacher preparation time is needed?

Since most of the lessons consist of guided activities and sharing, very little preparation time is necessary. Reading the lesson before class and perhaps making a few reminder notes in the margin is usually sufficient. The lesson format is designed for quick-glance use.

Are some lessons optional?

Our recommendation of course is that you present all lessons. However, lesson nine is perhaps the most optional, as it involves family activities.

Since lessons one through six build upon each other, it is important not to skip any of these. Lessons seven through ten build upon the first six lessons but not on each other. Lesson eight is optional, but is a great time saver should you decide to continue having classroom Heart Talks after completing the program.

Are there provisions for parental understanding and acceptance?

Build family understanding and acceptance of MORE TEACHABLE MOMENTS.
Enhance family awareness in the areas of listening, feelings, constructive forms of communication and mutual support.
Provide information that will assist the family in supporting the child's successful application of what is learned.
Assist teachers in communicating with parents by providing brief summaries of each lesson.

The behavior and achievement of students in the classroom is greatly affected by the quality of communication and support they experience at home. These take-home sheets and the use of lesson nine, "Heart Talks At Home

Your Choice," can enhance supportive conditions at home and thereby create more Teachable Moments in the classroom.

What is the content of the lessons?

Lessons one through four increase student awareness of communication barriers; develop listening skills and the use of the Heart Talk; create a safe, non-judgmental attitude within the class; and develop the framework for the later lessons. Lesson two develops an appreciation for calming the emotions and the environment.

Lessons five and six develop the awareness, acceptance and constructive expression of feelings. Lesson six introduces Guided Imagery techniques for use as classroom tools. In this lesson Guided Imagery captivates the imagination of the students and illustrates the importance of taking responsibility for one's own feelings.

Lessons one through six develop the use of Heart Talks.

Lesson seven is devoted to achieving goals with support and is designed to create a win-win attitude for students and teacher. This lesson powerfully illustrates the importance of having goals, planning steps, going through barriers, using creative problem solving, and generating individual and group support in achieving goals.

Lessons eight and nine develop the individual student proficiency needed to initiate and lead Heart Talks at school and at home.

Lesson ten develops skills in constructively expressing important thoughts and feelings without relying on a Heart Talk or any other formal or noticeable procedure. A technique is used called REALShare. The capitalized letters of this acronym are a silent reminder of the important steps in the communication. REALShare provides a spontaneous alternative to a Heart Talk in which no one else need know what is actually happening.

What is a Heart Talk?

One of the main processes of MORE TEACHABLE MOMENTS is the Heart Talk. A Heart Talk is a defined method for sharing feelings and thoughts in a way that promotes harmony, intensified listening, clarity, and togetherness. A symbolic heart is passed among the group, with the agreement that only the person holding the heart talks; everyone else listens. A Heart Talk consists of seven steps and a variety of agreements that are revealed to students in a sequentially layered manner throughout the first six lessons. Heart Talks are presented this way to maximize understanding and appreciation of the many aspects important in a Heart Talk and at the same time avoid overwhelming students with too much information at one time.

Appendix E summarizes a Heart Talk. Also, the author's first book, FEEL ALIVE WITH LOVE, HAVE A HEART TALK, was written for couples and families and contains the basic steps of a Heart Talk. My favorite descriptions, however, come directly from students.

"A Heart Talk means that we can all get together and share some things about ourselves . . . a time for peace within the whole class."

Carolyn, a sixth-grader

"A Heart Talk is when the whole class sits in a circle. The teacher starts the Heart Talk and the heart goes around (clockwise) in a circle. If you don't have something to say, you just say pass. One person is talking and the other people are listening. After the Heart Talk, if you don't like what someone said, you can't say, Guy, what you said was dumb. You can't do that. A Heart Talk is really, really fun." A fourth-grade student

What is needed to get started?

Each lesson provides a list of materials required. Most lessons require only this manual and a symbolic heart to pass during a Heart Talk.

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Continued -- Excerpts from preface
Rogers captured my full attention when he wrote, "I deplore the manner in which, from early years, the child's education splits him or her: the MIND can come to school, and the body is permitted, peripherally, to tag along, but the feelings and emotions can live freely and expressively only outside of school." He went on to say, "I wrote this paper to show that it is not only feasible to permit the whole child to come to school, with feelings as well as intellect, but that learning is thereby enhanced."
It is readily apparent that MORE TEACHABLE MOMENTS places much emphasis on listening and feelings. My aim in creating this emphasis was to help balance something that myself and others had found incomplete within the educational system. And once teachers started using the program, they reported that there were many benefits, including the added bonus of enhanced academic learning.
An explanation of the phenomenon of improved academic achievement is offered by Rogers in his analysis of Aspy research studies(*1). These studies, based on 3700 hours of classroom instruction involving 550 elementary and secondary school teachers, evaluate the effects of the presence, or absence, of three teacher qualities. These qualities are, "Empathy (E) . . . a teacher's attempt to understand the personal meaning of the school experience for each student. Positive Regard (PR) . . . various ways in which the teacher shows respect for the students as persons. Congruence (C) . . . the extent to which the teacher is genuine in relationship to the students."
Teachers exhibiting high levels of those qualities, (E, PR, C), are referred to as facilitators of learning. The research shows a clear correlation between those teachers and the greatest student gains in learning. Students "became more adept at using their higher cognitive processes such as problem solving... had more positive self-concepts . . . exhibited fewer discipline problems, . . . and had a lower rate of absence from school." One portion of the study even showed that students increased their average IQ from 85 to 94 after being with a teacher who maintained high-level facilitative conditions, while a similar group remained at 85 with a teacher demonstrating low-levels of E, PR, and C. The findings also indicated that these qualities "are caught, experientially, from another person. They are not simply intellectual learnings."
The teachers that participated in the field testing of MORE TEACHABLE MOMENTS indicated that the program fosters facilitative qualities not only in the teacher, but in students as well. The participants catch E, PR and C from one another while using various techniques that create a spirit of community, cooperation, and an I win‹You win attitude in the group. Results reported by teachers included: enhanced listening skills; better self-expression; greater attention; more participation; reduced stress; more joy and self-esteem; greater confidence; and improved relationships in all areas. When, in addition, teachers reported enhanced learning and academic improvement, I knew we had located the key, not only to the creation of More Teachable Moments, but also to satisfying the needs of educators representing two major areas of persuasion, those interested in affective-experiential techniques, and those having a more traditional focus of cognitive learning.
Teachers just beginning MORE TEACHABLE MOMENTS may be surprised at how the lessons seem to come alive. The aliveness, love, laughter and joy experienced in the classroom from the very first lesson build the context for enhanced learning experiences. If you are about to use MORE TEACHABLE MOMENTS and it is unlike anything you have done before, you may naturally experience a certain amount of concern. However, you will probably become much more relaxed during the first or second lesson as student enthusiasm grows. In fact, many students have even asked to repeat these first lessons.
To illustrate some of this spirit, the following experience may be of interest. It was described to me by Julia Allen, an eighth grade teacher who had just finished her second year field testing MORE TEACHABLE MOMENTS. She said, "Two graduates who spent most of eight years in this school, told me that the single most important thing they missed were the wonderful Heart Talks they used to have in class." Heart Talks, as you will soon find out, represent one of the core processes of this Program.
Through the use of Heart Talks and the many other activities, MORE TEACHABLE MOMENTS helps teachers foster and maintain facilitative conditions in their classrooms Maximum rewards occur when teachers are willing to show that they too are human; when they fully participate in the discovery that all of us are precious human treasures with hearts as well as minds.
(*1) Aspyj D.N., & Roebuck, I;N. Education, Winter 1974,95(2),
Aspy, D.N., & Roebuck, F. N. Interim reports 1-4. Monroe, Louisiana: National Consortium for Humanizing Education, 1974

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