Failure! What is so bad about that?

Fail, we hear the word and our minds are flooded with thoughts of that paper... you know  the one that you worked so hard on to only see it returned with a big red ink F. Your palms began to sweat and the walls closed in around you. You were doomed! Your parents were going to ground you and your grade for the class...well it was history never to be recovered. And right after the fear of  the parents settled your next thought (or at least my next thought) was well...I'm not going to try in that class anymore because I'm only going to fail! But why did I think that? What is so bad about failing? Why would failing discourage me rather than encourage me? Well in my school days it seemed to really be the end of the world. But for me now as a teacher I want failing to mean something different! I am determined to teach my students to embrace the F!

I strongly believe that failure in a classroom is the most beneficial learning tool that there is. Why? Well without failure what are our students learning? If every student walked into a classroom and made no errors and never failed then why would they be at school? What would be the point? They would already know everything there is to know and in that case should be out campaigning for the next presidential election! But their not! Their in our classrooms to LEARN. And guess what folks learning is a trial and error process. Our students must make a mistake to learn from their mistakes. So how do we get kids to not fear failure. Well I will give you a clue PUT THE RED PENS DOWN!!!! We need to encourage students not send them running for the hills. If we were to create a classroom where students were not afraid to fail the results would be extraordinary. I would rather have a student try so incredibly hard on something and fail miserably then have a student timidly attempt something and just slip through the cracks of passing. But when that student that fails miserably receives that F, that can not be the end of it. We have to take the time to scaffold them. Go back with them find out what their goal was. Help them get there! Sure it may take a little more time for you and the student but won't it be worth it to see that student's triumph smile when they tackle a task that seemed way over their head from the start! I sure think so.

Not only will failing help our students learn inside the classroom but also outside in the REAL WORLD. I don't know if your parents ever told you this but guess what not everything in life is fair or perfect. You're going to fail. You're going to make mistakes. If our students make a mistake in the real world are we going to teach them to bury their heads in the sandbox or teach them to go back out their and try again. I know what I want for my students. I want them to be fighters in their lives. I want them to never give up. I want them to get knocked down and get up again. By teaching them to be okay with failing to be problem solvers they will become productive members of society. If my students walk away knowing that it is okay to fail and take that failure and turn it into a solution I will have done my job. They may not know the square root of 4658365 but they will go out and take life by the horns and accomplish some pretty great things. And who knows one of them might be out their campaigning for president someday...(hopefully with the intent to raise teacher wages!)

Wow well that was quite the rant but I hope it has inspired you to go out their and be the change that our students need so much! Here is a little video to get you going, enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-gQLqv9f4o