Jennifer: Taking Time to Make Mistakes

Recently I have been feeling somewhat overwhelmed at work. My one class has split into five different programs just to meet everyone’s needs, and it has become much too easy to get caught up in lesson planning and assessments and forget my basic roles as a teacher.

I’ve been coming home stressed, always with a million things on my mind. I’ve tried to keep that stress out of my classroom, but it hasn’t been easy. With testing season coming up, I want to make sure I squeeze in all the lessons that I have planned. I realized that my students have been feeling overwhelmed too, and I know it is because my teaching is either too fast or too much. But with everything that needs to get done, it has been difficult to figure out where to make changes to our schedule.

I am currently taking courses to complete a second credential, and last week one of my classmates shared a story that inadvertently helped me put my whole “rushing” problem into perspective. She told about a time when she and her master teacher watched a little girl drop her cookie in the dirt during lunch. The student came over and asked if she could go wash it off. My classmate almost said “no” and for her to get her back to her seat, but the master teacher stopped her and told the little girl to go ahead.

When the little girl returned to her seat, she didn’t have the cookie with her. When asked what happened, she said that she couldn’t eat the cookie because when she washed it, it broke. The master teacher explained that because the student was given time to learn this lesson on her own, it will mean more to her than if they had just told her what would happen and sent her back to her seat to finish her lunch.

I wondered how I would have handled this situation. If I were in my classmate’s place, I may have just told the student what to do to, too concerned with the clock to realize the valuable “teachable moment” at hand.

When my classmate shared this story, I reminded myself that it is my role to slow down and guide my students. I remembered the importance of taking time to focus on what is happening in that moment, rather than the overall picture of the day.

I thought about how many times, especially recently, I have may have missed teachable moments in my own classroom, because I was too intent on making sure we fit in all of our activities. I remembered some of our recent math lessons when I have prompted students through an equation so they could experience the right steps and stay on track, rather than let them work through problems on their own and learn by making and fixing their own mistakes. I actually need to remember to make time to make mistakes.

Yes, I want my students to get phenomenal scores on everything they do, but more importantly, I want them to actually remember their lessons long-term. I want them to enjoy and be proud of their learning—and the only way they can do that is if they get to experience that “ah hah” feeling for themselves.

I haven’t told my classmate yet that her story was an “ah hah” moment for me. This was one of those lessons that I had to make some mistakes to learn, but will not soon forget.

 

Comments

[Danielle22Mendez]

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[Regina]

Jennifer,

Thanks for sharing your story. I think often we get so busy trying to achieve we forget that we learn from our mistakes. Making mistakes is apart of the learning process and does make a more meaningful impression.

[J. DiRosa]

Jennifer, thanks for sharing this story. I just completed my second year teaching and I can't count how many times I have stopped my students from doing something because I already knew what the outcome would be. Your story made me think about how truly important it is for kids to make these mistakes on their own. Sometimes, the natural consequence teaches the lesson better than anything anyone can say that may work for the moment but doesn't truly get the point across because the child didn't have the chance to fail.

[Amy Brandon]

Jennifer, this is so true missing out on teaching moments. I feel that sometimes we are so busy with lesson planning and assessments that we forget about the children. Sometimes I ask myself, "How did I miss that?" I often feel rushed even when I try to plan ahead. It seems like there is always something that I missed. This year was the first year that I had a rough class. The children were fine but there personalities did not work well together. I became so stressed out because it seemed like I was always problem solving and not teaching. That's for the story!

[Stephanie Sanchez]

Jennifer: Thank You for sharing your story. This past year was my first year teaching and the first half of the year I was so focused on making sure we got through everything I had planned for the day that I was missing those teachable moments. Towards the end of the year I was able to slow down a little and realize that it is okay to make mistakes and it is okay if we do not get through everything that is planned. I think it is difficult for teachers to slow down and embrace those teachable moments when there are so many state mandates and exams that we need to prepare our students for. We seem to forget that those teachable moments are what our students will remember.

[Amy]

Jennifer,
I have been a teacher for almost ten years and I feel like there is an invisible train engine propelling me along going faster and faster and faster every year. I have frequently thought to myself that I need to slow down, focus on the most important things and live in the moment with my students. Recently, I became so overwhelmed by the need to get everything done and please everyone that I felt like I was going to explode. My brain simply could not take anymore. I decided that it would be benefical to pick one or two times a day with my students and family then clear my mind of all things not crucial to the moment and just focus on the present. I started by reflecting back on my drive home from work - I look back over my time with my students and think about how I could have given my students an opportunity to think independently. I had to "teach" myself how to be in the habit of giving my students more time to think and respond, problem solve on their on, etc.

In special education, our students tend to need more time to process information, communicate their ideas and complete tasks indpendently. Our students do not thrive when they are rushed. If we force them to move faster, there is more and more interference to their thinking. If we as teachers slow down, model our thinking, and allow our children to wobble on their own two feet, then we will see the heart behind what all educators strive to achieve - students who are independent thinkers and life-long learners.

I loved reading your post on the night before the last day of school. I will be resting and waiting in quiet anticipation for the start of another busy year; I will make a promise to myself and my students that "slowing down" will be made a priority.

Have a wonderful summer!

[Heidi]

Jennifer,

I have found in teaching that sometimes I am too quick to say "no" or answer the questions my students ask instead of having my students figure it out for themselves. Your post here was a nice reminder to all of us, as educators, that we sometimes get too wrapped up in the test or the lesson and by pass so many opportunities to have the teachable moments take place. It is through the teachable moments that a lot of unplanned learning can take place. So thank you for the nice reminder to take the time to let things happen.

[Irene Pauley]

I enjoyed the suggestion to slow down and allow students to make mistakes. This fall I am teaching Business Math, which is a class for seniors who need a math credit to graduate. I will need to remember to not only expose them to the math they will need after high school, but also the ability to figure out how to solve their own problems. Thank you!

[Nicole Beurkens]

I love this post! The concept of "slowing down to speed up" is a big one I work on with the parents and teachers I see. You are so right that in our mad dash to get everything in, we miss the moments that contain the most valuable lessons. Bravo for not only becoming aware of this, but for sharing your insights with everyone else.

Nicole Beurkens
www.HorizonsDRC.com

[Jennifer]

Thanks Gwen, I was thinking more about this today because my class was basically exploding for a moment and I thought about how we need to also be comfortable with the whole idea of stopping altogether. It is really hard to let go of that constant 'rush' feeling because I think it must be somewhat built into us by the pure fact that we have so many things going on all the time. :)

[Gwen]

Jennifer, you bring up an interesting realization for me with this story. One problem that I forsee with me being a Teacher is that I am afraid that I too will miss a lot of teachable moments, whether its feeling rushed or in my case I feel like I have to rescue and save the children from making a mistake. I realize that this is a big mistake on my part. I think if the little girl had asked me to wash off her cookie, I would have gone into this long statement of why it would not have worked and would have missed this opportunity to let her discover. I know I need to let children discover things on their terms and we should be there to guide them and not always try to save them from making mistakes.