I've often wondered if we use the words mistake and failure to interchangeably. They are not, after all, the same. I once bought a poster at Cape Canaveral that featured Apollo 13's most famous line: Failure Is Not an Option. After some thinking, I decided that failure is an option.
Of course, more thinking brought another reversal in that area. Once again, failure is not an option. Mistakes, however, are.
Steve Wyborney writes:
Of course, more thinking brought another reversal in that area. Once again, failure is not an option. Mistakes, however, are.
Steve Wyborney writes:
To be fair, there are times when failure does include a sense of finality. Sometimes, as with failing a final exam, missing a scholarship or admissions deadline, or burning the Thanksgiving turkey as the guests are arriving, failure represents both a last chance in the moment as well as an opportunity to embrace a rich learning experience. Sometimes, it's possible to return to those specific experiences and try again. (It happens all the time at the Department of Motor Vehicles.) Other times, while we may learn from our mistakes, it is too late to try again. For example, the burnt turkey cannot be undone.
I think we need to distinguish between the two. Mistakes are not failure, and if we allow our mistakes to become failures, we've made some wrong moves somewhere along the way. As educators, our task is to train our students to accept mistakes and move past them.
However, when the learning is strong, when the classroom community is resonating, and when we feel an intense sense of purpose, we may feel less inclined to reflect. Yet this may be the perfect time to stop and evaluate what is working and why. These successes may represent attaining some of the very goals for which we have been reading, which makes these times of achievement very significant. This is an especially important time to take note.
Take an opportunity to reflect with clarity on your successes.
We often miss opportunities to learn from successes. Sometimes we focus so much on our mistakes that we fail (Failure is not an option!) to learn from our successes. I like this concept from Steve Wyborney in his Writing on the Classroom Wall. Focusing so much on mistakes and failures is a pretty negative way to live life. We must remember that we have strengths, as well.
Once again, balance is the order of the day.
Once again, balance is the order of the day.
