Always look for opportunities to practice and coach troubleshooting. One came for me the other day with the classroom stapler...

A bright student in a hurry urgently asks me, “Mrs. Canaga, Mrs. Canaga...the stapler won't work!”

As thoughts rolled through my head (like...what has someone done to the stapler now?), I stopped and asked, “Well, have you tried to troubleshoot the problem?“

With an extemely annoyed look on his face, the student replied, “Troubleshoot the stapler?”

Mrs. Canaga: “Sure...what is the problem you are having?“

Student: “It won't staple my paper.”

Mrs. Canaga: “Did it work recently?”

The student now realizes he's been caught in a teachable moment and reluctantly responds, “I think so... maybe it needs more staples?”

Mrs. Canaga: “Did you check?”

Student: “How do I do that?”

Mrs. Canaga: “I don't know...have you examined the stapler?”

Student looks over the stapler, “Well it looks like there might be two ways.” After a bit of trial and error, he opens the stapler and finds it empty. A quick reload, and he's back to work with a stapled paper in hand and troubleshooting on his mind. He might have been mumbling something about me too, but hey...that's the art of troubleshooting!