Making Mistakes OK

"Teach your students that it's all right to make mistakes. Mistakes aren't reasons for shame but chances to learn and do better." This quote is taken from Teacher Therapy written by Karen Katafiasz. Albert Einstein said that some of his greatest ideas became successful from the mistakes he made before hand. Benjamin Franklin said that it was his mistakes that gave him further ideas for some of his greatest inventions. Today I see students get frustrated and freeze up when they make a mistake or are not sure of themselves. They would rather skip something than get it wrong. Making mistakes is a part of learning. We will not do everything perfectly; very rarely are things done perfectly. As part of being a winner for your students, you create a classroom that encourages thinking outside the box, trying new ideas, and making mistakes just a part of the learning process. It is so important to let the students have time to rework problems after they missed them and it has been reviewed so they have a chance to be successful at it. The more success they feel, the more self worth and self esteem they gain. You never know what great minds you have coming through your class that will help defeat cancer or find a cure for ALS, or make the first exhaust free vehicle that will help close the whole in the ozone layer rather than make it bigger. They may never feel the self confidence to try out their ideas if they feel ashamed of their mistakes they make early in their educational careers. Encourage your students to try their ideas out, especially in the math and science areas. Think of the hidden poets you have in your class or the next great novelist. We are teaching our future...think about that. If you really think about it hard enough, it boggles the mind. Our future teachers, executives, politicians, artists, scientists, doctors, farmers, mechanics....ect. Wow!, what a thought. I won't be looking for perfection when I get older. I will be looking for problem solvers, inventors that will make our world a safer, more organic, and planet friendly place for all the future generations. We learn from mistakes. What ideas will our students get from the mistakes they make now? We may never know if we don't encourage them to learn from their mistakes and take their ideas further.