The Rule of Three: Find Focus in Your Lesson

You are probably trying to teach too much.

It’s okay, we all fall into this trap. There are too many topics to teach in the textbook. There are too many vocabulary words to define. There are too many stories to share.

There is just too much.

The kids know it, too. They get overwhelmed trying to learn when you are overwhelmed trying to teach.

That’s why The Rule of Three is so important. You have to focus on just three, clearly articulated lessons that you want your students to learn. You have to narrow your focus to just three and no more than that.

I jumped on Facebook to give a live lesson on The Rule of Three. Here is a recording of that short talk:

As I wrote in the description of the post, you can read more about this approach here:

Now You Can Teach Like Pope Francis!

This was a fun experiment. I realize the video and sound quality isn’t perfect, but I was so excited to be doing a little teaching again. Feel free to jump into the comments of the post to tell me what you think.

Question to Ask Yourself

In my next lesson, what are the three only things I want my students to learn?

To answer the question, you will have to make choices. You will have to NOT teach something you know is important but just not possible to teach. Focus on what is essential.