Monday, July 2, 2012
We're all Failures!
Since today's topic included various ways to assess students, we also wanted to bring to light the idea of failure. Nothing creates failure more quickly than expecting little more. If you have taken care of the environment in your classroom and focused on student learning and nothing else, you have no reason to expect less than the world of the,. Failure only exists because we expect students to hit a random mark during a set period of time on a specific day without knowing specifically how to prepare for it, being able to ask for help, talking and taking randomly scheduled 3 minute silent stretch breaks. We should expect nothing but the best out of every kid, colleague and certainly of ourselves. Aiming any lower is just patronizing and wasting away an opportunity to be special. Why not aim for special? I you "fail,' then the worst you have done is attempt to do something you haven't before.
I have a 6 year old when I go home that frequently expects us to Google whatever his heart desires as he wonders about the makeup of this invisible thing called "air" and who first knew the word "follower" as an idea on Twitter. The argument(s) over whether or not that it suits us- the adults- that the information age is changing the way our kids learn and behave is moot to those of us in the teaching profession. Instead of concerning ourselves with the place in which we find our students, we need to move on preparing them for the world that exists which requires us to prepare for it as well. They have some pretty high expectations of us.
Below, you will find two more Twitter finds. What do you think you will be able to do to increase the opportunity for failure in your classroom and how can you help your students with the idea?
Anne Collier posted her commentary on failure on a post on Mindshift called, "Fun Failure: How to Make Learning Irresistible."
Liz Dwyer of Good.is posted similar insight titled, "Want Student to Succeed? Let them Fail."
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The idea that Failure is a process is quite interesting to me. I've never thought of it that way before, and I think that's because I'm always so focused on scores and trying to get the "high scores".
ReplyDeleteThe idea of telling students that failure is ok because it is a process and their progress is more important just blows my mind in a good way. I love the idea that it's ok for students to fail because they are attempting, growing, and learning.
What is most funny is that even though I've never thought of failure being ok, I've always told my students that's it's ok to struggle. Learning something new can be difficult, but that doesn't mean you can't do it....you just have to work harder. It makes me happy to read that I'm doing the right thing with my students even though I'm not telling them "failure is great".
I think to help incorporate this in my classroom more, I could have students set personal goals and every time they achieve them, they can check off their goal. Another idea is when they get frustrated, to show them how far they have progressed.
I believe it's important for students to know that they're not going to do everything right the first time and if they're doing something wrong, they're on the right track to making it right!
Well said, Lauren.
DeleteIn order to create a successfully failing classroom we, as teachers, first need to instill in our students that failure is okay... at first. I think that students have the mindset that they must excel in everything or the teacher will not approve or might think they aren't working up to their potential. We, as educators, must debunk this myth. Fear of failure prevents most students from ever trying anything that requires critical thinking or problem-solving skills. If we are there to gently nudge them and shift this mentality we may just begin to see an awesome "failing" classroom in which learning and discovery take center stage.
ReplyDeleteVery true.
DeleteFear of students failing is scary for them. We are always seeking to get the correct answer. We as educators have to show students that as we dive into a new way of learning, we will make mistakes and failures. Being responsible for out own learning is a new way of thinking for students. I have to rethink the way that I approach my teaching and letting students be more adventurous with their learning.
ReplyDeleteIt is so ironic...we live in a time of such swagger and posturing, but really the students are all scared to jump in and do something out of their comfort zone.
DeleteMy students fail frequently during their first attempts to write in my class. Often, it is because it is easier to summarize my assignment rather than analyze whatever it is that I've assigned. I've found,with the age students I teach (11th/12th graders), that there seem to be two ways to react to this failure. One group shuts down. They have decided that they cannot do it and no matter what effort they might put forth, they will not do better. Never mind that I have begged them to come see me before or after school or that I give examples of students who failed, then succeeded (including myself), they CANNOT do it. The other group takes on the challenge. They are lined up at my door the afternoon after I give out essays, they are lined up at my door the next morning, they send and resend essay drafts that they have rewritten. In the end, most of them are successful, if they can take my feedback and change their writing. For me, the question is not how to build in failure, but how to encourage students to use it as a learning experience.
ReplyDeleteI don't think any of us have thought about designing our classrooms to fail. I like the ideas shared in the articles that promote that idea that you can work through activities and don't need to just find the right answer. Sometimes you have to do the trial and error to find the right direction in some activities. Our students are very social in their lives outside of school. Bringing the idea of social learning and sharing ideas helps with their digital thinking as well. We need to work on practicing, showing progress, as well as showing growth.
ReplyDeleteEvery scientist knows that the road to success is paved with failures. Of course students will fail. The question is, will they learn from it? If they find the wrong answer, they just need to find out WHY. That will guide them in the right direction. Sometimes being wrong opens floodgates of discovery. I love failure. It smells like LEARNING!
ReplyDeleteSometimes when we are in the daily grind, it is easy to forget that students need to make mistakes so that they will learn from those mistakes. Some students make the same mistake over and over before they think about correcting it and for others it only takes once. It's our charge to guide, remind and help them take ownership of their mistakes in their learning for their benefit. Students shouldn't be defined by a number they make at the end of the year, but the progress they made throughout the year. Teachers must remind them that mistakes and failure is part of the learning process!
ReplyDeleteStudents need to receive opportunities to focus on growth. Avoiding normative assessments, celebrating risk-taking, and encouraging students to track and reflect on progress are all ways that teachers can accomplish this goal. This year I will use tools like student data notebooks and E-Portfolios to ensure that all of my students can set rigorous goals and track their growth.
ReplyDeleteI provide the opportunity for failures in my classroom by allowing students the opportunity to fix things that they've missed, but more than just finding the right answer they need to find the justification for WHY that is the right answer and WHY the answer they chose was wrong because... With projects I sometimes have them do an alternative project to make back up the grade, but cover the same topics. I try to provide every opportunity for my students to turn their failure into success by breaking things down for them further, offer opportunities for them to receive additional help/assistance before school or after school on certain days of the week, frequent interims and comments on their assignments and overall course work. FYI notes for them and Quick Notes (telling of their successes; phone calls for things that need work) for their parents.
ReplyDeleteWe celebrate their growth during the semester and point out their success and talk about what caused failures, what can be done to work on them, etc. but I definitely like the concept of "Fun Failure" to keep them engaged and willing to try again.
Anne Collier makes an excellent point when she says "Any practice – athletic, artistic, even social – involves repeatedly failing till one gets the experience or activity right." Why do we expect immediate perfection within our students? Fear of failure drives student trepidation. One possible solution for this dilemma are collaborative work groups which could eliminate a great deal of pressure, and re-open the avenues of exploratory learning.
ReplyDeleteI really think that this is a great way to teach children. However, I can see where this type of learning could stress out students who have anxiety issues. I can see a lot of scaffolding needed to build up these types of students.
ReplyDeleteIn a classroom where students feel safe to explore and to express themselves, failure is an option. In the ESL classroom, poor grammar and word choices are par for the course. However, in a respectful-of-others environment, we accept each other and recognize that everyone makes mistakes and is learning. I love when students are able to express themselves and ask questions when they don't understand or want to know more. Questioning skills are critical for success not only in the regular classroom, but in life, as well. Finding the right answers involves discovering wrong ones along the way.
ReplyDelete