but in rising up every time we fail.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Failure gets such a bad rap.
As adults, we avoid it as much as possible. We have created an educational climate that considers standardized testing the way of measuring a child’s learning in which failure is a mark against the child, the teachers, and the school. In fact, making mistakes and experiencing failure are important steps to new learning. My motto for creating learners in the 21st century is “Failure’s not a bad thing. Roll with it. Learn from it.” I know it sounds goofy, but when reviewing my learning from this semester I noticed a theme in my collection of quotes. For me, quotes tend to express my thoughts more succinctly than I can with my own words, or I so connect to them that they embody my opinions on a topic. Surprisingly, many of the quotes I have been collecting were related to failure and learning from mistakes. Failure, and in particular the learning from what did not work and how to make it better, are related to developing habits like persistence, problem-solving, self-reflection, and risk-taking. Failure is important for my students’ learning, but it speaks to me as well. I wouldn’t be where I am today as a mother, a wife, an educator, or an artist without learning from my mistakes.
How do I adapt to change in my environment?
Adapting to change in my environment is a survival skill. The role of the teacher has changed over the years and the demand for teachers to be more flexible to change has increased. In Dave Burgess’ book, Teach Like a Pirate, the author lays out recommendations for success in the classroom that I found to be thought-provoking and
inspirational. Burgess shines light on using our own passions and keeping a pool of inspiration to draw from in order to adapt to the changes in the classroom. Reading his book made me reflect on habits I have used over my teaching career that have helped me adapt to the changes in my profession and in the classroom.
One habit for me is the resilience of mind. Knowing that there will be some bad days—that they are inevitable—is just as important to know as the fact that most days in the classroom with children are wonderful. Sometimes teachers can become so focused on the failures of the day, or the negative interactions or policies that affect our work. I try not to allow this kind of thinking. I can always start fresh, or learn from my mistakes, or
go into tomorrow with the attitude that I can try something different. That resilience and flexibility of thinking, along with my sense of humor, has been priceless in adapting to change.
Another quality needed for change is one that Burgess also recommends: tapping into inspiration you find and keeping track of it to pull from when you need it. I do this with jots in my notebook, curating ideas from other teachers on Pinterest, watching TED videos and reading and responding to teacher blogs, as well as reading educational journals and books. I also try to stay current with instructional techniques and research through my membership with NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) and IRA (International Reading Association). Keeping a current collection of inspirational ideas, I can build engaging strategies and projects more easily into my lesson planning, as well as share ideas with my colleagues. Technology has been a tool for me to gather information, read about issues that affect my classroom, and to stay in touch with others. It has widened my learning community immensely.
One of the most important habits for adapting to the ever-changing education environment is self-reflection. When I reflect back on my day in the classroom, on lessons, and interactions with my students I can think about what went well and what needs to be changed. Thinking through my successes and failures of the day help me recharge and redirect my teaching. It supports persistence, which is a key to adjusting to the changes demanded of teachers. Self-reflection is a regular part of my day--a habit-- that has been just as powerful as the resilience of mind in adapting to change in my profession. Without it, I truly believe that I would have retired from teaching by now.
How do I support my students in adapting to change?
“Designing a class that empowers students to become life-long learners, avid readers, and voracious seekers of knowledge, will have an impact that reverberates for a lifetime and beyond.”
-Dave Burgess, Teach Like a Pirate (2012)
When it comes to supporting my students in adapting to change, I try to build and encourage many of the qualities I find important for myself in adjusting to the needs of the classroom environment: learning from failures and successes, self-reflection, flexibility of thinking, persistence, and learning from and sharing with others in their learning community. These habits are tools children can use to adapt to the ever-changing learning environment. I worry that my students have been exposed to so much pressure from school, parents, and society to get “the right answer”. Sometimes getting the wrong answer can be more telling than choosing the correct one. Exposing my students to this attitude, planning for experiences where questioning guides discovery,
discussions where students learn from each other and learn together, and where
creativity and imagination are encouraged are all part of this learning environment I strive to provide for my students. “Only when we care about experimentation, play, and questions more than efficiency, outcomes, and answers do we have a space that is truly open to the imagination. And where imaginations play, learning happens.” (Thomas and Brown, 2011)
Although, as a classroom teacher, I have no control over many policies on education that are put into effect and mandated, my intent in the classroom is to create a place for my students to learn, use the tools available to them, and to feel comfortable to make mistakes and take risks. As Will Richardson states in “Why School?”, “As a parent, I
wonder how such a delivery model (high-stakes testing) prepares my kids for anything other than passing a test—the same test that everyone else has to pass…The important irony is that test scores tell us little, if anything, about our children’s preparedness for future success in a fast-changing world.” (Richardson, 2012) There are decisions we have to make as teachers which speak to the balance we keep with political demands and what kids really need. It is a difficult task, but worthy and important.
Technology has assisted me in bird-walking through articles, blogs, and books in educational communities. In this wandering I found not only more to support what I already do in my classroom, but to improve the instruction, experiences, and engagement for my students. One such resource I discovered recently has been the “Habits of Mind” (Costa and Kallick, 2007). Many resources I have read about inquiry learning and innovative teaching have referenced their work. I want to implement their ideas in my classroom with my students, as some of their “habits of mind” support beliefs I have in adaptation of change and learning. If I can use their work to infuse more intentional use of these strategies in their learning, my students will have more tools for success in their path through our schools and into their own lives. I have no control over what my students do elsewhere, but it is my intention and hope that experiences they have in my classroom assist them in learning to adapt to change.
References
Burgess, Dave. (2012). Teach like a pirate: Increase student engagement, boost your creativity, and transform your life as an educator. San Diego, CA. Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc.
Costa, A. and Kallick, B. (2007). Describing 16 habits of mind. Retrieved from ftp://download.intel.com/education/Common/au/Resources/EO/Course_Resources/Thinking/Habits_of_Mind.pdf.
Heick, Terry. (2012 ). How 21st century thinking is just different. Retrieved from
TeachThought.com at http://www.teachthought.com/learning/how-21st-century-thinking-is-different/.
Maiers, Angela. (2008). The abcs of engagement. Retrieved from www.angelamaiers.com at http://www.angelamaiers.com/2008/04/engagement-alph.html.
Richardson, Will. (2012). Why school?: How education must change when learning and information are everywhere. TED Conferences. Kindle edition.
Thomas, D. and Brown, J. S. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the
imagination for a world of constant change. CreateSpace Independent
Publishing Platform.
Tugend, Alina. (September 6, 2011). The
role of mistakes in the classroom. Retrieved from Edutopia
at http://www.edutopia.org/blog/benefits-mistakes-classroom-alina-tugend.