The Learning Secret/The Teaching Secret

An excerpt from The Learning Secret: “Remember that a common thread for learning opportunities is the fact that they weren’t expected! We are just going about our lives, making decisions, making choices, having experiences. Then something happens and it isn’t what we planned or would have thought was going to happen. Sometimes it’s a favorable outcome that we never would have anticipated. Other times it’s a negative result that we never would have foreseen. It’s the way life is, bringing with it unexpected turns and twists in its path. It’s serendipity.a surprise.an adventure.a learning opportunity.” An excerpt from The Teaching Secret: “If you think about any particular time that you have been especially effective as a teacher, you may remember an excellent lesson plan or an exceptionally well-designed curriculum unit. But these aren’t the really special moments that we all wait for in pedagogy. The special moments are the unexpected ones. We can’t plan them. They happen. And the mark of the master teacher is to have the skill to seize the kairos or auspicious opportunity and create a teaching moment.”