Failure. It is not a four letter word, but it might as well be one. We avoid it. We skirt around it, hedging our bets to soften a lack of success. It stings- admit it. What do we do when students “lay up” and don’t push themselves? We push them. Educators expect failure, we welcome opportunities for growth, value editing, push for the development of skills, and always seek the “teachable moment.” That is growth, right? If students don’t fail, they don’t grow.
If engaged, kids will fail..
on purpose! Watch any kid shoot free throws, play Fortnite, try to dial in a skateboard trick, field grounders, draw and sketch….the list goes on and on. I had a student that would spend each free period heaving a basketball from half court, hoping against hope that it would go in the basket. Hours that year were spent, over and over, shot after shot, miss after miss. Eventually? One out of 100 would go in. Then one in fifty. One in twenty. She was so proud! We cheered and celebrated when she walked onto the court at halftime, and nailed the half court shot in front of friends and family. It made me stop and think about how many time she failed before that one shot gave her hope. The drive to keep going.
Don’t we all want to encourage the Fairy Scientist in all students?
The belief that success is only a shot away kept this young lady on that court. It is this desire, this “watch this” attitude, that I always hope that students bring to the classroom. Just try. Try as hard as you can. Don’t give up on your own potential. I am not giving up on my belief in your abilities. You can do this.
Can something as simple as skateboarding save our schools?
Dr. Tae reminds us that the desire to achieve is innate in our students. It is innate in educators, too! So, what, as educators, is our half court shot? What pushes us to be the best we can be? I often ask the question of educators in workshops, what gets you excited about teaching every day? I read all the #WhyITeach postings that I can find. It is fascinating to hear about what gets them excited. 100% of the time, yes, 100% that hashtag focuses on the success, the positive, when the world lined up perfectly. Motivation through our successes, right? I am just as guilty of not sharing and celebrating all the failures that got me to that success. So. Many. Failures. Sharing those failures, displaying what did not work is embarrassing, for sure- but real.
Personally, I can live with failure. I fail a lot. I’m pretty sure that I model failure for my students daily. I refer to them as “human moments,” but they are failures. Big ones, little ones, moments when I have to step back and laugh at the absurdity of the previous attempt. With that said, it is time to flip the script. I posit that we need to embrace failing, to celebrate the attempt. Imagine a chat in your room that records attempts- even if they fail?
How do we foster the courage to take risks, to model how to take risks (Yes- TEACH risk taking as a skill,) and celebrate failure as finding a current limit. No more playing it safe, and sticking with the “good enough.” If you don’t push to the point of failure, how will you learn about yourself? Why shortchange what could be, so you know what will happen, how it will happen, and the basic outcome?
So, as I continue to paddle in the proficiency pond, I am looking for ways to fail. Places to push out of that comfort zone, and into uncharted territory. (Insert poorly selected Shackleton quote here.) Much of what I design, the lessons, labs, readings, performance tasks, and assessments will need some serious refining to truly become effective for students. Refining, researching, modeling, seeking and attempting to live best practices, it is all part of the process. Student-centered learning does not happen overnight, and will not happen in a vacuum.
The mastery model, to me, encourages pushing students to failure. The trick is recognizing it, and celebrating the willingness to push themselves, not shying away because lack of success makes everyone uncomfortable. Authentic learning happens with motivation. Motivation increases engagement, which ONLY occurs when students feel comfortable to take the chance- to try the “exceeds” section, or keep refining that model until it matches the vision in their heads. (You know, all those skateboarding “fairy scientists?”)
No educator has to do this – not a one. Be vulnerable, make mistakes, and let your students see you celebrate your own failures. It means being human. My larger fear is not failing myself, but failing kids who walk into my room every day, perfectly ready to fail.
Mr. H's Not So Secret Classroom 