Participation is more than just showing up. Failure is an option. In fact, if you are really working hard, then you are going to fail. On top of that, you will fail a lot. The same is true for your students. If you are pushing them to improve and expand their boundaries, then they will fail as well. Failure is the best thing that can happen to people. In his book, The Ultra Mindset, Travis Macy (@TravisMacy) states: “We constantly send our kids -and ourselves- the message that if you struggle something is wrong. If you’re doing something right, it will feel nice and easy; it will be fun. Struggle should be halted as soon as possible at all times because it will probably lead to suffering and, even worse, failure. The problem with the message above is that it flies in the face of what we know to be the truth about learning and general process, namely, that if you never struggled, growth is almost impossible because lack of growth only shows complacency with in a comfort zone.” He's completely correct. As educators and parents, we must let our learners (children, students, peers, etc) fail. Don't forget, our job is to educate. Just letting them fail is not educating. Providing the necessary tools, instruction, guidance, and support to allow the learner to recover from the failure and eventually succeed is paramount. Falling down and recovering teaches resilience and responsibility. Too often, we assume that letting a learner fail and then giving them a zero teaches responsibility. We expect the learner to realize their mistake and get it fixed next time... all on their own. Rick Wormeli (@rickwormeli2) described this scenario very well. Imagine I was teaching my daughter to ride a bike this way. We go out to the street. I put her on the bike seat. Holding on to the seat, the starts pedaling. There we are, she's pedaling and weaving, I'm holding on to the seat running with behind her. Then I let go and the she is now on their own. Right way, she crashes. I look down at her and say, 'Well, you fell. I guess you aren't a bike rider. Maybe next time you'll try harder, but this was my scheduled time to work with you. Good luck in the future.' This isn't how it happened. We kept at it over and over until she got it right. Our job as educators is the same. Let them fail and then give them the tools and support to eventually get it right. The whole process is essential. Through it, learners become resilient, successful, and responsible.
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About me & this blogThis blog is for things related to my class, PL, coaching, or just teaching in general. You can follow me on Twitter @myakSTEM Archives
June 2021
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