Growing up, I learned to be a problem solver, competitive, ambitious and resilient. Thank you, elementary teachers! But, what I've realized as an adult is that I never truly learned how to fail.
First, we must learn to fail. My first year teaching 4th grade, I beat myself up time after time when I didn't get through the content, students' test scores were low, and I just couldn't keep up with all the running record assessments. No wonder teacher burnout is so high. When we learn to fail and learn from our failure, we need to embrace the process of iteration. Some educators might be familiar with the term "productive struggle" encouraging learners to persevere through feelings of failure. In my Gaming class, students use software to create games using block coding. The first day is for tinkering, followed by at least three days to create and code a program for their peers to play. However, this past year, students have stopped after the first creation day. Students have shared how tinkering and exploring is fun at the beginning, but once something doesn't work, becomes too challenging, they become disinterested and shut down. Our students are fearful of failure. What changed? Why do kindergarteners thrive in failure and live fearlessly, but educated middle schoolers log off when there's a roadblock or something making them think a little harder and little longer? According to TikTok, middle schoolers don't want to look "sweaty" (adult translation: like they're trying too hard). But, it's not just our students...teachers, you know who you are...Adults, too, are intimidated by failure as students, especially when it comes to technology. As my school's Technology Coordinator, I notice veteran educators prefer the traditional classroom approach and are resistant to change. Why? Because we value time, comfortability, and routine over trying something new. Except, we need to change that. Teachers need to create a safe space, while modeling and encouraging students to learn to fail and challenging their perseverance and resilience.
Then, we must learn to innovate. Once we can accept our own failure, I believe we're prepared to innovate and let our creative juices run! Students in my Robotics class who went rogue, creating their own programs, enjoyed the class much more than the students who complained about the instructions being confusing. Our school is fighting for the initiative of integrating a PBL course into each grade level's schedule. Providing opportunities for students to tinker and play encourages creative thinkers (Resnick, 2017). The world is constantly evolving and requires critical problem solvers to design innovative ideas for unexpected problems (p. 50). Lego Mindstorm EV3s are quite the hot commodity in our district's tech classes. STEM teachers allow and offer opportunities for students to play, tinker, collaborate, test boundaries, and fail. Through productive struggle and personalized learning units, students develop intrinsic motivation to create their own program and designs.
Most importantly, we must learn to make.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
- Wayne Gretzky
Wise words of the famous Wayne Getzky, and Michael Scott. If we don't take chances and make, how are we to practice and take advantage of our forever evolving technology. But, we want to be purposeful with our making. Why use a Kindle when we have books? Why use a SMART board when we have chalk boards? Richard Culatta refers to this as reimagining learning using technology, or the divergent divide (TEDxTalk, 2013). Making with and through technology can support real time feedback, adjusted paces, and give students agency. I believe failure is the perfect opportunity to challenge ourselves to innovate and make. This aligns most directly with Pappert's theory of constructionism - with students in the center of the learning process, making their own authentic learning experience (Udacity, 2016). We don't want to force students to make, instead encourage them to take advantage of the various opportunities we offer to fail, innovate, and make. Take a look at a visual I created reflecting how I see myself as a maker, innovator, learner, and reimaginer.
Resources:
Resnick, M. (2017). Lifelong kindergarten: Cultivating creativity through projects, passion, peers, and play. The MIT Press. http://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/CulturesCreativityEssay.pdf
TEDxTalk. (2013, January 10). Reimagining learning: Richard Culatta at TEDx Beacon Street [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0uAuonMXrg&feature=emb_logo
Udacity (2016, June 6). Constructionism [Video]. Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qsiqetMlCg
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