School Assemblies, Wisconsin and Japan – Using Teachable Moments

Most kids I know don't read newspapers. They don't watch the news on television. Oh, they might wander into a room where the news is on the television but it usually might as well be invisible when they do. My point is that current events are usually not on children's radar, unless we put them there.

But when something really big is happening in the news, it always provides an opportunity to teach children something.

Take the recent wranglings in Wisconsin between Republicans and Unions. Without taking sides, this is a great event occurring right now which enables an astute parent to seize an opportunity to couple a little teaching along side of presently occurring video imagery. Teach them about the labor movement. Or teach them about democracy. Teach them about budgets. But while the video is running on television, which just happens to be the favorite resting place for children's eyes, teach them something!

The earthquake yesterday in Japan is another such moment. The events taking place there are horrific, and the video images coming from Japan are amazing and extremely compelling. And children are amazed by these images as well. Use the moment. Teach them about earthquakes. Teach them about tectonic plates. Teach them about the Earth's core. Teach them about the islands of Japan and the people who live there. This is an awesome opportunity. Teach them something!

The thing is that teaching kids is tough. Normally, average kids treat education as work. Whatever can be done to excite them about the process of learning is a great thing. Which, of course, is why we produce awesome educational school assemblies. Teaching kids about earthquakes and tectonic plates is easier to do with video of a quake in Japan on television, but also by introducing them to a twenty foot tall Earth balloon school assembly and taking them inside the Earth to look at the relative size of the molten core compared to the skin of the planet. The Earth balloon provides an amazing array of teaching moments, covering geography, atmosphere, weather and geology in a manner kids cannot ignore and will not soon forget.

Similarly, a school assembly such as Skydome, a portable planetarium, draws kids into an understanding of the universe through a dazzling planetarium experience. A visit from a Ben Franklin school assembly takes them back in time to the days of the founding of or republic, providing through this multifaceted individual, teaching moments in not only history but also in science, politics and printing. And I have never yet seen a child who could resist being drawn into a teaching moment about animals, species extinction or environmental issues when the lesson involved the opportunity to touch a 14' Burmese Albino Python or a Patagonian Cavy during a natural science school assembly program.

School assemblies are a great resource for teachers and schools, providing opportunities which simply cannot be duplicated by the school without the assistance of the outside professionals who create and perform these awesome school shows.