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  Viano Jaksa

Making Mistakes in the Classroom

1/28/2013

1 Comment

 
“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” 
Michael Jordan

Do we have the courage to live with failure in the classroom?

When introducing new technologies and using them in the classroom, many teachers get unbelievably frustrated when "things don't work" or when their plans haven't been met.

Yet these "mistakes" and "failures" can be very powerful learning moments and can contribute to overall success when the teacher takes the long-term view.

Reflective questioning, that involves the whole class and includes the teacher as a partner in the learning, can be a very powerful tool.

Open-ended questions like:
  • "What will I need to do better next time?"
  • "How can we improve?"
  • "What do we need to put in place to have a better chance at success?"

build the right culture that looks at learning as a process and a journey, rather than an outcome or a product.

Michael Jordan was incredibly driven as a basketballer and looked at his failures as golden opportunities for learning and for improvement. Our students should be encouraged to feel the same.

Taking the risk of making the game-winning shot can lead to failure, for sure. But taking that risk can also lead to incredible success.

Our students deserve the support to be allowed to take risks in their learning.
1 Comment
Tania
1/28/2013 01:24:11 pm

Viano great blog. Same of course can be said for teachers learning as well. Technology can be tricky but with the right attitude when things go wrong can actually be a great learning experience

Thanks for sharing your blog

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    Education Blog

    I strongly believe that technology has the power to transform teaching and learning.

    This blog is my ongoing reflection on how we can best make this happen.

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