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← The Exchange: Teach Me Yours

The Exchange: Teach Me Yours

Three short lessons for a skills swap between two generations: choose something small you can really teach, teach it in three steps, then swap and be the learner.

Spark & Whetstone · sparkwhetstone.org/learn/the-exchange · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Answers are at the end, so you can try each question first.

Lesson 1. Choose a small skill

An exchange works when each person brings something small enough to teach in ten minutes: a knot, a card trick, a phone shortcut, how to fold a fitted sheet, a song's chords.

Small matters. A skill that takes a year to learn becomes a lecture. A skill you can show and hand over becomes a swap, and the other person leaves able to do it.

Question. Which is the best thing to bring to a ten-minute skills swap?

  1. How to speak Italian.
  2. How to tie a bowline knot.
  3. Everything you know about cars.

Say it back. In your own words: why does an exchange need a small skill?

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Lesson 2. Teach in three steps

Most small skills can be taught in three steps: show it once at normal speed, show it slowly while you say each move, then hand it over and watch.

When you watch, wait before you help. Good tutors count to three in their heads before they step in, and they give the smallest hint first. Let the learner's hands do the work.

Question. Your grandchild's knot has gone wrong. What should you do first?

  1. Retie it for them so they can see.
  2. Wait a moment, then give the smallest hint you can.
  3. Start the lesson again from the beginning.

Say it back. Say it back: what are the three steps, and what do you do while you watch?

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Lesson 3. Swap and be the learner

The second half is the point. When the younger person teaches the older one, both see the other as someone with something worth knowing.

Be an honest learner: ask them to slow down, say which part you did not follow, and try it yourself. A teacher learns their own skill better by explaining it.

Question. It is your turn to learn a phone shortcut from a teenager. What makes you a good learner?

  1. Nod along so they do not feel slowed down.
  2. Say which step you lost, and try it yourself while they watch.
  3. Write it down and try later on your own.

Say it back. In your own words: why does the swap matter as much as the teaching?

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At the table: The ten-minute swap

Players: two people of different generations. You'll need: a timer and whatever each skill needs (string, cards, a phone).

  1. Each person names one small skill they could teach in ten minutes.
  2. The older person teaches first: show it, show it slowly while saying each move, then hand it over.
  3. Swap. The younger person teaches, and the older one learns honestly.
  4. Each shows the other their new skill once more before you finish.

Answers

  1. How to tie a bowline knot. — A knot can be shown, tried and handed over in a few minutes. A language or a whole subject cannot.
  2. Wait a moment, then give the smallest hint you can. — Wait, then give the smallest hint. Retying it hands over the answer; starting again throws away what they have already done.
  3. Say which step you lost, and try it yourself while they watch. — Saying where you got lost tells the teacher what to show again, and trying it while they watch lets them help.