Fearless Leaders - Pt. II

If we take what Mr. Mandela states about success and failure, it is not how much we succeed that matters. It is how many times we get up in spite of failure.

In education, I constantly tell our teachers and students that it is okay to FAIL, as long as you learn from it and get back up and try again.

To FAIL = First attempt in learning.

Someone stated to me a few weeks back that failure in learning IS learning. If our students get the answer right the first time and we never push them to try new things and fail, then we are not doing our jobs as educators correctly. We need to push our students to fail. We need to help them learn and understand what those failures mean and how they can then turn them into successes.

Why I Fail.

Have you ever had a day when everything went right and you just patted yourself on the back when it was over?

Yeah, those days are few and far between. Often, if you are like me, your days are filled with a roller coaster of emotion as you hit each peak and valley. Some hours are filled with elation and you reach a goal and hit your mark, while others are filled with dread and contempt. 

Yesterday, I experienced something that I had not felt in a long time. FAILURE. 

Here is the set up: 

I was trying to teach a group of fifth graders about two software programs on iPads. One was a cloud service that enables classrooms to go paperless. The other, well, is Google Apps. I have prepared and I know my stuff, or at least I thought I did. As a teacher for over five years, I knew how to interact with students and help them out but for some reason, the wheels came off.

The kids got the tech, knew how to use the iPads, but when I tried to open a document in one app from the other, it stalled and they couldn't edit it. The kids lost it. Rather, I lost the kids at this point. Well, that was the whole point of the process. I saw the teachers face and after a bunch of kids tried and it wouldn't work, she pulled the plug and decided to do it with pencil and paper. As a sullenly walked about to my office, I felt something that I hadn't felt in sometime - utter FAILURE.

This failure felt like a jab in the stomach. I saw the teacher later, apologized that it didn't go as planned and thanked her for letting me try. I know why she puled the plug, and I don't blame her one bit. This was the second time she tried it. It didn't go well both times.

Teachers today don't have time to experiment and fail. They have SGO's they need to hit. The have new standards that need to be taught and mastered. They have new tests to get their students prepared for. They have 1001 things they are working on that to deviate from the plan and try things is hard. There is just no time at times and many districts don't allow for that flexibility because there is so much pressure on testing.

My failure to make that tech work or to make that class period successful was painful but I am determined not to give up. Real learning happens when you buckle down, figure out what went wrong, and TRY AGAIN. If Edison had given up on making the light bulb, well then I guess we would be reading this blogs in candlelight.

I saw that teacher in the hallway today and let her know that while that tech and ideas maybe didn't work, that she shouldn't give up faith on Google Apps and Ebackpack individually yet. They are great products that can really save you time. I let her know that I will work hard to find something that works well in her class and for her students. And you know what? She came back to me at the end of the day and let me know that she wanted some iPads in her room to help with leaning.

Why do I fail?

I fail because I love to succeed.

I fail because I know that it is the FIRST ACTION IN LEARNING.

I fail because I am human.

The Frustrations of Failure why you shouldn't give up

In education, failure is a nasty word. Like he who should not be named. 


Since the start of schools in history (I know, that's a long way back), we have had a system of passing and failing. This system of benchmarks has indicated to the teachers, students, and parents, what a certain individual has learned or has not learned. How that individual has done throughout a certain amount of time in school. 

We are moving towards a new era in accountability, nearly 30 years after the publication of "A Nation at Risk." Not only are our students beholden to this grading system, but our teachers, and likewise administrators, are behold to it as well. The new system for them is basically a wolf in sheep's  clothing - its a system of pass or fail to render it down to its lowest denominator. 

Teachers are graded via observations and test scores to render to reflect a passing or failing score on a body of work over a certain amount of time. 

Students are graded via test scores and performance based assessments to reflect a passing or failing score on a body of work over a certain amount of time. 

Its the basic foundation of our grading system that hasn't changed in nearly, well, forever. 

Until now. 


I want to take back the word FAILURE. 


All too often, I hear in hallways or publications or broadcast memos that Failure is not an option. That we need to be keeping up with schools from around the globe. That we need to enhance math and science. We need STEM. No, we need STEAM. No, we need STEAM plus reading, plus this.....

You get my point. 

But no one is really talking about failing at its root. Everyone talks about how to prevent students from failing or to bump those who are on the cusp from failing to passing to improve an overall body of work over a certain period of time.

But no one is talking about failing in its most true sense. At it's heart. 



I'm gonna say it... loud and clear.


Ready...


Are you sure?

IT'S OKAY TO FAIL. 

Wow. Now admit that to yourself and say it aloud. Feel better? Good. Now read this quote.

I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying.
Michael Jordan 


If His Highness of Hangtime believed that, why can't we? Failing is okay. Its not trying again that I can't stand. We lump these two words together and demonize those students and teachers who do fail. It's okay to fail - show me the first person to never make a mistake and I will show you the biggest liar on the planet. 

Everyone fails. It's how we respond that counts the most. I'm not advocating mass failure, don't get me wrong. What I am saying is that let's reclaim failing. 

If a student fails, lets not make them feel like its just about the number or bottom line (or the Gentlemen's "D" - and I know we all know what that is). It's about the student. 

To Fail = First Attempt In Learning 

Stop preventing kids from failing - help prevent them from giving up. 

How can we help you learn? Forget the grade. 
How can I help you figure this out? Forget the number.
How can I help you succeed? Forget the statistics.
How can I help you get back up? Forget the negativity. 

How can I help you fail so that you learn from your mistakes? #letsfail